An Tran Coste Guitar Works, Vol. 6

Konstantin Vassiliev’s music synthesises several different styles including jazz, Russian folk music and contemporary Western traditions. This album contains music written over a 22-year period, with three works composed specifically for guitar soloist Yuri Liberzon. The Hommage à Tom Jobin was inspired by one of the creators of the bossa nova style, while the melancholic and lyrical contrasts of Rose in the Snow reveal Vassiliev’s gift for storytelling. Arias, romantic miniatures, variations and multi-character episodes further reveal Vassiliev to be a vibrant and exciting composer of wide-ranging gifts.

Joaquín Rodrigo, composer of the renowned Concierto de Aranjuez(Naxos 8.579053), is acknowledged as one of the great Spanish composers of the 20th century. His music extends the Romantic Impressionist tradition of Albéniz, Granados and Falla, and is inspired by the French style and color Rodrigo experienced during his studies in Paris. From the thrilling and virtuosic Elogio de la guitarra to his swan song in the Dos pequeñas fantasías, Rodrigo’s guitar music explores the Spanish nature of the instrument and blends tradition with innovation.

Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1812–65) was one of the leading musicians of his day, a friend of Berlioz, Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn, and for Joseph Joachim ‘the greatest violinist I ever heard’. This sixth album – in a series of seven presenting all his compositions for the first time – begins and ends with some of the most difficult music for solo violin ever composed: Ernst’s Six Polyphonic Studies and his transcription of Schubert’s song, Der Erlkönig. Between them comes less familiar fare: five Schubertian piano pieces, and two settings of Goethe.