Classical Guitar Repertoire And Etudes

The French-born guitarist Roland Dyens began studying his instrument at the age of nine. By age 33, he was listed as one of the world’s best by The Guitarist Magazine. Dyens is currently a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. Known also as a brilliant arranger, Dyens has chosen some of the most memorable guitar repertoire by late 18th and early 19th - century composers and arranged it for solo guitar and string quartet, specifically the Quatuor Arthur LeBlanc: seven études by the 19th century Catalan composer Fernando Sor; and one of the six Rossiniana composed by Mauro Giuliani on themes from Rossini operas. Dyens also performs Giuliani’s Variations on a Theme by Handel and Sor’s Grand Solo, opus 14 for solo guitar.

Sean Shibe returns to the classical guitar on Profesión, bringing together works by Agustín Barrios, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Alberto Ginastera. The album derives its name from Barrios’s “Profesión de Fe” (profession of faith), a poem which he often used as a preface to his concerts. The poem references indigenous mythological deities, and praises the power of the guitar as the ultimate conduit to the secrets of the divine South-American destiny.

Duo Dialog consists of guitarist Magnus Grönlund and clarinettist Dan Larsson. They have for a long time developed repertoire and interplay for the clarinet and guitar. A real favorite is the Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla. Piazzolla is of course one of the most important composers in modern history and well represented on many albums, but when it comes to performances on clarinet and guitar, his music is not so commonly used. To Duo Dialog, which is one of Sweden's most diligent chamber ensembles, the combination of clarinet and guitar is a fantastic and obvious way to present Piazzolla's chamber music. The guitar with it's wealth of colors and tones and the clarinet with it's great dynamic possibilities, together they have the opportunity to present Piazzolla's music in the best way. This release contains Piazzolla's chamber music in it's original as well as in transcribed forms. Great effort has been put into correct transcriptions from the original instruments to clarinet and guitar. Of course the guitar has an obvious place in this repertoire, but in order to be able to use the clarinet in the best way and be faithful to the original, several different clarinets have been used; A-clarinet, Bb-clarinet, C-clarinet and basset clarinet.