Monica, Thank you for your thoughts. You clearly have strong ideas of how you want this music to sound - as do I. I believe our differences are primarily aesthetic rather than historical, however. > Well - my two pennyworth. The piece does start off with three strummed > variations but I thought they sounded horribly abrasive and I would question > whether that is how Murcia would have played them himself. I don't know how de Murcia may have played it himself, nor, of course does anyone alive today. While I don't know if I would use the words "horribly abrasive" to describe the opening chords, I was certainly going for an emphatic, even jarring opening statement. Divining "composer's intentions" is a very slippery occupation. I'm not even so sure of its relevance to baroque music, where the active participation of the performer in aspects of composition was expected. > I couldn't tell what method of stringing was being used but if you have a high octave > > > string on the 3rd course - well take it off right now. There is no evidence that the baroque > guitar was ever strung like that in the 17th and 18th centuries. No high octave on the 3rd course. Quite the opposite: I have a low bourdon on the 5th course because I mainly play guitar in continuo situations when I'm not making solo noisy music. I agree with you that there is no evidence for the high 3rd octave and I don't particularly feel a need for it. However, if a modern player felt inspired by this stringing, I certainly wouldn't tell him or her to remove it simply based on the current state of abstract scholarly research. > There were one or two places where (dare I say it) some of the lower notes > sounded twangy....... Yes, that is a actually special type of ornament that I have mastered it to perfection. I call it a "mistake." ;-) For what its worth, this particular performance took place in a gigantic church that was (believe it or not) filled to capacity. It was a mixed concert with several soloists and ensembles each doing sets. The organizer of the event of course chose to put me on after an organist, who naturally ended his set with all the stops out. I played to the back of the hall. Having said that, such things shouldn't happen and the fault is mine. > In the introduction to "Cifras selectas" Murcia is scathing about the "punchers or acorn > > pickers who try to stimulate the ears by thumping the guitar" and says "God save us from > this summer hail storm". A prayer that I would echo. I know the quote. But this is not really helpful in creating an informed performance because it is subjective commentary that we must further interpret subjectively. (What does "acorn picker" even mean?) If my father-in-law tells me a dish is "extremely spicy," I can expect it to be completely bland. On the other hand, if I tell him in all honesty that a dish is "not very spicy," I'll be sure to find him curled up under a table in a fetal position with tears streaming down his cheeks, choking on incoherent whimpers like a little girl who just saw her beloved puppy get run over by a tour bus. But the two of us know of these less than subtle distinctions only from past personal interaction. None of us knew de Murcia or what external circumstances may have prompted his comments. Then as now, I suspect there were more than a few amateur players who continually pounded away without concern for nuance or contrast. Santiago does not say to _never_ embrace this mode of performance where appropriate. Indeed, it is the inauthentic artist who never investigates the full spectrum of his or her medium. Needless to say, I am not a fundamentalist. > It is not intended to be proto-type flamenco. I see absolutely no reason why not. The influence of Spanish folk music has been the subject of scholarly investigation in relation to Scarlatti and Boccherini. (Boccherini even includes a section in which he directs the cellist to improvise on castanets in his "Fandango" Quintet.) Santiago's commentary notwithstanding, why would we expect a native Spaniard to be totally aloof from his native "rustic" performance practice? Chris
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