This edition inaugurates a series of off-the-beaten-track
works for solo
guitar from the nineteenth- and the early decades of the twentieth centuries.
12 pp. $9.95. Presser Order number 494-02794 (PWYS-76)
And is here a recording of this work by Carlos Pérez.
MP3 format, 3.4MB, 14:32 duration.
This CD in which this first recording is included, is available from Guitarra Viva in Chile.
The guitar
music of Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841) is often associated with didactical
material and with a large number of mass-market editions destined for home music
making by amateurs. The resulting, often unflattering, image of the composer is
at once dispelled by reading a superb virtuoso power house, such as the present
composition by him. The edition is datable to circa 1817.
The tune on which this work is based is the famous Nel cor più non mi sento,
a duet from Act 2 of Giovanni Paisiello’s opera La Molinara (1788).
Nel cor più
occupied one of the most prominent positions in the hierarchy of nineteenth
century hit parade. The tune was arranged for many different instruments and
instrumental ensembles, by literally hundreds of arrangers, Beethoven and Hummel
being the most prominent among them. Guitarists are well familiar with the
variations by Fernando Sor (his Op. 16) on the same theme, and those by Mauro
Giuliani, (his Op. 4 for solo guitar and Op. 65 for guitar and string quartet).
What
sets Carulli’s work apart from the more known ones, is the extensive solo
introduction, beginning with a majestic Largo, and concluding with an Allegretto
section which presents itself as an orchestral overture. The theme and
variations proper finally begin on page 4. Another unique aspect of Carulli’s Solo with Variations Op. 107, is the arch-like structure of the piece where the
last variation leads into a recapitulation of the initial phrase of the opening
Allegretto, which then transforms itself into a dazzling display of fireworks,
including one scale run that extends all the way up to a6
on the first string (fret 29!). Obviously, Carulli, far ahead of his time, was
aware of the fact that the actual pitches and tone quality of these beyond-the-fretboard
notes, particularly at the sheer velocity required, were not as important as the
display of a unique virtuosic gesture.
Copyright © 2006 by Editions Orphée, Inc. All Rights Reserved.