Paul Fetler: Folia Lirica
for solo guitar.

6 pp., $4.95, Presser Order number 494-02511 (PWYS-61)

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The composer says:

If the Folia Lirica seems to be a throwback to earlier historic periods, my intention was clearly to tap the rich resources of a long-time tradition, and by doing so to search for ways to make it part of a viable personal expression. In short, the old gives rise to the new. The very opening is a broad defining statement of the principal idea combined with free flowing rhapsodic passages setting the mood of the Introduction. This is continued with a few more statements and passage work, after which the stage is set for the Exposition of the principal theme. This is then followed by a set of free variations and a development, making use of contrasting registers and moods. There is a moment of pause by means of a reflective interlude at the end of the development. After a restatement of the Exposition which contains additional development, the work ends with the theme in the bass register. This then is followed by a soft, steady ascent into the highest reaches of the instrument where the music disappears into the open.

Paul Fetler, born 1920 in Philadelphia, professor emeritus of music theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, received his early musical training in Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. He earned his Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University, his Masters of Music from Yale and his PhD from the University of Minnesota, as well as studying at the Berlin Academy of Music in Germany. Mr Fetler’s teachers were David Van Vactor, Quincy Porter, Paul Hindemith, Sergiu Celibidache and Boris Blacher. Having composed over 150 works in various media his music has been performed by leading orchestras, soloists, choral and chamber groups in many parts of the US and Europe. He has received many awards, including one from the Society for the Publication of American Music (1953), two Guggenheims (1953, 1960), and two from the National Endowment for the Arts (1975, 1977). Mr Fetler now resides at Golden Gate Point in Sarasota, Florida.

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Last Modified: Friday, February 29, 2008 04:37 PM