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David Leisner.(works of Heitor Villa-Lobos)(Brief Article)

Source: Guitar Player
Publication Date: 07/01/2001
Author: Levy, Adam

COPYRIGHT 2001 Miller Freeman Publications

Rediscovering Villa-Lobos

With all the music being reissued and repackaged these

days, we've grown accustomed to hearing previously
unreleased material and alternate takes by our favorite
artists. Such opportunities offer a new perspective on
music we may have taken for granted--a song may have
been recorded at a radically different tempo, or once
included verses that were edited out for the "released"
version. But is all this previously unreleased music
actually worth hearing, or is it merely interesting for its
historical or nostalgic value?

These questions aren't only the concerns of pop and jazz

fans. Alternate versions of classical pieces surface, too,
as evidenced by a new version of Brazilian composer
Heitor Villa-Lobos' 12 Etudes. The edition of the etudes
most classical players are familiar with was published in
1957 (two years before the composer's death), and has
long been accepted as the version. But a recently
discovered 1928 manuscript of the etudes now offers a
different take on Villa-Lobos' brilliant, harmonically rich
music.

"Apparently, the manuscript had been lying around

unnoticed in the Villa-Lobos Museum [in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil] for a couple of decades," says David Leisner, who
was the first to record the rediscovered version of the 12
Etudes on Heitor Villa-Lobos--The Complete Solo Guitar
Works [Azica].

So what's different about this version? For starters, there

are no repeat signs in the first two etudes. "I'd always
hated those repeats," says Leisner. "I thought those
pieces went on way too long--particularly the passage in
the middle of No. 1, where the diminished chord comes
down fret by fret. With the repeats, that part always
seemed endless."

Etude No. 3 also differs in its repeat scheme. In the

traditional version, the etude is loaded with repeat
signs--nearly every measure---and there is a Da Capo
indication at the end, indicating that the entire piece is to
be repeated verbatim. In the '28 version there are fewer
repeat signs, and instead of a Da Capo marking, the
repeat of the piece is written out, with a repeat scheme
slightly different from those in the first exposition. There
are more remarkable differences in No. 10 and No. 11,
which have entire sections that were left out of the final
published edition.

"The 1928 version also contains loads of accents,

dynamic markings, and tempo shifts, which make the
pieces sound more complex and interesting," adds
Leisner. "And this manuscript is fully fingered by
Villa-Lobos--the published edition isn't."

Leisner recorded the etudes in more or less sequential

order, although he took several passes at No. 1 and No.
2. "I tried some takes every now and then to see if I
could nail them," he says. "Without the repeat signs,
they're especially difficult to get right--you're either in
the groove or you're not." In addition, Leisner saved No.
4 and No. 12 for last because they're the most wearing
on fingernails.

So why wasn't the 1928 manuscript used for the

published edition? "Nobody seems to know the answer to
that," Leisner says. "My theory is that when Villa-Lobos
dedicated the 12 Etudes to Segovia many years later,

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David Leisner. | Guitar Player (July, 2001) http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10776742_ITM

Segovia suggested all kinds of changes--mostly to make

them easier to play. But now players are much more
advanced, so they can handle all the stuff in the original
manuscript."

Now the challenge is no longer the music itself, but the

staid attitudes of some classical musicians. "The
question," says Leisner, "is whether the guitar
community will accept all these changes--or will we use
some of the new ideas and not others? I hope this
manuscript will soon be available in published form, so
everyone can look at it and make up their own mind
about the music."

Classic Tools

Leisner's one and only guitar was built by John Gilbert in

1982. "I love it for its clarity, distinctive tone, and
playability," says Leisner. "And the volume I can get from
it is enormous-it almost sounds amplified." Leisner
strings his Gilbert with D'Addario Pro*Arte J46LP
hard-tension strings. "The hard tensions have a bright,
well-rounded sound," he says, "and their lightly polished
surfaces reduce finger noise."

For Heitor Villa-Lobos-The Complete Solo Guitar Works,

Leisner's guitar was recorded with two Schoeps CMC6
microphones (loaded with MK2 omni-directional
capsules). The CMC6's were placed about ten feet in
front of Leisner, at a height of approximately ten feet.

-- AL

COPYRIGHT 2001 Miller Freeman Publications

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