J.S.

Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro, BWV 998
Frank Martin (1890-1974)
Quatre Pices Brves (1933)
I Prlude
II Air
III Plainte
IV Comme une Gigue
Luigi Legnani (1790-1877)
Caprices No. 21, 28, 7
Intermission
Eduardo Angulo (b. 1954)
Guitar Sonata No. 2
Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012)
Drei Tentos
I Du Schnes Bchlein
II Es Findet das Aug Oft
III Sohn Laios
Joaqun Turina (1882-1949)
Guitar Sonata, Op. 61
I Allegro
II Andante
III Allegro Vivo

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro, BWV 998
Despite the extensive body of work Bach composed, the magisterial German composer left us only a small
number of works for lute. Within those seven works it is still under some contention whether or not the lute
was the intended instrument for performance. While it is plausible that these works are a byproduct of
Bachs friendship with the premier lutenist of his day, Silvius Leopold Weiss, we are not entirely sure of
how their relationship impacted the music Bach composed. The indication of Prelude pour la Luth
Cembal. par J.S. Bach on the manuscript of BWV 998 calls into question what instrument Bach intended
this work to be performed on. Should it be lute, harpsichord, or maybe the lautenwerk, an instrument
played like a harpsichord, but with gut strings to produce a sound similar to the lute? While we cannot be
certain contemporary guitarists have certainly adopted this body of repertoire as their own.
There is much speculation regarding this work and the possible religious undertones found within. Scholars
such as Anne Leahy have hypothesized that BWV 998 is a Trinitarian statement of faith. The work is in
three movements, and was originally in the key of Eb (though it is more customary for the contemporary
guitarist to perform this work in D), having three flats in the key signature. The Prelude, is set in 12/8
meter, a meter featuring four beats of three note subdivisions per bar. This meter was favored by Bach to
symbolize Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The Fugue is a tripartite, allegedly based on the Lutheran
Christmas carol Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her From Heaven above to Earth I come." Lastly the
Allegro is in 3/8 meter featuring a descending motif that could symbolize the descent of Christ from
Heaven to live here on Earth.
Regardless of the potential religious significance, there are many intriguing musical facets of BWV 998.
The Prelude employs a Fibonacci sequence within the episodic material to explore the tonic area (D major,
three measures), the dominant (A major, five measures), the submediant (B minor, eight measures) and
finally the subdominant (G major, 13 measures) before reaching an intriguing cadenza that resolves by halfstep to an N6 chord, leading to a V4 of V before ending with a brief recapitulation of the opening material.
The Fugue is a de capo fugue, a form Bach explored towards the end of his life. The opening texture is in
three voices before the middle section makes extensive use of arpeggiated chords, a technique known as
style bris that was found often in the music of Weiss. BWV 998 ends with a dance-like Allegro. In two
sections, the first starts in the tonic area before modulating to dominant. The second modulates to the
subdominant and supertonic before a more active sequence of interplay between the bass and soprano
brings the work to its joyous and triumphant close.
Frank Martin (1890-1974)
Quatre Pices Brves (1933)
I Prlude
II Air
III Plainte
IV Comme une Gigue
Frank Martin, one of Switzerlands most preeminent composers of the 20th century, was improvising and
composing songs at the piano before having even gone to school. Following the wishes of his parents,
Martin went to the University of Geneva to study mathematics and physics. However, Martin took it upon
himself to simultaneously study piano and composition with Joseph Lauber. Upon completing his academic
work, Martin bounced around the cities of Zurich, Paris and Rome before eventually settling down in
Geneva for an extended period of time. Martin took it upon himself to lead the Chamber Music Society of
Geneva, teach at the University of Geneva and be the president of the Swiss Association of Musicians.
Ultimately these tasks overwhelmed Martin and he moved to the Netherlands for the remainder of his life
to focus solely on composition.
Martins Quatre Pices Brves were composed in 1933, during the height of his exploration into the
twelve-tone serialism of Arnold Schnberg. While dedicated to Andrs Segovia, they were not received
well by the Spanish maestro who allegedly lost his copy of the score. This disheartened Martin, who
wrote no more for the guitar. Feeling that maybe the work was too difficult for their intended instrument

Martin reworked the pieces for solo piano and then orchestra. It was not until some twenty years later that
Julian Bream recorded this work and it has since become a standard part of the guitar repertoire. These
pieces are evocative of music of the Baroque Period, but employ Martins unique musical language
integrating French Impressionism with Schnbergs exploration of tonality, using Baroque forms as a
vehicle. The first movement, a Prlude, begins with a slow introduction before a chaotic fury of notes
exploring some of the elements of serialism. The second movement, Air, is effectively a sarabande filled
with suspensions in the alto part often a half step away from the soprano. The next movement, Plainte, or
complaint, is a piece laced with melancholy. The gentle rolled chords at the beginning give way to
strummed chords marked fortissimo eventually falling back into the soft, contemplative chords at the
beginning. A rapid Vite closes out the third movement with a soft, single bass note. The conclusion of this
work, Comme une Gigue, uses the Baroque dance of a Gigue to return to some of the tonalities featured in
the first movement. Making frequent use of hemiola and tone rows, the music feels like it is in perpetual
motion until it reaches a decisive Plus lent trs dclam to end the work.
Luigi Legnani (1790-1877)
Caprices No. 21, 28, 7
Potentially the greatest guitar player of his generation, Luigi Legnani and his music are filled with the flair
and virtuosity of his more known contemporary and friend, Nicol Paganini. At a very young age Legnani
began the study of music. While we know him today primarily as a composer and performer of guitar, he
was also a talented vocalist who sang in the local opera company. It is said that after becoming
acquaintances with Paganini, the two formed a duo and Legnani apparently even spent some time living
with Paganini at his estate near Parma. Whether the music of Paganini had an influence on Legnani or not,
it is clear that Legnani was a virtuosic performer capable of presenting both the technically demanding
music he composed alongside the more lyrical works he also composed.
Legnanis Thirty-six Caprices for Guitar are arguably his most famous work and share many parallels to
the twenty-four caprices composed by Paganini. One major difference is that Legnanis do not work
through all twenty-major and minor tonalities, rather they leave out C# and G# minor. Caprice 21 is an
Allegro Giusto featuring ascending scale runs and arpeggios before a coda-like section ends the work with
three alternating iterations of descending chromatic scales and dominant to tonic chords. Caprice 28, Largo,
is almost reminiscent of a slow movement of a Beethoven Piano Sonata. This caprice begins with a phrase
of blocked chords followed by a scale passage trading places between the soprano and bass. A sweeping
arpeggio section is brought to a close by an eventual soprano melody accompanied by Alberti bass. Caprice
7 is a virtuosic showpiece very much in the style of Paganini. Marked Prestissimo, this caprice is a work
making extensive use of scales and arpeggios across the entire length of the fretboard.
Eduardo Angulo (b. 1954)
Guitar Sonata No. 2
Born in Puebla, Mexico, Angulo began his musical career at the age of seven. His training began at
Conservatorio Nacional de Msica in Mexico City where he studied violin. He ultimately graduated from
the conservatory with honorable mention in 1973. Shortly after he traveled to the Netherlands to continue
his violin studies in addition to pursuing composition at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Upon
graduating in 1975, he returned to Mexico where he has fully devoted himself to composing.
The composer wrote the following regarding his Guitar Sonata No. 2:
My Sonata No. 2, written in 1993 and dedicated to the German guitarist, Michael Trster, has many
similarities with my Sonata No. 1 written some twenty years before. However, it is much shorter and with
fewer technical difficulties but the style, orchestral colours, and the atmosphere, are essentially the same.
Both sonatas are introspective and contemplative, influenced by traditional Mexican music but without
being entirely nationalistic. Both sonatas were written in a tonal language and treat the guitar technically in
a traditional way.
Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012)
Drei Tentos

I Du Schnes Bchlein
II Es Findet das Aug Oft
III Sohn Laios
A native of Germany, Henze witnessed the shaping of art under the guise of the Nazis firsthand, yet it was
not until after the war that he began to thoroughly study music. In 1953 Henze moved from Germany to
Italy, due primarily to his disagreeance with Germanys treatment of homosexuals. In Italy he began to
synthesize the music of his newfound Italian home, his native Germany, serialism, atonality, the music of
Stravinsky and in some instances Jazz. Henze is known for his strong political conventions. He was a
proud member of the Communist Party of Italy, a Marxist, and even composed a work for Che Guevara,
The Raft of the Medusa, which upon placing a red flag on stage during performance incited a riot.
These Drei Tentos are taken from Henzes larger 1958 work Kammermusik. Composed for tenor, guitar, and
eight other solo instruments, the piece is a setting of a Hlderin hymn, In lieblicher Blue, In Lovely
Blueness. The hymn touches upon the Greek tragedy of Oedipus the King, with these words found in
the last stanza of the poem the hymn is based on:
Perhaps King Oedipus had an eye too many.
This mans suffering seems indescribable, unspeakable, inexpressible.
When the drama presents it so, so it is. But how is it with me?
Am I thinking now of your suffering?
Like brooks, the end of something as vast as Asia is carrying me toward it.
Oedipus, of course, suffered like this, too;
and certainly for the same reason
Oedipuss suffering is like a poor man
wailing that he is deprived.
Son Laios, poor stranger in Greece.
Life is death, and death is also a life.
Henze uses these Drei Tentos as a series of interludes within the larger work. The first, Du Schnes
Bchlein (You Beautiful Stream), is a flowing and calm movement, making extensive use of a major second
motive, as well as a motive of an ascending major second followed by a leap of a perfect fifth. The almost
perpetual motion of the music evokes a quietly moving brook. The next movement, Es Findet das Aug Oft
(It Finds the Eye Often), lacks the tranquility of the first movement in favor of a more chaotic rhythmic
template. The primary melodic motive of this movement is a three-note grouping of a major second
followed by a minor second. However, the notes of the cells are often displaced by an octave making the
motif slightly less apparent to the listener. Drei Tentos ends with Sohn Laios (Son of Laios), which
combines the peace of the first movement with the more chaotic nature of the second. This last movement
makes extensive use of pentatonic melodies as well as a reoccurring interlude between melodies featuring a
tritone movement in the bass.
Joaqun Turina (1882-1949)
Guitar Sonata, Op. 61
I Allegro
II Andante
III Allegro Vivo
While born in Seville, the capital of the autonomous region of Andalusia, Turina left southern Spain in
favor of Madrid. In Madrid Turina befriended one of the most important figures of Spanish composition,
Manuel de Falla. His initial stay in Madrid was short as he spent time studying composition and piano in
Paris from 1905-1914 at the Schola Cantorum de Paris. Eventually Turina returned to Madrid, where like
many of the artists of his time his life was met with some resistance under the Republic. Turina is known to
guitarists for a small, yet precious body of work including this Sonata, the Fandanguillo, and Sevilliana
amongst a few others. Many of these works are dedicated to Andrs Segovia.

Like many of his compositions, and like many of the compositions of his colleges such as de Falla, his
Sonata combines elements of French Impressionism with that of the folk music of his native Spain. The
first movement combines two unique themes united by a common dotted rhythm. Separating the themes are
sections of music marked Allegro, which feature rapid arpeggios, and the diatonic chord planing often
heard in the compositions of the French Impressionists. The movement ends with a golpe, the flamenco
technique demanding the performer slap the top of his or her guitar. The second movement, a more
peaceful Andante, is reminiscent of the Cante Jondo, an Andalusian vocal form of Flamenco. This
movement features lyrical melodies in addition to quick scale runs and more chord planing to break up the
melodic material. To close his Sonata Turnia composes an Allegro Vivo in a style akin to the Flamenco
form of Buleras. The Buleras commonly features an abundance of scale runs, rasgueados and is
commonly grouped in beats of 12. All of these apply to the last movement of Turinas Sonata, which ends
in a joyous set of loud rasgueados.