Classical Guitar in Candlelight

BWV 1009 Suite for Violincello (arr. Richard Wright) - J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
⁃ Prelude
⁃ Allemande
⁃ Courante
⁃ Sarabande
- Gigue

Selections from “Platero Y Yo” - Eduardo Sainz de la Maza (1903-1982)
⁃ Platero
⁃ El Loco
- La Azotea
⁃ Paseo
⁃ La Muerte

Intermission

Tres Valses Venezolanos - Antonio Lauro (1917-1986)
⁃ No. 1 - Tatiana
⁃ No. 2 - Andreina
⁃ No. 3 - Vals Criollo “Natalia”

Suite Venezolana - Antonio Lauro
⁃ I. Registro
⁃ II. Danza Negra
⁃ III. Canción
⁃ IV. Vals

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) is one of the most prolific and well known composers of classical music. His third suite for violincello is a lively collection of Baroque dances, arranged here for solo guitar. The baroque suite included a prelude movement followed and dances from the European cultural centers of the time. The Allemande from Germany, The Courante from France, The Sarabande from Spain, and the Gigue from Brittain. In this suite the Courante is actually an Italian Corrente, a fast and lively dance, but Bach often used “Courante” and “Corrente” interchangeably. The Sarabande, though known as the Spanish dance, has roots in music developed in the New World, possibly finding its start in colonial Mexico.

Eduardo Sainz de la Maza (1903 – 1982) was a Spanish guitarist and composer whose music fuses elements of Classical, French Impressionism, and Spanish folk music. His suite Platero y Yo is inspired by the book by the same name written by Juan Ramon Jimenez.
I. Platero
Platero es pequeño, peludo, suave.
Solo los espejos de azabache de sus ojos son duros cual dos escarabajos de cristal negro.
Lo llamo dulcemente: “¿Platero?”, y viene a mi con un trotecillo allegre que parece se rie, en no se qué cascabeleo ideal.
II. El Loco
Vestido de luto, con mi barba nazarena debo cobrar un extraño aspecto cabalgando en la blandura gris de Platero. Los chiquillos gitanos, aceitosos y peludos, las tensas barrigas tostadas, corren detrás de nosotros chillando largamente
-¡El Loco! ¡El Loco! ¡El Loco!
V. Paseo
Por los hondos caminos del estio, colgados de tiernas madreselvas, ¡cuan dulcemente vamos!
VII. La Muerte
Encontré a Platero echado en su cama de paja. Parecia su pelo rizoso, ese pelo de estopa apolillada de las muñecas Viejas, que se cae, al pasarle la mano, en una polvorienta tristeza
from Platero y YoPlatero y Yo by Juan Ramón Jiménez
Antonio Lauro (1917 – 1986) was a Venezuelan guitarist and composer who achieved fame for his guitar works as much as for his music written for piano, orchestra, and other ensembles. His best known music are his Venezuelan Waltzes that mix classical aesthetics with popular Venezuelan styles of the time, “Natalia” is perhaps the most famous of those. He composed several major works for guitar, including Suite Venezolana which is heavily influenced by the national styles of Venezuela. In 1948 Lauro became a political prisoner of the anti-democratic military dictatorship in Venezuela and it is thought that he composed much of Suite Venezolana during that time.