Talk To Me My Guitar

Marina Azar - solo classical guitar

Recorded 2005 by Ted Arbogast in Terlingua, Texas.

Cover Art by Marina Azar

Consona (D. Milano)

[Transcription of 1985 Program Notes]

          P R O G R A M

Concerto for the Double Bass          Antonio Capuzzi
	Allegro moderato
	Andante cantabile
	Allegro

El Camél			                            Kris Jorgenson
	John Groos, piano

Improvisation No. 7 in C Major         Francis Poulenc
	Kris Jorgenson, piano

L’Éléphant			                   Camille Saint-Saens

All Mimsy			                   Smith-Masters
     1.	  Brillig
     2.  Vorpal
     3.  Uffish
     4.  Frabjous
     John Groos, piano
[Seemingly unplanned Encore (Not part of Original 1985 Program Notes)]:

Gymnopédie No. 1		     Erik Satie
	Kris Jorgenson, acoustic guitar 
    
Recital recorded by Terry Miller August 16, 1985

[Continuation of 1985 Program Notes]
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance

Concerto for the Double Bass
	Capuzzi was an Italian composer of the late 18th century whose works, predominantly operas and symphonies, were lost for the most part.  This concerto was found in the British Museum, and is dedicated to Kavalier Marcantonio Montenigo, who most probably was a performer on the double bass.  The concerto’s challenging variety of melodic patterns make this work an icon of double bass literature.

El Camél  
	This song first made its appearance arranged for French horn and guitar.  The second time, the guitar played the melody while piano filled in the harmony.  This arrangement is for double bass and piano, which comes as no surprise … I wonder what I’ll try next …

Improvisation No. 7 in C Major
	Poulenc was a French composer and pianist who was dubbed a member of “Les Six”, a group of French composers and musicians, early in his career.  During the first part of his career, however, he was not thought of as a serious composer by many critics for the simplicity and directness of his writing.  In his piano music, he was insistent on there being “beaucoup de pedale”, and considered melody the most important element of all.  His own favorite pieces were 15 improvisations ranging in date from 1932-1959.  Improvisation No. 7 in C Major was published separately in 1933.

L’Éléphant			     
L’Éléphant  is the fifth movement from Saint-Saens’ “Le Carnaval des Animaux.”  Saint-Saens dashed this work off in a few days while on vacation as a private joke.  Saint-Saens cared deeply about his reputation as a composer and never allowed it to be published during his lifetime.  It would have caused him the bitterest of annoyance had he known that this witty extravaganza was to become his most popular work.

All Mimsy
	This is a new work by a new composer who is so new that nothing can be found to say about him.  Let it be said that this work features movements based on different fundamental technical difficulties such as string crossings or quick shifts from pizzicato to arco, to name two, set to jazz harmonies.  The titles of the movements as well as the work as a whole are words that appear in the poem “Jabberwocky” from “Through the Looking-Glass” by Lewis Carroll.

[End of 1985 Program Notes]
Notes on Encore:  Gymnopédie No. 1  
I found the guitar music of perhaps Erik Satie’s most famous and well-loved work in the January 1985 issue of Guitar Player Magazine (with Rik Emmett on the cover, lead guitarist for Canadian hard-rock power trio Triumph, a great guitarist).

Modern tributes:  I wish to thank Debra Stehr (bassist who was my instructor 1984-1985) and Anne Schaffner (cellist who was my bass instructor 1982-1984) for granting me benefit of their musical expertise that gave me great aid in completing my Bachelor of Music degree in string bass performance; Debra for my senior recital and Anne for my junior recital (April 1984).

Marina Azar, Kris Jorgenson, and Betty McGehee

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