A collection of recent classical guitar recordings, mostly dances (Terpsichore is the Muse of dance).

This is the second of three Cuban dances, originally composed for the piano by Ernesto Lecuona and adapted for guitar by the great Manuel Barrueco. The title of this piece, "La comparsa," means an extra or extras who perform in a theatrical piece, or at carnival, which perhaps accounts for the shift from the rather serious and dramatic minor key opening to the more festive major key in the second half.

Cuban Dances 2: La Comparsa

An addition "suite" of Baroque lute works by David Kellner, this time in D major

Full Circle

Aria

The first movement of the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro that Bach wrote in 1735; the manuscript specifies that these pieces are for lute or harpsichord, so it is most often performed on guitar today. I love this piece —— a constantly moving melodic line with a restless and relentless forward movement. This is the first piece I've recorded with my matched pair of Røde mics, and they sound amazing. Absolutely no distortion, fidelity that's a little too perfect (you can literally hear me opening my mouth from time to time, so I'll need to work on mic placement!).

J.S. Bach BWV 998: Prelude

20th Century Classical Guitar

Electric Counterpoint III

Electric Counterpoint II

Electric Counterpoint I

An anonymous piece from the 1700s, but composed for the lute.

Minuet In E Major

Composed by the Viennese Wenzel von Radolt, and published in a 1701  collection of lute pieces; it's charming and it's a canon like "Row, row, row your boat."

Minuet in Canon

Originally for solo violin (BWV 1002), although there is speculation that it may also have played on the lute. The sarabande was supposed to be a slow and stately Baroque dance.

Sarabande

The double is paired with the sarabande (BWV 1002), and played right afterward; structurally, it is in fact exactly the same piece, put elaborated in a different time signature (9/8) and much faster. This was called the "broken style" in the Baroque and I really like it -- it is only ever one note at a time, but done in such a way as to suggest both a melody and a harmony at the same time.

Rob Rushing

Popular tracks