SUITE LATINA in Its List of ‘Top Ten Classical Guitar Albums of 2019’

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in the indigenous tribal rituals of the tropical lowlands in the northeastern Bolivian department of Beni. In Spanish the word Tonada (Chile) can have many meanings and has been used in different contexts across the Spanish-speaking world. In Chile and Argentina, it is most commonly a love song in a major key that is often sung in parallel thirds, a feature device Ayala generously implemented in this romantic work. Vals (Peru) is a vals criollo, the transcultural relative of the European waltz, which enjoys great popularity in a range of local adaptations throughout South America. The Guariania (Paraguay) along with polca and purajheí is one of the most representative genres of Paraguay with the guariania being a slower derivation of the polca. Ayala’s tempo marking larghetto and his use of major seventh chords and dissonant suspensions in combination with the continuous juxtaposition of 3/4 and 6/8 amplify the intriguing allure of this movement. Gato y Malambo (Argentina), ‘gato and malambo’ are dances from the Argentine pampa. While gato is a lively creole dance for two couples, the malambo is traditionally danced by men. A fast dance in 6/8-time, it epitomises the Argentine gaucho culture and provides a counterpoint to the more nostalgic forms milonga, stilo or cifra. Oliver Fartach-Naini Oliver Fartach-Naini has toured across Europe, Asia, Australia and the USA. Described by The Australian as a

‘musician of the very top order’ and by Fanfare magazine in the US as ‘an essential conduit for some of today’s best music’, his pioneering ventures include the Persian Art Music CD “Didar – Live in Berlin” with Majid Derakhshani (Composition, Tar, Voice), Thea Nielsen (Flute) and Amir Abbas Zare (Daf) and his Schubert recording for Deutsche Grammophon (CD “Winter Journey”) with Richard Yongjae O'Neill (viola) and Lee Song-Ou (guitar), which topped the South Korean Classical Charts for three months in 2007. His most recent accolade was published in US magazine CLASSICAL GUITAR, which included his solo album SUITE LATINA in its list of ‘Top Ten Classical Guitar Albums of 2019’. Oliver Fartach-Naini has recorded 11 CDs for Deutsche Grammophon, Kreuzberg Records, Acoustic Music Records, Credia Classics and Ethnoclassics. For the German publisher Edition Margaux Oliver Fartach-Naini edits the “Collection Oliver Fartach-Naini”, a series of pieces, which composers from all over the world have written for Oliver Fartach-Naini and his ensembles. As the repertoire Suite Latina consultant for the AMEB classical guitar syllabus he published 7 graded repertoire Oliver Fartach-Naini guitar books with instructional commentary and a 1000 work repertoire list in 2011. A featured artist of the New York String Manufacturer LaBella, Oliver Fartach-Naini holds degrees from the ‘University of the Arts Berlin’, the Academy of Music and Friday 2 October, 1:10pm Theatre ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ in Leipzig and a PhD from the University of Adelaide. Oliver Fartach-Naini is senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music where his teaching commitments include classical guitar, postgraduate supervision, chamber music, music theory and music education.

PROGRAM more elusive second movement Tangostinato features harmonics again and combines the classical concept of ostinato with tango. En dos por cuartas is a play Suite Adelaires Máximo Diego Pujol on words. As a reference to the prominent use of quartal harmony in this milonga, the original term ‘en dos por cuatro’ as a common tango description for 2/4-time, Preludio has been adapted to ‘en dos por cuartas’ i.e. ‘in 2/fourths time’. The theme of Tangostinato harmonics continues as a linking feature of the entire suite. In the buoyant form of a En dos por cuartas traditional Argentinian vals the fourth movement Las Camelias refers the favourite Las Camelias flowers of Pujol’s mother: camellias. In the suite’s opening key of D Capicúa, Capicúa Spanish for palindrome, juxtaposes a syncopated pizzicato bass with an upper voice that is interspersed with thirds and again harmonics. Suite Latina Richard Charlton English born Richard Charlton (*1955) is Australia’s most frequently performed Preludio composer of guitar music. His oeuvre ranges from guitar solo and chamber music to Tango in the Dark choral and orchestral works and is documented on over thirty CDs. Richard Cancion de la rosa Charlton started playing the guitar at the age of 16 after moving from England to Vals by Moonlight Australia in 1962. Mostly self-taught in guitar and composition, Charlton feels that his voice is less the result of one specific school of thought than a language that Serie Americana Hector Ayala evolved by adopting and adapting gestures, rhythms and harmonies over time. Preludio Suite Latina was written in 2006 as an extended solo interlude for a flute and guitar Choro (Brazil) programme. Among new works which Carlo Domeniconi, Stephen Whittington and Takirari (Bolivia) Coco Nelegatti had written for Thea Nielsen and Oliver Fartach-Naini the purpose of Tonada (Chile) this solo suite was to diversify the instrumental setting and add stylistic blending to an Argentinian and Brazilian inspired duo programme titled Berlin Tango. The Vals (Peru) choro-inspired Preludio is the condensation of an improvisation that explores the Guarania (Paraguay) applicability of the lamenting major second that Charlton weaves through various Gato y Malambo (Argentina) registers. In contrast to the improvisatory process of the Preludio and reminiscing on his highly successful piece Tango in the Rain, Charlton’s work on Tango in the This concert of three suites for solo guitar pays tribute to the rich musical traditions Dark started with its title as an incentive to explore darker modes of expression. In of the Americas. the tango-typical ternary form, this evocative movement is characterised by One of today’s most popular and prolific guitarist-composers, Argentinian Máximo intermittent habanera pulsations and a skilfully tight voicing with major seventh and Diego Pujol (*1957) commenced his musical journey on his father’s neglected augmented chords. Canción de la rosa depicts a nostalgic memory of the smell of guitar at the age of eight. Inspired by tangueros such as Astor Piazzolla and a rose garden on a sunny afternoon. Starting with an improvised seed in the Rodolfo Mederos, Pujol also recalls his fascination with Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s absence of a title this lyrical composition evolved over time as it was honed further 1971 arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and the and further to include re-harmonisations, middle voices and sequences—echoing music of rock legends Luis Alberto Spineta and Charly Garcia. Pujol’s key role the lament motive of the Preludio further adds to its nostalgia. Looking through his models are Léo Brouwer (Cuba) and Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil) for their ability to sketchbooks for ideas to conclude the suite, Charlton came across Vals by maximise sonority with their ‘lenguaje guitaristico’, a maxim of ‘guitar friendly Moonlight, an homage to the Venezuelan composer Antonio Lauro. writing’ as an integral negotiator of the composition process. For his unmistakably Héctor Ayala (1914-1990) was born in Concordia, a small city on the shore of the Argentinian voice Pujol specifically seeks to merge traditional tango and folk forms Rio Uruguay in the Province of Entre Ríos in Argentina. Presumably self-taught he with classical music concepts; hence milonga, candombe, canción and vals are moved to Buenos Aires in his twenties where he performed with the legendary just as present in his work as classical forms like prelude, étude, sonata and tango guitarist Roberto Grela and in Abel Fleury’s famous guitar orchestra, the concerto. Escuadrón de Guitarras. Suite Adelaires was written for Oliver Fartach-Naini in November 2014. In an In the form of a stylistic journey Ayala’s Serie Americana depicts representative email Máximo Diego Pujol wrote: ‘I’ve just invented a new “Spanglish” word: musical folklore from six South American countries. Following the nostalgic laments Adelaires. It means Adelaide + Buenos Aires.’ The suite opens with a delicate and of the Preludio in E minor, the Choro (Brazil) evokes a strong sense of saudade. contemplative Preludio in the guitar-friendly key of D major, consisting almost Its lively voicing with frequent melodic bass responses is referred to as ‘baixaria’, entirely of arpeggiated quavers interspersed with harmonics. The harmonically the typically Brazilian style of guitar counterpoint. Takirari (Bolivia), has its origins