Canterbury Guitar Society Chairperson: Miles Roberts, Secretary/Treasurer: John Kemp, 61, Chipstead Lane, Chipstead, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 2AJ 55, South St., Whitstable, Kent CT5 3EA Tel: 01732 453523 Email: [email protected] Tel: 01227 265503 Email: [email protected] Gaëlle Solal FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE, CANTERBURY Monday 16th June 2014 7.30pm Gaëlle Solal Born in Marseilles (France) in 1978, Gaëlle began the study of the guitar at age of 6 with René Bartoli. At 14, she won three gold medals at the Conservatoire de Marseilles and, as the best student of all instruments, was awarded the Prix de la Ville de Marseille. She has studied with Alberto Ponce at Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris, Roberto Aussel at Musikhochscule Köln and Alvaro Pierri at Université du Québec à Montréal. She has enjoyed participating in master classes with legendary guitarists including Antigoni Goni, Pepe Romero, Roland Dyens, Oscar Ghiglia, Leo Brouwer, Alvaro Pierri and Joaquin Clerch. Her list of prizes ot international competitions includes: 1st Grand Prix at Alessandria Competition, 1st Prize in Locquémeau, 1st Prize in Savona, 1st Prize in Sernancehle, Finalist at Concert Artists Guild New York, Honor Diplom at Accademia Chigiana and 2nd Prize at Guitar Foundation of America. She has performed in the Festival d'Ile de France, Noches en los Reales Alcázares in Sevilla, Festival dAvignon, Festival Montpellier- Radio France and at Salle Cortot (Paris), Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley), Tsuda Hall, Nikkei Hall, Oji Hall in Tokyo, Merkin Concert Hall (NY), and the Guitar Foundation of American Convention in Columbus (GA). She recorded for NHK, France Musiques, RFI, and RAI. Gaëlle has performed in concert with the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Reims, the Berkeley Symphony, the Garde Républicaine Orchestra and the Philharmonic Turin Orchestra. She has toured in more than 30 countries including Germany, Myanmar, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Israel, Spain, France, Gabon, India, Iceland, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Palestine, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, USA and Japan. With a passion for contemporary music, Gaëlle has performed the premiere performances of the Concerto by Maurice Ohana, the Double Concerto by Naomi Sekiya with Kent Nagano in Berkeley and three new compositions at the Cordoba Guitar Festival 2006. Gaëlle’s eclectic passions have led her to combine her commitment as a performer with teaching as well as dance and theater experiences. She has created two solo recital projects “Sol” where she travels around the borders of classical and popular music and "Açaï," totally dedicated to Brazilian music. An appreciated and challenging teacher, she now travels the world presenting concerts, master classes and workshops and serving as juror at international competitions. Her next concerts will include a USA Tour with recitals in Ohio, Texas, Florida, and California. Additional concerts are scheduled in Germany, Singapore, France, Portugal and Italy. Gaëlle plays guitars by Daniel Friederich and Manuel Contreras and performs on Savarez Cantiga strings. Programme Prelude BWV 995 J.S.Bach Constance* Guinga Chaconne from Partita* 2 J.S. Bach Di menor* Guinga Drama Köprüsü (Traditional Turkish Palhaço* Egberto Gismonti theme arranged by Kevin Seddiki) Brejeiro* Ernesto Nazareth 20 Abril (Planh), from Si le jour paraît... Maurice Ohana Agua e vinho* Egberto Gismonti Torre Bermeja Isaac Albeniz Lamentos do morro * Garôto INTERVAL *Arrangements: Gaëlle Solal ***EXTRA FIRE EXIT: Door to left of the kitchen hatch*** *** Please SWITCH OFF your MOBILE PHONE!*** LIGHT REFRESHMENTS will be available in the interval. We have a collection box to offset some of the costs of refreshments and the programme notes. CDs will be on sale as usual. J. S. Bach (Germany, 1685-1750) Bach had a masterly understanding of the lute, and, along with his friend and almost exact contemporary, Sylvius Leopold Weiss, was one of the last composers to write for the instrument before its modern revival. He wrote seven works, some original, some his own transcriptions of works he wrote for other instruments. They are now are an important part of the guitar repertoire. The Suite in G minor BWV 995, was written between the spring of 1727 and the winter of 1731, and is Bach's own transcription of his Cello Suite No. 5, BWV 1011. It appears that the cello version came first, though experts agree that Bach was profoundly attached to the lute, invariably introducing religious symbolism into his compositions for that instrument. The Prelude, which opens with a stately, deliberate, almost verbose introduction is followed by a brisk, laconic fugue. Seemingly different in spirit, the two sections nevertheless easily coalesce in the listener's mind, constituting a logical and aesthetically convincing entity. The ciaccona (commonly titled by the French form of the word chaconne), the concluding movement of Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004, surpasses the duration of the previous four movements combined. Along with its disproportional relationship to the rest of the suite, it merits the emphasis given it by musicians and composers alike. The theme, presented in the first four measures in typical chaconne rhythm with a chord progression based on the repeated bass note pattern D D C♯ D B♭ G A D, begets the rest of the movement in a series of variations. The overall form is tripartite, the middle section of which is in major mode. It represents the pinnacle of the solo violin repertoire in that it covers every aspect of violin playing known during Bach's time. It is still one of the most technically and musically demanding pieces for the instrument, described by Yehudi Menuhin as "the greatest structure for solo violin that exists". Violinist Joshua Bell has said the Chaconne is "not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It's a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect." This famous Chaconne was first transcribed for guitar by Segovia, and many other players have made their own versions, assisted by study of how Bach approached the adaptation for lute of his own works for unaccompanied violin and cello. Drama Köprüsü A Turkish song is based on the legend of Debreli Hasan, who lived at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He was a soldier who killed his superior after a quarrel and was jailed in Drama. He escaped from the prison to hide in the mountains where he lived as a bandit. He was more or less like Robin Hood of English folklore. He robbed the rich and supported the poor. Before becoming a bandit he had been engaged to be married. Judging that life in the mountains would be too difficult for his fiancée, he broke his engagement, but continued to send her presents even when she married another man. According to the legend, he was later pardoned by the sultan. Kevin Seddiki (France, b. 1981) started playing guitar when he was 8. From his childhood, he remembers having listened to very different music styles, such as classical, jazz, and pop, among others. (His favorite artists were Mozart, Miles Davis, Sting, Fela, etc.). That maybe explains why his 'speciality' is his versatility and his eclecticism. He studied classical guitar at Clermont Ferrand, and then at Strasbourg's Conservatory with Argentinean master Pable Marquez He also composed for solo guitar, and taught. In April 2009, he won the prestigious European Guitar Award. He records for Wildner Records, who provided this short note. Maurice Ohana (Gibraltar/France 1913-1992) was born in Casablanca, Morocco (during the French protectorate). His father, an Andalusian of Sephardic-Jewish descent, had been born in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, while his mother had Andalusian-Castilian origins. Ohana inherited British citizenship from his father. He originally studied architecture, but abandoned this in favour of a musical career, initially as a pianist. He studied under Alfredo Casella in Rome, returning to France in 1946. Around this time he founded the "Groupe Zodiaque", which fought against prevailing musical dogma. His mature musical style shows the influence of Mediterranean folk music, particularly the Andalusian cante jondo. In 1976 he took French citizenship. Ohana's output includes the choral works Office des Oracles and Avoaha (1992), three string quartets (1963, 1980, 1989), and two suites for ten-string guitar: Si le jour paraît... (1963) and Cadran lunaire (1981-2), as well as a Tiento for six-string guitar (1957).[5] He also wrote operas entitled Syllabaire pour Phèdre and La Celestina. He is also known for his extensive use of microtonality, for example, third- and quarter-tones in pieces like Le Tombeau de Debussy and Si le jour paraît.... He was influenced by the use of microintervals in the cante jondo. Ohana rarely composed for large symphony orchestra: Synaxis (1966), Livre des Prodiges (1979) and T'Harân- Ngô (1973-1974). He composed two cello concertos, one piano concerto, and a guitar concerto (1950–58) dedicated to Narciso Yepes. Isaac Albeniz (Spain. 1860-1909) was a was a child prodigy pianist who first performed at the age of four. At age seven he passed the entrance examination for piano at the Paris Conservatoire, but he was refused admission because he took out a ball from his pocket and broke a glass window while playing with it. In 1883 he met the teacher and composer Felipe Pedrell, who inspired him to write Spanish music such as the Suite Española No. 1, Op. 47. Many of his compositions were transcribed for guitar – firstly by Francisco Tárrega (best known for the Nokia Ringtone), and subsequently by everybody and his dog. Albéniz himself preferred Tárrega's guitar transcriptions to his original piano versions, but he neither played nor wrote for the instrument.