GMCD 7176 You can order this CD in our E-Shop under Orchestral Music ***Sound Clips***	Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra No. 2 "El Alevín" Eduardo Angulo (b. 1954) World Première Recording Concierto de Aranjüez Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) Concerto for Guitar & Small Orchestra Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)   The Bournemouth Sinfonietta under Terence Frazor Rafael Jiménez - Guitar

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DDD Total Time = 67.11 / This recording was made after an extended tour with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta and a concert with the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra all under the baton of Terence Frazor. The recording was made during four sessions in the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth.

Eduardo Angulo - Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra No. 2 'El Alevín'
Eduardo Angulo was born in 1954 in Puebla, Mexico into a musical family. At the age of five he began piano lessons with his mother. At the age of seven he was accepted to the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, graduating with honours in 1973. Continuing his post-graduate studies in violin and composition at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, he received that institution's Award of Excellence upon graduation in 1975. Angulo subsequently began a concert career as a violin and piano soloist, performing throughout Europe, the United States and Mexico.

Angulo's major works, including "Suite Mexicana" (for string orchestra), "Die Vogel" (for guitar and string quartet) and two sonatas for guitar, have been performed in the major musical capitals of the world. He has also composed concerti for violin, harp, flute and guitar. In 1996 he received an Honorable Mention at the Alberto Ginastera International Competition for Composition in Buenos Aires for his "Two Prayers for Guitar and Orchestra". Currently Eduardo Angulo resides in Mexico City where he continues to compose symphonic, chamber and choral music.

The Second Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra ("El Alevin" translated "The Minnow") was composed in 1996 for a commission from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City and given its world premiere in Xalapa, Veracruz by Rafael Jiménez with the oldest orchestra in the Americas, The Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of the legendary conductor Francisco Savin on the 27th September 1996. The first performance in the United States was in 1997 with Rafael and the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of it's principal conductor Terence Frazor. The orchestration calls for piccolo, flute, oboe, cor anglais, pairs of clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets as well as harp, timpani and more than a dozen percussion instruments. "El Alevin" ( The Minnow) is cast in the traditional three movements with a strict classical format and a festive character. Its thematic material is taken from traditional Mexican music.

Rodrigo Concerto de Aranjüez
Joaquin Rodrigo belongs to that group of composers who, in spite of numerous works of excellent quality with a fresh sense of creativity, owe their fame to a single and often overplayed masterpiece. Composed in Paris in 1939, the Concierto de Aranjuez catapulted its author to instant international notoriety, setting unreasonable expectations within the world's musical community which Rodrigo was never able to fulfil. Yet for the remainder of his life he was bestowed with innumerable prizes and honorary degrees, thanks to the wide success of the Concierto.

Joaquin Rodrigo was born November 22, 1901 in the small Spanish village of Sagunto near Valencia. His musical studies took him to Paris, where he studied at the Sorbonne, and later with Paul Dukas at the Ecole Normale de Musique. In 1940, after the Spanish Civic War, he took his wife, the Istanbul-born pianist Victoria Kamhi, to settle in Madrid. Rodrigo has been a highly prolific composer, turning out numerous theatrical pieces, chamber and vocal pieces (some of which are set to the poetry of his wife) as well as concerti for violin, cello, harp and piano. But it is his compositions for the guitar which have been the most successful and have gained him the reputation of guitar composer of the century’ - an honour made all the more extraordinary since Rodrigo, admittedly, could not play four notes in a row’ on the instrument. The Concierto de Aranjuez is composed in the usual three movements and scored for a relatively large orchestra - considering the solo instrument is a guitar: 2 flutes/piccolo, 2 oboes/cor anglais, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, two trumpets and strings.

Following are the composers own remarks concerning the Concierto: "The first movement (allegro con spirito) is animated by a rhythmic spirit and vigor without either of the two themes contained within it interrupting its relentless pace. The second movement (adagio) represents a dialogue between guitar and solo instruments (cor anglais, bassoon, oboe, horn, etc.). There is a constant and persistent beat supporting the entire sound structure of this movement. The third movement (allegro gentile) recalls a courtly dance in which the combination of duple and triple time maintains a taut tempo right to the closing bar."


Heitor Villa-Lobos Concerto for Guitar and Little Orchestra
Since his death in 1959 Villa-Lobos has been recognised as the great genius of South American music. Yet the majority of the massive body of his works, which includes vocal and solo instrumental pieces, chamber music, opera, ballet, concerti and symphonies, is largely unknown and not often performed. The Concerto For Guitar And Small Orchestra falls into that small group of Villa-Lobos’ works which is beginning to be performed world-wide with some degree of regularity and recognised as the masterpiece it is. Heitor Villa-Lobos was born March 5, 1887 in Rio de Janeiro. Although his father, an amateur musician, gave him a rudimentary introduction to the cello and music theory, his knowledge of the guitar is entirely auto-didactic. Playing professionally in local theatres, night-clubs and bars, he developed an affinity for folk music as well for popular musicians. After extensive travels throughout his native Brazil, Villa-Lobos embarked upon his first trip to Europe, where, in an interview to the French press, he uttered the phrase Folklore is me While his music was always received with great acclaim in the United States and Europe (especially in France), Villa-Lobos met with constant critical resistance in Brazil. In an attempt to bring international standards to South America, he organised Brazil's Ministry of Artistic and Musical Education in 1921, an agency of which he was appointed Supervisor in 1932. His interest in music of the Baroque led to the creation of what is perhaps his most famous group of works, the Bachianas Brasileiras, begun in 1930 and completed in 1945. Written for various instrumental and vocal combinations in the spirit of the Brandenburg Concerti, this body of works successfully fulfils Villa-Lobos’ musical goals of infusing European classical traditions with the folk music of his native culture. In 1960 the Brazilian government established the Villa-Lobos Museum in Rio de Janeiro which sponsors an annual festival of the maestro's music.

The Concerto For Guitar And Small Orchestra was composed in 1951 after guitarist Andre Segovia commissioned a concerto from the Brazilian master. What Segovia got, a rather straight-forward Concertante Fantasia’ without even a cadenza in which to display his ample technique, displeased him greatly. Through the tactful intervention of the composer’s wife, Villa-Lobos reconsidered’ and produced the Concerto Segovia desired, reworking the Concertante and adding a cadenza at the end of the second movement. Composed in the traditional three movements, the Guitar Concerto is indeed chamber music in character. Calling for the relatively small forces of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trombone and strings, Villa-Lobos nevertheless creates a wonderfully broad and varied spectrum of colour and rhythm (achieved without the support of percussion instruments). Although the Guitar Concerto may seem somewhat subtle on first hearing, further investigation of this beautiful and exciting work yields bountiful rewards.

Page revised 30.06.03