By Clinton White
There’s a special quality about classical guitar playing – it evokes a peace and a calm. Even when it’s doing full-on flamenco or fortissimo agitato, that peace and calm sits underneath comfortably and reassuringly.
And so it is with Rupert Boyd’s new
album, The Guitar. In a program as diverse as Bach and
Lennon/McCartney, Boyd captures that peace and calm beautifully on his
Smallman, from 2011.
The guitar is one of the most
versatile instruments. Whilst it enjoys
a plethora of music specially written for it, its ability to create melodies
and harmonies simultaneously, as well as the full range of expression, means lots
of other music can be adapted for it with relative ease. Thus it is with The Guitar, with five of the seven offerings being arrangements of
works written without the guitar in mind.
Two bossa novas by Jobim are at the
top of the program, with Roland Dyens’ arrangement of the first, Felicidade, tricking the listener into
thinking the opening driving rhythm will resolve into something quite
rocky. But Jobim’s unmistakable bossa stylings
come through soon after, albeit in that up-tempo mood that continues
throughout. A gentler bossa style
follows in Paulo Bellinati’s arrangement of Estrada
Branca.
Then follows a brilliant work by the
Spanish guitarist and composer, Fernando Sor, who shared the first 13 years of
his life with Mozart’s last. He must
have liked Mozart’s music (don’t we all?) because he wrote a set of variations
on a theme from The Magic Flute. This is a well-known and much-loved work in
the guitar repertoire and presents quite some challenges for the
guitarist. Boyd meets the challenge head
on, giving an assured performance.
Equally assured is his performance of
Bach’s Suite in E Major, BWV 1006a,
the second iteration of the partita for solo violin, from around 1740.
Conjecture has it that the re-working was for the lute, but some argue that it
was for the lute-harpsichord (Bach owned a couple). Either way, it fits perfectly on the guitar,
and Boyd gives it life and energy.
The Guitar also sports an Australian composition – a work transcribed for guitar from the
original piano composition, A Closed World
of Fine Feelings, by Graeme Koehne.
It’s an introspective work, written for, in Koehne’s words, “a slightly naïve,
wonderfully sensitive and somewhat introverted individual”. It has some unique harmonies and a middle
section that contrasts the outer parts, and Boyd gives the piece a lovely
sensitive treatment – peace and calm shining through.
The second work written specially for
guitar comprises the first ten short movements of Cuban composer, Leo Brouwer’s
Estudios Sencillos (“Simple Studies”). Boyd paints wonderful imagery from a palette
of rich colours, exploring the many timbres of his instrument.
The Uruguayan guitarist Baltazar Benitez
wrote arrangements for guitar of some of Astor Piazzolla’s music and The Guitar carries two of them – Milonga del Angel and La Muerte del Angel, composed as music
for a play. The first “Dance of the
Angel” carries a gentle rhythm, with just an underlying hint of tango, and Boyd
plays some beautiful rubato in a most
sensitive treatment. The second, “Death
of the Angel”, starts much more up-beat and jazzy, with hints of flamenco and
tango, and a more reflective, balladic middle section, giving way to a return
of the stronger rhythms of the first, building a frenetic climax that ends
abruptly. Boyd pulls out the many moods
of the piece, particularly in the middle section, almost lulling the listener,
before snapping the listener back to attention for the conclusion.
Ending this delightful album is Boyd’s
own arrangement of Julia, by Lennon
and McCartney. It’s a quite short (2”),
reflective piece, which might seem somewhat incongruent to the rest of the
program on the album. But it fits quite
nicely, with a gentle rhythm and lovely harmonies underneath a very simple (almost
single note) melody. There are some modern
playing techniques, too, which give it just that little bit of extra colour.
The liner notes are excellent, with
each work given an engaging narrative, and in a type face that doesn’t require
a magnifying glass. Illustrations are
simple, yet poignant. The recording
quality is excellent, too; Boyd’s guitar is close-miked, giving the sound a
real presence and honesty.
The Guitar is
a very warmly entertaining album. Its diverse
programming gives it a versatility that takes the listener to many places, from
the concert hall to the favourite armchair at home. I’m looking forward to listening to its 60
minutes of warmth on a cold, wet, windy winter’s day, in front of the fire,
with a warming single malt, or perhaps next summer in the cool shade of the
garden, sipping on a pinot!