Liz Hogg, guitar - Georgi Lekov, piano

Mertz: Barcarole, Op. 41
Carulli: Duos Nocturnes #1, Op. 189
Sor: Introduction & Variations On A Theme By Mozart, Op. 9
BREAK
Debussy: Préludes-#11. La Danse De Puck / #12. Minstrels
Sardelli: Wintertag
Vivaldi: Concerto In D Major, RV93

Program Notes:

Joseph Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) was an Austro-Hungarian guitarist and composer. This guitar + piano version (Op. 41) of Barcarole is a collaboration work of J.K. Mertz (guitar part) together with his wife Josefine Mertz; the version for 2 guitars is by J.K. Mertz. A barcarole is a traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers, or a piece of music composed in that style.

Ferdinando Maria Meinrado Francesco Pascale Rosario Carulli (1770-1841) was an Italian composer for classical guitar and the author of the influential Méthode complète pour guitare ou lyre, Op. 27, which contains music still used by student guitarists today. Although Carulli had grown up playing the cello, when he discovered the guitar at age 20 it was love at first sight, and he decided to dedicate his life to it. Without a teacher, he developed his own playing technique and went on to compose more than 400 pieces for his favorite instrument.

Fernando Sor (1778-1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the early Romantic era. This is one of Sor's most famous works for guitar. It was first published in London in 1821 and dedicated to Sor's brother Carlos. This piece embodies Sor's best characteristics as a composer, requiring great technique. It is a relatively frequently performed piece that serves as a “testing ground for every aspiring guitarist.” As said of this piece and Op. 7, the Folies d’Espagne, by Brian Jeffrey, author of the largest Sor biography to date, “no space is wasted and the music devotes itself not to “guitaristic” effects but only to itself.”

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Debussy's Préludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes each. Unlike some notable collections of preludes from prior times, such as Chopin's Op. 28 preludes, or the preludes from Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Debussy's do not follow a strict pattern of tonal centers. Although there were plans for writing music for Shakespeare’s As you Like It, Debussy’s five minutes of music for Le Roi Lear and the piano prelude La Danse de Puck, performed above by Debussy himself, are his only Shakespeare-based compositions. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck is the mischievous servant of Oberon, king of the fairies; Oberon has a magic horn, which sounds throughout the piece.
A minstrel was a medieval European entertainer. Originally describing any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool, the term later, from the sixteenth century, came to mean a specialist entertainer who sang songs and played musical instruments. This prelude is a musical description of different minstrels that demonstrates their various talents.

Federico Maria Sardelli (b. 1963) is an Italian conductor, historicist, composer, musicologist, comic artist, and flautist. He founded the medieval ensemble Modo Antiquo in 1984. WIntertag features hypnotic repeated motifs and undulating rhythms that shift the accent of the beat around to unexpected places, and create a trance like effect not entirely dissimilar to Phillip Glass and Steve Reich works.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, Vivaldi ranks amongst the greatest Baroque composers and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, giving origin to many imitators and admirers. The Lute Concerto in D major, RV 93, is one of four works featuring the solo lute, 2 violins, and basso continuo. Vivaldi wrote the piece in the 1730s, a period in which he wrote two of his other works featuring the lute: the trios for violin and lute in G minor and C major. Liz plays a guitar arrangement by former teacher Michael Newman, while Georgi plays the original harpsichord part on the piano.