In “Echomythia” my interest focused on modern music for guitar and especially on such music orienting itself towards jazz and latin sounds. Besides, the original title of this CD was “Jazz, Latin and Brazilian vibes for guitar”; however, the synthetic word “Echomythia” attracted me because of its poetical spirit. Some of the compositions contained in “Echomythia” stem directly from jazz and they have been arranged or just transcribed for solo classic guitar. Alongside with them, authentic guitar works are also presented. Some of these works have been regarded, for many years, as landmarks in the guitar repertoire; some others, although not so well known, are to be considered as significant contributions to the literature of the instrument.
The curtain opens with two swings of Raphaël Faÿs (b. 1960): “Romantique voyage” and “Dans les yeux de Michèle”, here arranged using Faÿs' raw materials, i.e. Faÿs' jazz trio (leed guitar, rhythm guitar and bass). The French musician is regarded as a skillful successor of Django Reinhardt's tradition and one of the very few guitarists combining jazz and classical music both as a performer and a composer. The music of the Belgian gypsy composer Django Reinhardt (1910–1953) is our next stop, the very well known “Nuages” (The Clouds). It is an original swing, arranged with particular success by an expert of this kind, Roland Dyens. Reinhardt, figuring among the most famous jazz performers of all times, has moved and astonished many generations of guitarists and friends of jazz. Quite a few different versions of “Nuages” have been left in discography by Reinhardt; in any case, “Nuages”, alongside with “Minor Swing”, “My Sweet”, “Belleville”, and “Djangology”, is one of his most recognizable works. Quite close to the jazz climate, though enriched with elements of the Brazilian music tradition, are the next four pieces of the Brazilian guitarist and composer Marco Pereira (b. 1956): “Plainte” (brazilian waltz), “Tio Boros” (street samba), “Marta” (brazilian waltz) and “Pixaim” (frevo). They make classic guitar technique incorporate techniques of the brazilian jazz guitar. Interesting innovations are the “slaps”, which are not normally used in classical music.
As for the Paraguayan composer Agustín Barrios-Mangoré (1885–1944), special references need not be provided. He was the most influential guitarist of the first half of the twentieth century and the first who recorded music for solo guitar on gramophone discs. From his numerous works, two of the less well known are here presented: “Preludio” in C minor and “Las Abejas” (The Bees). The first one is a sensitive introduction and the second one a piece which belongs to the category of Barrios's “mimetic” compositions, alongside with the more acquainted “La Catedral” (The Cathedral) and “Un sueño en la floresta” (A dream in the forest). Nevertheless, the most important guitar composer of the second half of the twentieth century may well be Roland Dyens (b. 1955). Indeed, Guitarist magazine rated him among the hundred best guitarists worldwide, no matter of what specific kind. Since many years his music has been an integral part of the guitar repertoire. Two of his compositions are presented in “Echomythia”, which again belong to the ones not frequently listened to. The first one, “Valse des Loges” (Dressing room valse), which belongs to the collection bearing the general title “Trois pièces polyglottes”, was written progressively, during Dyens' waiting in various concert hall dressing rooms; whereas the second one, “Hommage à Villa-Lobos”, is dedicated to the national composer of Brazil, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and in fact it consists of four parts: “Climazonie”, “Danse caractérielle et bachianinha”, “Andantinostalgie” and “Tuhũ”. However, only the last two parts are presented in this disc.
Afterwards, here come the two “Cafés” written by the Bosnian composer Vojislav Ivanovic (b. 1959): “Café 2, Tear Prelude” and “Café 5, Nostalgia, Tremolo study”, belonging to the six pieces collection with the title “6 Pièces de Café”. Vojislav Ivanovic has been living and working in Athens since 1990. He has excelled both as a composer and as a performer, whereas he is currently being occupied with jazz and ethnic music and particularly with the promotion of Balkan music heritage.
From his country's music heritage, Venezuela, comes the inspiration of Luis Zea (b. 1953), the composer of “Pajarillo”. This is a composition trying to imitate the specific tuning and playing of the traditional harp Lianera, a very popular instrument in Venezuela.
A quite special case is the next work, “Góra”, by the Czech Štĕpán Rak (b. 1945), a composer who has written countless pieces, both published and unpublished, for guitar. The first part, Tempo di Rubato, is performed with the left hand only (a case which demands virtuosity, while producing a very special tone timbre). The second part, Prestissimo, follows the tradition of the Rumanian Czardas, with the frenetic rhythm and bacchic character.
A totally different flavor, when compared to all previous pieces, is contained in “La Cueva del Gato”, a Rondeña of Paco de Lucia (b. 1947), from the album “Almoraima”. Possibly the most popular guitarist of all times, a flamenco guitar legend whose real name is Francisco Sánchez Gómez, Paco de Lucia is a composer and guitarist, as well as the leader of the Modern Flamenco style. Moreover, he is one of the very few flamenco artists having successfully crossed the borders of other musical kinds such as jazz, classic and ethnic music.
The CD is concluded with one more arrangement, this time of the famous orchestral interlude “The Flight of the Βumblebee” from the opera “The tale of Tsar Saltan”, composed by Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908). The full title of the opera in english is “The tale of Tsar Saltan, of his son the renowned and mighty Bogatyr prince Gvidon Saltanovich and of the beautiful Princess-Swan” and it is based on a poem bearing this same name and written by Aleksandr Pushkin. “The Flight of the Βumblebee” closes Act 3, Tableau 1, right after the magic Swan-Bird gives Prince Gvidon Saltanovich (the Tsar's son) instructions on how to transform into an insect, so that he can fly away to visit his father.
Dimitris Kotronakis
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