LEXINGTON GUITAR TRIO: Dragons, Moods & Safaris - 20th and 21st Century Music for 3 Guitars

Lexington Guitar Trio

Dragons, Moods & Safaris - 20th and 21st Century Music for 3 Guitars

© 2004 Lexington Guitar Trio (684023100321)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

This is a musically-entertaining CD by an award-winning classical guitar ensemble playing music from the early 20th Century through the early 21st Century by American, European, and Latin American composers.

notes

Even before reaching its second anniversary, the LEXINGTON GUITAR TRIO has performed in several states, won a top prize in a rare national chamber guitar competition, and produced its first CD. Its competition triumph was being a finalist and third-place winner of the Mid-America Chamber Guitar Competition at the Festival by the same name held in the Chicago area in March of 2003.

Christopher Bingcang, Duane Corn, and Michael Fogler found each other in Lexington, Kentucky and originally were playing with a fourth player in a quartet. When the fourth player decided to leave the group very early on, the three remaining players decided to go with the trio.

LGT enjoys a wide-ranging repertoire from the Baroque and Classical to the Spanish and Latin American and beyond. Particularly rewarding for the trio has been connecting with contemporary composers writing music for three guitars. Highly-regarded Portland, Oregon composer, Bryan Johanson sent the group two of his unpublished, hand-written manuscripts. The result of this has been the performing and recording of Johanson's Dragon Dance and Sakura Safari - all with the praise and approval of the composer himself. LGT continues to carve itself out a niche as a guitar ensemble actively seeking innovative, high quality music for three guitars from the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century.

CD PROGRAM NOTES:

Guitarists love to play Spanish music like the two selections from Manuel de Falla and the two from Isaac Albeniz. This music sounds quite at home on guitar; and with a group of guitars, it's even better. De Falla's Corregidor from El Sombrero de Tres Picos (The Three Cornered Hat) and the Danza del Juego de Amor from El Amor Brujo (The Enchanting Love) are from orchestral ballet scores. Canción de Cuna (a lullaby) and Córdoba (named after the famous Spanish city) are piano pieces by Albeniz.

Paul Hindemith, a giant among twentieth-century composers with an enormous list of compositions, wrote exactly one piece involving guitar, and it's this short Rondo for Three Guitars. The Rondo was composed as a musical intermezzo for a music festival in Berlin in 1925. It's a wonderful, chromatic little gem, which only leaves us wishing he had written more.

Stepan Rák, a guitarist-composer from the Czech Republic, has written numerous guitar solo and ensemble pieces. The Four Moods title is a bit deceiving. There are actually at least two moods per Mood - a real study in contrasts.

L'Evasion by Astor Piazzolla is, of course, a tango. What else did he write? He's the undisputed Tango King from Argentina. This was probably for some kind of bandoneon group. Piazolla's tangos are very popular these days, being played by every sort of musical instrumentation one can imagine.

Baião de Gude is a thoroughly Brazilian piece by Paulo Bellinati, a celebrated guitarist-composer in that country. Baião is a dance from the northeast of Brazil, and "de Gude" refers to "Bolas de Gude," a game of marbles played by Brazilian children. We just think it's a cool piece.

Bryan Johanson's music was a discovery for us. We were privileged to have the two pieces represented here sent to us by the composer in hand-written manuscript form. At the time of our recording this music, these pieces were not yet published or recorded. Johanson's music is wild, crazy, fun, and challenging. Dragon Dance is a sharply rhythmic piece, full of dissonance and energy. It was written in the year 2000 - the Chinese Year of the Dragon. Sakura Safari, completed at the end of 2001 is in a class by itself. Going from "Bartok pizzicatos" to tremolo to rhythms and sounds which indicate rock 'n' roll roots, it weaves the Japanese Sakura theme in and out. A through-composed multi-section piece, the Safari gradually builds toward a rousing climax. It's hard to describe this piece; but by the time we've finished playing it, it feels like we've been on a safari and back.

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • excellant CD; guitar trios are so uncommon
    author: bob owen

    I am enjoying this CD a lot. I play in an amateur guitar trio and we're working on one piece on the CD, the Hindemith Trio. It's great to hear it played so well by 3 very talented guitarists.

  • Astonishing...technical mastery...musical sensitivity
    author: Bryan Johanson, composer/guitarist, Portland State Univeristy

    The Lexington Guitar Trio is astonishing.  This recording has all the things I want:  interesting repertoire, great musicianship, flawless performances, wit, verve, and pluck.  They make three guitars sound at once like one instrument and a full orchestra.  They play with technical mastery and musical sensitivity, and their recording has been a source of great musical enjoyment for me and anyone with whom I have shared it.

  • Great selections presented with absolute joy.
    author: Timothy Smith, Minor7th.com

    All too often I have found myself turned off from an otherwise good intentioned disc that attempts a cursory glance at the cultural diversity of guitar music. I am therefore pleased to report that this recent release by the Lexington Guitar Trio suffers not from the ludic wanderings found in other such recordings. Rather, this ensemble appears to have carefully compiled and researched their selections. An indisputable highlight is the "Sakura Safari" by Bryan Johanson which is a truly epic rendition of this well known Japanese melody. The most striking quality of this CD however, is the absolute joy that it projects. There is no moment in this recording in which this listener was not convinced of this trio's dedication to these works and their performance. © Timothy Smith

  • author: CD Baby

    This award-winning classical guitar ensemble presents music from the early 20th Century through the early 21st Century by American, European, and Latin American composers in this sophisticated 13-track album. The perfect combination of refined skill, precise delivery and exceptional expression and emotion, it's no surprise why they stand out in their genre. With the closely intertwined and yet independent voices of three guitars, this trio delivers a complementary mix of compositional styles from Astor Piazzolla to local Portland composer, Bryan Johanson; everything from mind-boggling, contemporary classical technique to standard classical repertoire.

  • perfect combination of refined skill, precise delivery and exceptional expressio
    author: Tamara Turner, CD Baby

    This award-winning classical guitar ensemble presents music from the early 20th Century through the early 21st Century by American, European, and Latin American composers in this sophisticated 13-track album. The perfect combination of refined skill, precise delivery and exceptional expression and emotion, it's no surprise why they stand out in their genre. With the closely intertwined and yet independent voices of three guitars, this trio delivers a complementary mix of compositional styles from Astor Piazzolla to local Portland composer, Bryan Johanson; everything from mind-boggling, contemporary classical technique to standard classical repertoire.

email

Please log in to email this artist.