Giants of the Guitar - The Composers IV

It Thursday & pay day, so of course I am running a little behind.  But hey, it is still Thursday, right?  Anyway, we continue on our journey of exploration into the Giants of the Guitar with this week's focus on The Composers.  Most of the Music we have heard over the last couple of weeks has been solo works, concerti or works for other instruments transcribed for performance on the Guitar.  However the Guitar lends itself well to duos, trios and other groupings of instruments in an ensemble.  I have a particular affinity for the Baroque period with composers like Boccherini, Corelli and Vivaldi among my favorites as composers.  Luigi Boccherini wrote a large amount of chamber music, including over one hundred string quintets for two violins, viola and two cellos (a type which he pioneered, in contrast with the then common scoring for two violins, two violas and one cello), a dozen guitar quintets, not all of which have survived, nearly a hundred string quartets, and a number of string trios and sonatas (including at least 19 for the cello). His orchestral music includes around 30 symphonies and 12 virtuoso cello concerti.

I have the surviving Guitar Quintets for you today recorded in a marvelous performance by the ensemble La Magnifica Comunità with Eros Roselli on Guitar.  The play list includes Guitar Quintette Nr.1 d-moll G.445; Guitar Quintette Nr.3 B-dur G.447 22:41; Guitar Quintette Nr.5 D-dur G.449 44:45; Guitar Quintette Nr.6 G-dur G.450 1:04:25 ; Guitar Quintette Nr.4 D-dur G.448 1:19:59; Guitar Quintette Nr.2 E-dur G.446 1:38:21 and Guitar Quintette C-dur G.453 1:57:50.

Another form of ensemble expression is the Guitar Quartet.  There are some works written for a Guitar Quartet but a lot of the Guitar Quartet repertoire consists of transcriptions of works for other groupings.  One excellent example is the Orchestral Suite from the Opera Carmen by Georges Bizet.  The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet has transcribed the suite for Guitar Quartet and you will find their performance over on my tumblr.

And no I did not forget the eye candy, you will find the dynamite in denim in the Men In Jeans post down below and in Mr October, the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for sticking around, tune in tomorrow for more Giants of the Guitar.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!