[1] TANSMAN: Segovia*
SEGOVIA (1893-1987)
ELIOT FISK, Guitar
SEGOVIA: Canciones populares de distintos paises
[2] INGLESA: Andantino*
[3] TSCHECA: Tranquillo*
[4] VASCA: Andantino*
[5] ESCOCESA: Moderato assai*
[6] IRLANDESA: Andante*
[7] POLACA: Andante*
[8] RUSA: Andante energico*
[9] SERBA: Andante*
[10] SUECA: Moderato*
[11] FINLANDESA: Quasi andante*
[12] CROATA: Allegretto*
[13] BRETONA: Allegretto*
[14]ESLOVANIA: Moderato*
[15]POLACA: Non troppo andante*
[16]CATALANA: Quasi allegretto*
[17] CATALANA: Andante* 2
[18] ROUSSEL: Segovia, Op. 29
[19] LUYS DE NARVAEZ: Canción del Emperador
[20] C.P.E. BACH (formerly attrib. to J.S, Bach): Marcia
[21] C.P.E. BACH: Siciliana
[22] HAYDN: Menuet & Trio (from String Quartet Op. 76 No. 1)
[23] CHOPIN: Preludio, Op. 29 No. 7: Andantino
[24] SCHUMANN: Romanza
[25] BRAHMS: Walzer, Op. 39 No. 8
[26] MANUEL PONCE: Prelude
[27] MUSSORGSKY: The Old Castle (from Pictures at an Exhibition)
[28] FRANCK: Two pieces for organ (from L'Organiste, FWV 41)
[29] DEBUSSY: La fille aux eheveux de lin
[30] SCRIABIN: Prelude, Op. 16 No. 4: Lento
[31] MILHAUD: Segoviana
[32] SEGOVIA: Estudio sin luz
[33] SEGOVIA: La Macarena*
[34] SEGOVIA: Preludio No. 14 en si menor, Para Deli
[35] SEGOVIA: Estudio en mi mayor
(1912): Allegretto*
[36] CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO: Tonadilla
sur le nom de Andrés Segovia, Op. 170 No. 5
*World Première Recordings
It has been said that all philosophy is but a footnote to Plato. I like to think of all classical guitarf playing as a footnote to the work of Andrés Segovia y Torres (18931987). The story of Segovia's resolve to devote his life to the guitar, a decision made while still but a boy, has passed into legend. It is easy to forget, however, that when he began his crusade, the glorious tradition of plucked string instruments, which itself dates back to the origins of Western instrumental music, had been largely forgotten. Indeed, Segovia's charisma and unique poetic gift launched a veritable reconquista that re-established the guitar as a “serious" instrument, and proved it capable of realizing a repertoire of polyphonic art music spanning five centuries. As Virgil Thomson put it in a paraphrase of the credo of Islam, “There is no guitar but the Spanish guitar, and András Segovia is its prophet."
When I was a boy, Thomson's sentiment would have been enthusiastically echoed by any serious classical guitarist alive But fashions change, architectonic plates shift, and the cultural land scape transforms itself. Stokowski, Casals, Rubinstein, Horowitz, Milstein, Landowska, Kirkpatrick and Segovia, musical gods of my youth, are all
gone now. Their cultured romanticism, certainly the quality that turned me on to classical music in the first place, has even come under attack. But even when we try to pay homage to these legendary interpreters, as in the reissuing of their recordings, distortion, can occur. For example, the old, heavy crackling 33s that brought the voice of Segovia's guitar to millions could accommodate only around 20 minutes of music per side. In the process of transferring these recordings to CD format, which allows for an uninterrupted flow of more than 70 minutes, the original Segovia discs have been reordered and recombined according to composer and genre. While this simplifies the cataloging process for libraries and record stores, it alters the artistic effect. The present recording, although necessarily in CD form, attempts to imitate the effect (and affect!) of those old 33s.
The immediate stimulus for this tribute is not just the tenth anniversary of the Maestro's passing but also the discovery by Madame Emilia Segovia, of a number of forgotten compositions by her husband. The most extensive of these are a set of 22 folk songs from various countries originally intended for publication by Schott and completed in Montevideo in May of 1941. These
remarkable miniatures are balanced by a group of the Maestro's transcriptions as well as a selection studies and preludes. I have utilized four pieces bearing Segovia's name composed by Tansman, Roussel, Milhaud and Castelnuovo-Tedesco to delineate the three categories. The number "4" is also a structural principle within the categories themselves: there are 16 (4 x 4) folk song settings, 12 (3 x 4) transcriptions and 4 Estudios or Preludios.
I like to think of the folk songs as a plea for world peace, in the wake of the war in the Balkans -- Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia can co-exist here in perfect harmony (although I noticed that by chance in my ordering, Serbia and Croatia happen to be separated by a couple of Scandinavian countries!). The collection closes with a pair of Catalonian Christmas songs, El nit de nadal and El noi de la mare, both known to guitarists through the settings done by Segovia's slightly older contemporary, the Catalan virtuoso Miguel Llobet. Throughout the transcription I wanted to give a feeling for the breadth and scope of Segovia's interests without overwhelming the intimate quality of the preceding pieces. For me, Segovia's transcriptions, which
really did span five centuries of western musical thought, served as an introductory course in music history, I wanted to reflect that here. The Navarez Canción del emperador is itself actually a free transcription of a vocal work by the great Josquin des Prez, entitled "Milles Regretz. " Segovia's version is based on the transcription from the tablature into modem notation made by Emilio Pujol. Similarly, his version of the Chopin is actually a reworking of an earlier transcription of Francisco Tarrega. The Ponce was actually composed for guitar, but it is Segovia's adaptation that makes the work sing. This was such a signature piece of the Maestro per that I could not resist including it here. Indeed, Segovia also recorded it with Rafael Puyana in a delightful version for guitar and harpsichord from which, in the penultimate measure, I have stolen a final echo of the main theme. (In the early part of his career, Segovia played a Kreisler-like trick with this piece, announcing it as the work of the great baroque lutenist S.L. Weiss. This earned it the nick- name of “Ponce’s secret Weiss” –the latter pronounced in German like “vice!”)
The four Estudios and Preludios reflect personal events in Segovia's life. The famous Estudio sin Luz ("Study without
Light") was written during his convalescence from eye surgery. It is the opening of this piece which sounds on the hour in the clock in the main square of the city hall of Segovia's birthplace in Linares, Spain. The melody above the pedal point on G sharp in the middle section was also subtitled "Lullaby for Beatriz" after the Maestro's daughter, who later died prematurely in a tragic accident. The Macarena is a popular virgen of Sevilla. The Preludio para Deli was one of the many works dedicated to his beloved wife Emilia Segovia. The Maestro remarked that Madame Segovia was a delight, a delicia, hence the nickname "Deli." It was also the nickname of Doña Emilia who rediscovered the earliest known work of the Maestro (dated 1912) which closes out the group of studies and preludes heard here.
I am eternally grateful to Madame Emilia Segovia for making available to me, in the Maestro's original manuscript, the folk song settings, a number of the transcriptions, and all of the estudios and preludios heard here. Without her unflagging support and enthusiasm, this project would not only have been impossible but unthinkable. I am also grateful to Mrs. Rose Augustine, who first introduced me to Segovia back in 1974. Without her this project would not have
come to fruition. My deepest thanks and appreciation as well go to Mr. Alberto Poveda of Linares, who generously shared with me his enormous wealth of knowledge about the Maestro. (As Segovia used to say. "He knows more about my life than I do!") Thanks to my beloved colleague Phillip de Fremery, who transcribed the Mussorgsky and Ponce as well as the Estudio sin luz from Segovia's recordings, and who tirelessly faxed me many of the Maestro's now out-ofprint transcriptions. Thanks also to the Dossi brothers of Sonora, California, who sent me additional material that I was unable to obtain on short notice in Europe. Thanks, as ever, to my wonderful producer and editor, "Saint" John Taylor. And finally, as always, to Lydia, Marc and Mullah.
-Eliot Fisk
Albaicin, Granada 1996
Produced & engineered by John Taylor
Recorded May 17-20, 1996 in the Parish Church of the Holy Trinity, Weston, Hertfordshire, England. Photos courtesy of Eliot Fisk and Guitar Review
Design and layout: Audrey L. Verso
WARNING: All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
