We get so much sheet music sent to us by various publishers year ’round—literally hundreds of pieces in every setting imaginable (solo guitar, multiple guitars, guitar-flute, guitar-harp, etc.)—but we don’t have the space to write about the great majority of them in our four quarterly issues each year.
So, just as we are now listing new classical guitar CD releases every other Tuesday here, we now use the Tuesdays in between those to announce new print music releases. As with the CDs, these are not reviews per se (some will be reviewed in the magazine, but frankly most will not), but we think it’s important to at least get the word out about what’s being offered to guitarists out there. Where possible, we’ve linked the titles to the publisher’s website or some other outlet where it can be purchased, and stated the degree of difficulty (if provided by the publisher or it’s obvious). —Blair Jackson
Here is a link to our previous listings from October 25, November 8, November 22, December 6, December 20, January 3, January 17, January 31, February 14, February 28, March 14, March 28.
Christoph Willibald Gluck, arr. David Leisner
Dance of the Blessed Spirit (for cello and guitar, from Orpheus and Eurydice)
Theodore Presser Company, 4 pp. plus part
Fresh from the wonderful David Leisner-Zuill Bailey guitar-and-cello album, Arpeggione, comes this fine. moving arrangement an oft-played piece by by the German composer Gluck (1714–1787), from his 1762 opera, Orpheus and Eurydice.
Listen to the piece below:
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John Dowland
Dowland for Guitar: 24 Transcriptions (solo guitar, arr. Martin Hegel)
Schott Music, 38 pp.
English Renaissance lute giant John Dowland never seems to go out of fashion; indeed, his popularity seems to still be on the rise. According to Schott, “The editor [transcriber] Martin Hegel is dedicated to expanding the guitar repertoire in a varied and sensible way and making popular works of music history accessible even to guitar players at an intermediate level. His transcriptions, ranging from easy to intermediate, are perfectly adapted to the characteristics of the guitar.” Most of the 24 pieces are just a page long, with a couple running across two pages, and one to three.
Cesare Augusto Grandi
Et Expecto (solo guitar)
Ut Orpheus, 8 pp.
This 2009 piece by Italian composer Grandi (b. 1943) is described editor Piero Bonaguri as “very expressive (in the tradition of the ‘school’ of Bologna), well-written for the guitar, with the smart alternation of chordal passages, harmonic sounds, and melodic passages written to never sound empty.” Advanced.
Siyoh Tomiyama
Amazing Grace Variations 2017 (solo guitar)
Les Productions d’Oz, 8 pp.
Exactly what the title says: The famous hymn with many creative variations in the theme, tempo, rhythms; you name it. Some great strumming, harmonics, and other nice touches. Advanced. Watch Tomiyama play it below.