In keeping with the Special Focus theme of the Summer 2019 issue of CG—Guitar Methods—we’re delighted to present this newly minted video of the talented Norwegian guitarist Runar Kjeldsberg performing one of the etudes written by late-18th/early-19th century French composer and guitarist Charles Doisy, on an 1830 Gennaro Fabricatore guitar. As Kjeldsberg notes:
“Charles Doisy was a five string guitar virtuoso, who passed away in Paris in 1807. His method, Principe Généraux de la Guitare, contains lots of valuable information about performance practice of music written in his times. In the back of Principes Généraux there are 14 ‘Etudes pour la Guitare.’ I found them very interesting both technically and musically. Not only are they good studies, they also tell us a lot about what Charles Doisy thought was important to work on to become a good musician. I hope you as a listener also find this music interesting. I have chosen to begin my journey with the goal of recording all 14 Doisy studies, and share them with the world.”
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Indeed, Kjeldsberg has several of the Doisy etudes up on YouTube; all of them impressive works, and nicely shot and recorded. I first encountered Kjedlsberg a couple of years ago when he completed his masterful three-CD series of recordings of guitar works by François de Fossa. You can read my interview with him about that project here. He’s really doing important work in the field of early Romantic guitar! —Blair Jackson