Su, Meng

The Beijing Guitar Duo

Wang, Yameng

English

Ithaca College

Ithaca CollegeDigital Commons @ ICAll Concert & Recital Programs Concert & Recital Programs9-24-2010Guest Artist Recital: The Beijing Guitar DuoThe Beijing Guitar DuoMeng SuYameng WangFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programsPart of the Music CommonsThis Program is brought to you for free and open access by the Concert & Recital Programs at Digital Commons @ IC. It has been accepted forinclusion in All Concert & Recital Programs by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ IC.Recommended CitationThe Beijing Guitar Duo; Su, Meng; and Wang, Yameng, "Guest Artist Recital: The Beijing Guitar Duo" (2010). All Concert & RecitalPrograms. 4391.https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programs/4391Ithaca College Concerts 2010-11"Collaborations"The Beijing Guitar DuoMeng Su and Yameng WangFord HallSeptember 24, 20108:15 p.m.ProgramChaconne (from ViolinPartita No. 2 in D minor,BWV 1004)J. S. Bach (1685-1750)/Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)arr. for two guitars by Ulrich StrackeSonatina Canonica, Op. 196 Mosso, grazioso e leggeroTempo di SicilianeFandango en RondeauMario Casteluovo-Tedesco(1895-1968)AquarelleDivertimentoValseanaPreludio e ToccatinaSérgio Assad(b. 1952)Meng Su, solo guitarIntermissionThe Bridge of the Birds, op. 90 Carlo Domeniconi(b. 1947)Yameng Wang, solo guitarMaracaípeWistful RiderCrab WalkSérgio AssadSuite RetratosPixinguinha (Choro)Ernesto Nazareth (Valse)Anacleto de Madeiros (Schottisch)Chiquinha Gonzaga (Corta Jaca)Radamés Gnattali(1906-1988)Discography:  TonarmusicExclusive Management:  Arts Management Group, Inc.37 West 26th St. New York, NY 10010NotesBach/Busoni:  ChaconneOriginally the term chaconne denoted a dance of Spanish originand was said to be derived from a Basque word meaning “pretty”. It was a slow measure in 3/4 time, not unlike a sarabande, withthe accent on the second beat, usually a dotted quaver.  In thecourse of time, however, the chaconne developed into a set ofvariations on a ground-bass.  That is the form of the presentChaconne, which retains the characteristic rhythm.Busoni wrote the transcription for piano of the Chaconne fromBach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor, for unaccompanied violin andthis is Ulrich Stracke’s transcription for two guitars.  Thecomposition is based on a succession of chords which provide theharmonic ground over which the upper parts are continuouslyaltered.Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco:  Sonatina CanonicaMario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, born in Florence, studiedcomposition and piano at the Instituto Musicale Cherubini andlater at the Liceo Musicale of Bologna. His mentors were Pizzettiand Casella, members of the influential and progressive SocietàItaliana di Musica, a group of composers, including Malipiero andRespighi, with whom Castelnuovo-Tedesco became closelyassociated.Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s interest in writing for the guitar beganwith his introduction to Andrés Segovia, who had travelled toItaly with Manuel de Falla, at the Venice International Festival in1932. As a result he was to compose over a hundred works for theinstrument, including concertos, chamber music, many solos andsome of the finest pieces for two guitars.In 1939, as a result of Mussolini’s anti-Jewish edicts,Castelnuovo-Tedesco was obliged to seek refuge abroad, but aftersettling in California he became a prolific writer of film musicbetween 1940 and 1956, in the same period composing more thanseventy concert works. As a member of the faculty of the LosAngeles Conservatory of Music, he numbered among his pupilsHenry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, André Previn, and the composerJohn Williams.Sonatina Canonica, Op. 196, was written in 1961.  ThoughSonatina Canonica may by its title suggest a genre that paystribute to past styles, it is actually a thoroughly contemporarywork, lyrical and sometimes humorous in nature, with threecontrasting movements. The sonatina opening, grazioso e leggero(graceful and light), first presents a virtuoso blending of guitarcolours and strong melodic themes. A central section introducesskittish dotted rhythms with an elegantly ornamented quasiMusette, followed by a vigorous recapitulation which re-stateselements of the central part. The slow movement, Tempo diSiciliane, in 6/8, is one of the composer’s most tender andinspired offerings for the guitar, in which he skillfully deploys theguitar duo to achieve not only the articulation of beautiful themesbut also the careful working out of sublime chordal effects. Thencomes Fandango en Rondeau, ritmico e deciso (rhythmical anddecisive), an energetic dance yet with some moments ofintrospection, including a brief melody indicated as ‘expressiveand a little passionate’ before the main theme returns with itsvivacity and excitement.Sérgio Assad:  AquarelleAquarelle is the French word for watercolor, a traditional paintingstyle that uses pigments dissolved in water.  The first time I saw awatercolor I was impressed by the number of techniquesemployed to spread colors in different textures that give anethereal look to the painted subject.  Following the idea ofspreading pigments on a paper, I started building a motif of threenotes like three different pigments that form the basis of a palette. Based on this single motif, I created multiple voicing layers tosimulate the superposition of colors in an aquarelle.  Thethree-note melodic material is reinforced by the 3-3-2 rhythmicalpattern that is very common in Latin music and occurs frequentlyin the music from the northeast of Brazil.  The piece was writtenin 1986 and was my first attempt at composing for solo guitar.  Itwas in that same year that I met David Russell at a guitar festivalin Israel, and showed him the piece.  I had always been impressedby his excellence as a performer and was very pleased that hepromptly decided to include Aquarelle in his repertoire.  Whenthe piece was published, it was a pleasure to dedicate it to him.  --Sérgio AssadCarlo Domeniconi:  The Bridge of the BirdsThe Bridge of the Birds is a very contrasting and virtuosic work;the moods of its passages vary between melodic, meditative,virtuosic and dancelike. It was composed in 1998 for Prof. ZhenJi and has found a place in the repertoire of many Chineseguitarists.Sérgio Assad:  MaracaípeCommissioned by Chia Teng and Theresa Lee and written for anddedicated to the Beijing Guitar Duo, Maracaípe was named after abeach of the same name situated on the northeast coast of Brazil,within the state of Pernambuco.  The piece is a musicaldescription of a brief visit to its sand and water.  Maracaípe is asurf paradise and is home to a world surf tournament.  Although itis a place full of vitality during the daytime, the air carries acertain melancholy in the evenings.Written in two parts, Maracaípe offers a vision of this melancholymixed with the strength and energy of the surfing waves throughthe first part called Wistful Rider.  Based on a five-note motif,this part comprises an introduction, which is also a briefdevelopment of the main motif, an A section, which is a sort ofModinha, an old Brazilian court dance, and a B sectionrepresenting the increasingly high waves.  The second partdepicts a crab walk on the beach sands through an energetic typeof dance with origins on the northeast region of Brazil.  This partalso provides a return to the melancholic Modinha, and after areturn to the crab walk dance, the piece ends with a vigoroussequence of transpositions of the original five-note motif. --Sérgio AssadRadamés Gnattali:  Suite RetratosRadamés Gnattali composed his Suite Retratos in 1958 formandolin, choro group, and string orchestra.  He dedicated thework to his close friend and great mandolin master, Jacob doBandolim.Suite Retratos is comprised of four dance movements based onpopular forms associated with and named after Braziliancomposers from the past.  The first movement is a choro entitledPixinguinha: it is followed by a waltz, Ernesto Nazareth, and aSchottisch dance Anacleto Medeiros.  The suite ends with a cortajaca dance Chiquinha Gonzaga.  The recording of this suite, donein the early 1960’s with Jacob do Bandolim as a soloist andGnattali as director of the orchestra, set a new and higher standardin the choro style by incorporating written music into the moretraditional improvised choro form.In the late 1970’s the mandolinist Joel Nascimento persuadedGnattali to arrange the suite for a small group based on theconjunto regional, the most common formation of a choro group. When the arrangement was ready, Joel gathered together somefriends who had accompanied him previously, and surprisedMaestro Cnattali on his 73rd birthday with the first rendition ofSuite Retratos for conjunto regional.  The group formed for thisoccasion was named Camerata Carioco, and represented a truerevival of this style being appointed by music clinics as one of themost important contributions to the choro language.  Therecording of this ensemble in 1979 moved the Assad brothers toask Gnattali to prepare a version for two guitars.  The version wasready in 1981 and the Assad immediately incorporated it intotheir repertoire.  Suite Retratos has become a standard in thetwo-guitar literature and has been recorded by most professionalguitar duos active today.  --Sérgio Assad

Guest Artist Recital: The Beijing Guitar Duo

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Guest Artist Recital: The Beijing Guitar Duo

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