Variations sur “Folia de España” et Fugue

Manuel Maria Ponce (1882-1948) is recognized as a lead-ing twentieth century Mexican composer, with his style of composition characterized by his use of traditional Mexican folk melodies.

The great guitarist Andres Segovia, a friend of Ponce’s, com-missioned Variations sur “Folia de España et Fugue” in 1928, requesting a substantial work utilizing all available technical resources. It was to be based on the Violin Sonata "La Folia," Op. 5, No. 12, by the Italian composer Arcangelo Corelli (1643-1713). The sonata, in turn, was based on a "La Folia", a slow dance from the 15th century Renaissance, probably originating in the Iberian peninsula, probably Portu-gal, in 3/4 time, with regular patterns.

Though Segovia was perhaps expecting a composition in the early 19th century style of Guiliani, Ponce ended up compos-ing a contemporary work of high technical demands. The general style of this work is a mixture of neoclassic treatment of form, neoromantic lyricism and expression, along with a mix of neoromantic and impressionistic harmonies providing a compositional matrix allowing each variation to have a dis-tinct character.

Ponce’s composition contains a theme, twenty variations, and a fugue. Segovia would later claim The Variations to be one of the greatest works written for the guitar. A broad selection of the techniques of guitar playing, including tremolando notes, isolated pizzicato notes, and the rasgueado, are heard here.

(24:00)

This lautenwerk, or lute-clavier, allowed him to play his tran-scriptions directly as well as the compositions of his friend, the great lutenist, Sylvius Leopold Weiss.

The Suite consists of seven movements:

❖ Prelude: Free in style and the only non-dance composi-tion in the Suite, it is usually considered an introduction to the suite rather than a part of it. Some consider it de-signed to afford the chance to warm up the fingers and check the tuning – of great importance when playing the lute.

❖ Loure: The loure, also known as the gigue lente or slow gigue, is a French Baroque dance, probably originating in Normandy and named after the sound of the instrument, a type of musette or bagpipe native to Normandy.

❖ Gavotte en Rondeau: Of 17th century provençal origin, it is a dance in binary rhythm in moderate tempo. As with the minuet and bourrée it is usually written in A-B-A form. Bach’s treatment is “en rondeau” consisting of a repeated refrain between varied couplets derived from the struc-ture of the French lyrical poetic rondeau. This technique had great significance by the late 18th century and led to the rondo form of the sonata in Mozart’s time.

❖ Minuets 1 & 2: Of French origin, the second minuet is of the same form and key as the first but as contrast with the first. This structure was introduced into the form of a suite in the late 1600s.

❖ Bourrée: A traditional French dance, written in quick double-time somewhat resembling the gavotte.

❖ Gigue: A fast-moving lively dance, often in 6/8 time, the gigue was often used for the suite’s finale. Derived from a English/Irish country dance – the name comes from a kind of bagpipe – it consists of two parts in ternary rhythm that are repeated.

(21:00)

Total Recital Time: 45:00

FTCL Recital (Guitar)Thet Shwe

Candidate ID: 1-433149854December 9, 2014

December 10, 2010

Program

Lute Suite in E-majorBWV 1006a

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) composed the Lute Suite in E-major in Cöthen around 1719, Originally written as Partita No. 3 in E major (BWV 1006) for solo violin it was later transcribed by Bach for the lute

While Bach was taken greatly by the sound of the lute, as he could not play one, in around 1740 he had a keyboard instru-ment built that reproduced the sound of the lute.