Jan Bartlema Les Productions D’Oz: 8 pages   Here is a very vibrant piece of writing from Dutch guitarist Bartlema. True to its title, it’s in 6/8 for most of the time (the occasional bar is in 9/8), but the interesting factor is its constant forward move. It never sits still and yet the melodies and harmonies themselves are often modern, but always approachable. Set in Em, and marked Allegro Con brio at 1230 dotted crotchets a minute, it begins by climbing gradually up the f

BURGMULLER : Arabesque, Pastorale: CHOPIN: Preludes Op28, Nos 7 and 20; FRANCK: Chant de la Creuse: GLINKA: Polka: GRIEG: Arietta, Elfintanz, Volkslied: GURLITT: Scherzo: HELLER: Eina Alte Romanze: KIRCHNER: Allegretto in C; Preludes Op65 Nos 2, and 9: KOHLER: Song of the Hussars: LANNER: Waltz in E: MACDOWELL: To a Wild Rose: REBIKOFF: Evening in the Meadow; Oriental Dance: SCHUMANN: Bagatelle; Melodie; Soldatenmarsch; Wilder Reiter; Traumerei: SCRIABIN: Prelude Op16 No4; TC

Fabrice Pierrat Les Productions D’Oz: Score and separate parts (4, 2, 2, 2, and 2 pages respectively)   Here is the 3 rd  of the 12 waltzes that I have seen so far, and the final one in the set of 12 named after the months of the year .The other two were aimed at les talented performers as every part was a single note, but here the difficulty factor is slightly harder, as in quite a few places there are two notes to a stave and the rhythms are more complex, with swing rhythm

Fabrice Pierrat Les Productions D’Oz : score and separate parts ( 4, 1,1,1,and 1 pages respectively)   Here is the 11 th  in the set of twelve waltzes each named after a month and written for four guitar parts .Similarly to the 1 st waltz that I have reviewed elsewhere, this is a simple piece, again completely written as four single lines , no chords or multiple voices anywhere. So it is aimed at the relatively modest standard of players who will get a lot of pleasure from p

Fabrice Pierrat Les Productions D’Oz: score and separate parts (4, 2, 2, 2, and 2 pages respectively) Here is one of a set of twelve pieces based on the months of the year, written for a quartet of guitars, which could be played by one person to each part or several. As he explains in his Preface the pieces are written for two different standards of players This particular one is obviously written for the easier standard of players, as all the four parts are single notes, and

David Leisner Doberman – Yppan : score only 23 pages   Commissioned for the duo of John Olson and Gioia De Cari, this set of six songs heralds from Mark Twain’s book, The Diary of Adam and Eve. It was written in a theatrical manner as the soprano Gioia De Cari acts as well as sings.The music is modern in style and does involve some complicated guitar work , as well as requiring a very good singer. A Whole Day Old is the opening piece and starts without a key signature which d

Stephen Goss Doberman – Yppan : Score and separate parts ( 12, 7, and 6 pages respectively)   Firstly, this is a wonderful piece of writing that has a performance on YouTube by Max Baillie and Francisco Correa that has to be heard to be believed! It is one of the most virtuosic pieces you are ever likely to hear for this combination. Based on Paganini’s theme from the first Centone di Sonate MS112, it is itself a theme and five variations, the last of which is the Finale. It

John Williams Doberman – Yppan : 7 pages   John Williams the guitarist (not the film music composer)Is the person behind this latest piece, although the tribute to Barrios , should also have told you that! He explains in the Foreword how much Barrios changed his musical life and that decided him to write this little piece in Homage. He tunes the 5 th  string to G and the 6 th  to C for this piece as it is in C major, and C minor throughout, and those open bass notes come in v

William Kanengiser Doberman – Yppan : Score and separate parts ( 14, 4, 4, 4, and 3 pages respectively) This is a beautiful piece of writing from this well – known guitar player/composer, but set in a way that could frighten lots of quartets! I’ll explain! The composer’s idea of how to begin the piece is definitely something I have not seen before. Firstly the 3 rd  guitar has a 2 nd string tuned to C and a 6 th  string tuned to low C, but then at the very opening, each play

Giacomo Susani Doberman – Yppan: 3 pages   I have seen a few of this man’s pieces before and have always found them musical and pleasant to play. This latest piece is, of course, contrapuntal which can sometimes mean a little technical but not particularly pleasant to play. However he has done exactly what it says on the title, i.e. made it a poetic and musical piece of writing. It is not long, only 52 bars in length, but has two basic ideas, the first beginning with two cont

Ming – Jiu Liu Doberman – Yppan: 6 pages   This Taiwan guitarist/ composer has written many works over the years and this latest piece , named after the first metro line in Taiwan, is dedicated to Connie Sheu, who does a fine performance of this piece on YouTube. I don’t think I have ever seen a piece with more time signatures in it than this piece, which has the following, 4/4, 3/16+3/4, 3 / 4 , 4/4+1/8,6/4, 5/4, 7/4,14/16,12/16, 24/16, and finally 2/4 – a total of 11 differ

Atanas Ourkouzounov  Doberman Yppan :32 pages   This latest book by Bulgarian Ourkouzounov is a set of 15 relatively short pieces that use musical ideas that firstly are not often used in teaching material, and secondly provide an opening to this composer’s more advanced material of which there are many books available The sort of material he is writing here that rarely sees the light of day in tutor books is for example, in Septlude, that is a piece of 7/8, Dialogue Modale ,

Yorgos Nousis Doberman – Yppan : 8 pages   Here is an interesting set of pieces by this Greek player/composer/arranger. They are useful, melodic and not too difficult to play and so could be enjoyed by a multitude of players. I must say that the opening piece Danceuphoria has something in it that I have NEVER seen before in my 63 years of playing the guitar, the time signature of 27/8, that opens this piece! t is alternated with several bars of 7/8., and just in case you are

David Leisner Doberman – Yppan : 11 pages   I have seen other pieces by this composer/ performer a number of times before, and yet I do not remember any of them being quite like this piece. It is in 4 short movements but the main structure of this work is its absolutely modern sound. The first movement, Empty Your Mind ,  is completely arrhythmic in the sense that you are instructed to play the various boxed notes in whatever rhythm you feel like and to time it all with your

Luc  Levesque Les Productions D’Oz : Score and separate parts (12, 3, 3, 3, and 3 pages respectively)   Part of the Collection Chuck Hulihan  this very attractive piece of writing can be found recorded by Hulihan and his quartet on a fine YouTube performance for anyone interested in what this piece sounds like. Onk Akimel is the name given in Nahuati by the Pimas tribe in Arizona. This name means "The Salt River." The soundscape is represented by an ostinato that moves throug

Jurg Kindle Les Productions D’Oz : Score and separate parts ( 12, 5, and 8 pages respectively )   Jurg Kindle is a well known Swiss guitarist/composer/arranger whose work I have seen a number of times over the years. Here he has written a substantial piece for Doris Orsan and Johannes Tonio Kreusch set in one long movement but consisting of two main sections.(Incidentally this piece also exists in a version for guitar orchestra and violin, which you can find a performance of

Patrick Roux Les Productions D’Oz: 12 pages     French –born Roux has had many works published, a few of which I have seen. This latest work is in the form of a modern tango, complete with many harmonic crunches that definitely suit the style. The opening is marked Joyeux, chantant et rythmique, and is in D Minor (dropped D 6 th  ) with an opening solo line that jumps all over the fingerboard, before becoming two voices in  an almost fugal style. There is much use of multiple

Ken Murray Les Productions D’Oz: 8 pages   Ken Murray’s compositions are many and varied and his guitar work as a performer and recording artist are superb and second to none. So a new piece from him is always something to look forward to. In spite of the cover photo of Shanghai, the piece itself is based on the Australian slang for as slingshot, and therefore the music does not have any oriental sounds to it!   Set in A Major with a Dropped D 6 th  its Con Spirito marking te

Leonardo Bravo Les Productions D’Oz: 3 pages     This folk styled piece by Argentinean guitarist Leonardo Bravo is a short but fun piece that has the time signature of 3/4 6/8, so it becomes immediately obvious that the Latin styled music is full of a mixture of the two time signatures , often in the same bar. It is also an Allegro of 160 crotchets a minute so it does really go right from the outset. At only 48 bars (with a complete repeat) it moves smartly but doesn’t stay a

Dusan Bogdanovic Doberman – Yppan : 16 pages   This Yugoslavian composer’s music is very different from any other composer’s music as anyone who has heard, or seen some of it will recognise. The first thing you notice about this four movement work is just how very complex the actual music pages look, when you first open the volume. For example on page one , which consists of 17 bars of music there are the following time signatures 2/4, 6/8, 7/8, 3 / 4, 11/16, 5/8, 7/16, 4/4,