Marco Smaili Les Productions D’Oz : 4 pages Spanish composer Smaili has here written a piece as a tribute to the late American avant – garde composer George Crumb, and indeed this piece is very much in the avant – garde style throughout its 5 minutes duration. The time signatures used are many and varied and it probably goes without saying that a key signature is not in evidence Moreover the rhythmic diversity of the notes is immense, to such an extent that you wonder just

Beethoven arr. Raymond Burley Les Productions D’Oz : Score and separate parts : 22, 3,3,3,4,4, and 3 pages respectively If you had told me that a movement from a Beethoven symphony could be arranged and workable for guitars, I would have reacted negatively! However, I was wrong. Here is a wonderful arrangement of the Allegretto from his 7 th Symphony that works really well without any real compromise. Yes, of course 6 guitars cannot sound as loud or varied as a full orches

Dale Cavanagh Les Productions D’Oz: Score and Separate parts : (11,5, and 7 pages respectively) Here is a considerable piece of writing by Canadian –born Dale Cavanagh dedicated to the ChromaDuo , whose excellent performance you can find on YouTube. The piece tells of a tragic event that happened to a couple who lived in Peggy’s Cove. It begins with harmonic little 4 –note phrase before a steady flow of semi – quavers in guitar 2 plays behind the opening chords and pairs o

Thierry Tisserand Les Productions D’Oz: Score and separate parts (14, 4, 4, 4, and 4 pages respectively) Of course many of you will know the name of Thierry Tisserand for his wonderful pieces, many of which I have seen, and all of which I find lots of fun and great to play. Here he is writing a piece for 4 guitars ( or groups of guitars) with a swing rhythm and having a sound that really does bring you back to that lovely sound of the 30s and 40s. It is quite a fast piece, at

MERCURY: Bohemian Rhapsody: LENNON & McCARTNEY: Day Tripper; Come Together: PETER & ZOLTAN KATONA: Vivaldi Stormed; Scarborough Guitars: KING, ROSSINGTON, VAN ZANT: Sweet Home Alabama: ORZABAL: Mad World: ZOLTAN KATONA: Guitar Rave; Butterfly : MORRISON, KREIDER, DENSMORE, MANZAREK: Light My Fire: PETER KATONA: Meditation and Passacaglia: Katona Twins, with the Liverpool String Quartet SOLO MUSICA: CD This is one of the most remarkable recordings I have EVER heard. I knew

Douglas Lora Les Productions D’Oz: Score and separate parts (12, 3, 3, 3, 3, and 3 pages respectively) Set for five guitars of five groups, this piece by Lora is a lovely piece of writing .You can find two performances on YouTube, one conducted by Chuck Hulihan, whose collection this piece is in, as published by D’Oz. With the fifth guitar part only tuning its 6 th string down to D, this rhythmic but very effective piece begins with a modern but friendly sound with moments

Emmanuel Lacopo Les Productions D’Oz: 12 pages This piece by Lacopo was awarded the first prize in the 2023 Ottawa Guitar Society Composition Competition. On my first glance at the score, I was made aware of the many unusual features about this piece, beginning with the scordatura of the 2 nd string on an A, the 4 th on a C, and the 6 th on an F, which is why the notation of the piece is also there with a tab version underneath. Along with that are the numerous places whe

Marco Ramelli Les Productions D’Oz : 4 pages This is a short 3 ½ minute piece by Italian composer Ramelli commissioned by the Paganini Guitar Festival and dedicated to Andrea de Vitis who performs this piece on YouTube, should you want to hear it. This will not be to everyone’s taste as it is in a rather unusual style that uses a descending 3rd interval frequently , in reference to an actual piece of Paganini’s ‘Minuetto Che Va Chiamando Dida’ where his Dida, was an unknown

Jean Marie Raymond Les Productions D’Oz: 6 pages This composer always writes lovely pieces, many of which I have seen in the past, and this latest one is no exception. His music is full of beautiful melodies and harmonies and although his musical style is not very surprising in its harmonic detail, it is always beautifully written and super to get your fingers around. This is a waltz dedicated to a Japanese guitarist Michiyasu Takahashi , and is set in A minor at a speed ma

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