Two books by Giorgio Signorile
1) Shirok: three pieces for guitar and guitar quartet
2) Classico …Ma Non Troppo : forty easy pieces for guitar
Ut Orpheus: Score and separate parts: 16, 7, 7, 7, 7, and 7 pages respectively
Giancarlo Zedde: Torino: 56 pages
Reviewed 21st March 2019
Italian born Signorile has added two vastly different books to his ever – growing number of publications, many of which have come my way.
Shirok, is a set of middle difficulty pieces beginning with Mattina Presto, (Early Morning) which is a serene little piece set in G with warm harmonies and is the simplest of the pieces here. Shirok, (Scirocco) contains a theme inspired by Balkan music and is set in Em with plenty of pull – offs and hammer – ons and some rapid arpeggio work from the soloist that is not as difficult as it sounds. The final Sweet Argentina, in Am is a Tango with easy strums in the solo part and a few percussive elements to spice it all up a bit and many nice details to make it fun to play. A nice undemanding little set that is light and friendly to play and hear.
The solo book is a didactic volume starting with pieces of very simple arpeggio patterns, to pieces with two voices, all gradually increasing in difficulty and all with a commentary, albeit in Italian. There are plenty of character pieces here, in various styles but all there to give the player a firm grounding in some of the most common styles and problems one faces on a guitar. The final half of the book has some pleasant and challenging pieces that many will enjoy working towards .I can see this being used by teachers and becoming a very useful volume indeed.
Chris Dumigan