Light On Dark Water

52 Guitars: Week 10

When I set out on this series, I didn't think about the quesiton of Lent. I generally either give up music entirely for Lent or cut way back on it, and this year I'm giving up pop music entirely. But it will mess up my plan if I shut this down for six weeks. So I'll continue it, but no more rock guitar  until after Easter, and probably no more jazz. It will be all classical guitar, maybe supplemented with folk or something else of a non-rock nature, as I'm not sure there are enough classical guitarists whose work I know and admire well enough to fill every slot.

So: here's Christopher Parkening with a transcription of the famous opening chorale from Bach's cantata 140:

 

And here's a pretty impressive transcription of the second movement of cantata 29.

 

I had a cd of Parkening doing Vivalid lute and mandolin concertos on guitar, pieces that I've loved for many years, and eventually gave it away because it just didn't seem to have the spark I wanted in that music. But these are excellent.

Maclin Horton
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6 responses to “52 Guitars: Week 10”

  1. Charles Kinnaird

    Loved the Bach! Especially Sleepers Awake.

    Reply
  2. Mac

    And if you don’t know the other cantata, check it out on YouTube. The movement transcribed here is a big orchestral piece and the transcription is amazingly good, capturing a lot of the energy.

    Reply
  3. Stu

    David Russell is one of my favorites; just to give you another classical guitarist to look for during this period. I also like Pepe Romero and Paco Pena (flamenco) a lot.

    Reply
  4. Mac

    I at least recognize those names, although I haven’t heard that much of them. Also Elliot Fisk. John Williams will be next. Segovia deserves a spot, although I think of him as more important for his influence. I’m tempted to give Bream another slot but that would be wrong.

    Reply
  5. Robert Gotcher

    Parkening has a special place in our family. Tim’s first guitar teacher was a student of Parkening. So, it was Segovia–>Parkening–>Scott Johnston–>Tim.
    Scott Johnston is Kristen Johnston’s brother, by the way, if you remember who she is.

    Reply
  6. Mac

    Four degrees of separation–that’s pretty cool.
    I don’t remember who Kristen Johnston is.

    Reply

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