On 17 February, I have the great honor to perform on “The Troubadour Series” at Wofford College, South Carolina! It is named after Carl Sandburg, who was called “the Old Troubadour” by Frank Lloyd Wright. Sandburg’s home is located in Flat Rock, N.C., and he visited the Wofford campus on more than one occasion. He was an avid guitarist who wrote several poems inspired by the guitar and guitarists.
The program will feature both 19th Century Romantic guitar music and Contemporary works. The music of guitarist-composers Napoleon Coste, J.K. Mertz, and Johann Dubez, (each the greatest virtuoso of his country), will be performed on an 1861 Scherzer-design, 10-string “period guitar.” The contemporary portion of the program (played on the modern guitar) features music by American composers Ernst Bacon and Brian Fennelly, and, as a “centerpiece” the profoundly moving “Diario—Omaggio a Che Guevara” by Czech composer Vaclav Kucera.
British composer and musical journalist John Duarte writes “Diario—Omaggio a Che Guevara, is a “musical-political” document, recording five notional, critical days in the life of its eponymous, revolutionary hero. The Day of Love mixes tenderly romantic passages with sterner ones, suggesting his realization that what he (Che Guevara) wishes to do cannot be accomplished without strife. The Day of Hate (for the system he opposes) is filled with trills that quiver with rages, dissonant declamation and stark, mostly quartal, chords. A grimly determined and relentless triplet rhythm frames the Day of Decision, abating only the central section in order to make a statement of intent before accelerating to a thunderous climax. Drum-beats announce the arrival of the Day of Battle, and punctuate its opening page before giving way to a violent frenzy of dissonance, chord tremolandi; a fortissimo ascent to the extreme upper register is followed by a descent to a quiet, chilling diminuendo, with notes subjected to exaggerated vibrato as the action ceases but the emotion remains. Percussion of a different kind (symbolizing heart-beats) persist through the Day of Death, a funeral cortege interrupted only by a brief, impassioned oration in which the use of parallel fourths above an ostinato based on the same interval, suggests emptiness of hope. The end signifies resignation to the inevitable.”
Wofford College 429 North Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303-3663 Telephone: (864) 597-400 (7:00 PM) http://www.wofford.edu/arts/content.aspx?id=30946
In the concerts “TRIOS for Guitar and Strings” I join the fantastic “Classic Strings Duo” of brothers Kevin (violin) and Bryan Matheson in works of Beethoven, Villa-Lobos, Paganini, Ibert, and others in evenings of chamber music sure to delight!
Chatham Concert Series presents the Classic Strings Duo and Stanley Alexandrowicz
Friday, February 21 at 7:00pm
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 66 N. Main St. Chatham, VA 24531
For information: kstrings1@hotmail.com 540-382-9624
https://www.facebook.com/events/488409484596938/?ref=22
Wytheville Concert Series presents the Classic Strings Duo and Stanley Alexandrowicz
Saturday, February 22 at 7:00pm
St. John’s Episcopal Church
275 East Main Street, Wytheville, Virginia 24382
For information: kstrings1@hotmail.com 540-382-9624
