Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet
Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet
Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet is widely acclaimed as one of the top contemporary classical guitar ensembles and is known for its artistic excellence and contributions to the expansion of the guitar quartet repertoire.
Learn more about Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet.
Performance:
Thursday, February 12, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church
1100 Carter Creek Parkway
Bryan, Texas 77802
Program:
Program subject to change.
Brandenburg Concerto n. 6 BWV 1051 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Transcription by Fabio Ramazzina
Allegro
Adagio, ma non tanto
Allegro
The Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg in 1721. The Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, originally in B flat major (and here in A major, in a transcription by Fabio Ramazzina) is a concert for two violas da braccio (the normal viola), two violas da gamba, cello, violone, and harpsichord. The first movement shows the composer's mastery of polyphony. The two violas da gamba are silent in the second movement, leaving the texture of a trio sonata for two violas and continuo, and the last movement has the spirit of the gigue.
Rabichola de cabra* (2003) Paulo Tiné (1970–)
Paulo Tiné is a Brazilian composer and guitarist, and he has been collaborating with Quaternaglia during the last ten years. Rabichola de cabra explores the Northeastern Brazilian rhythms of baião, frevo and maracatu, and also the Baroque forms of chaconne and fugue. Rabichola de cabra is, in English, the "short tail of the female goat", and the title is a play on words with the name of the legendary Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar.
Carlo's Dance* (2006) Paulo Bellinati (1950–)
Paulo Bellinati is a guitarist and composer specialized in Brazilian popular rhythms, and his pieces for guitar quartet, originally dedicated to Quaternaglia, have been recorded by most guitar ensembles around the world. Carlo's Dance is a new piece sent to Quaternaglia by Bellinati. The rhythm is a jequibau, a samba in a five beat measure. Carlo is the name of Bellinati's son.
Intermission
Forró* (1996) Egberto Gismonti (1940–)
Karatê* (1997)
Egberto Gismonti is one of the most important Brazilian composers nowadays. His most important musical influences are the Brazilian popular rhythms and the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The first piece dedicated to Quaternaglia by Gismonti is Forró (1996). The composer once wrote that "Forró is destined for explorers who do not exactly know what they will find at the end of their path".
Karatê is a swinging frevo, the most popular rhythm in the street carnival of Pernambuco, a Northeastern Brazilian state.
Dança dos quatro ventos (2006) Marco Pereira (1950–)
Açaí com tapioca (2008)
Sambadalú (2007)
Marco Pereira is a virtuoso Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was born in São Paulo but lives now in Rio de Janeiro. Dança dos Quatro Ventos (Dance of the Four Winds) was originally made in 1988 but its guitar quartet version was finished in 2006. The piece's rhythm resembles the trotting of a horse.
Açaí com tapioca is Pereira's most recent piece for guitar quartet. It was composed for a concert last June in the city of Belém, north of Brazil (close to the Amazon Forest), where Quaternaglia and Pereira performed together. The title mentions two typical native foods, açaí, an Amazonic fruit, and tapioca, a type of pancake made from cassava wheat.
Sambadalu is a samba originally dedicated to the Brazilian singer Luciana Souza. The guitar quartet version of the piece, prepared by Quaternaglia, will soon be published by the composer.
*pieces dedicated to Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet