Caprice by Joseph Mayes - 19th Century Guitar

Die Lustigan Weiber von Windsor - Johann Kaspar Mertz

Caprice in A Major - Opus 250 - Luigi Legnani

Waltz Favorite - Opus 46 - Napoleon Coste

7 - Caprice in D Minor - Opus 20 - Luigi Legnani

El Delirio - Alberto Cano

Caprice in B Minor - Opus 20 - Luigi Legnani

Deuxieme Polonaise - Napoleon Coste

Caprice in D Major - Opus 20 - Luigi Legnani

Meditacion - Fernando Sor

Caprice

"A kind of free music, in which the composer, without subjecting himself to any particular theme, gives loose rain to his genius and submits himself to the fire of composition." Rousseau (1767)

The instrument used on the recording was made for me by Lawrence Brown and is a copy of the instruments of René Françoise Lacote made circa 1825. The Lacote guitars were the ne plus ultra of guitars in 19th-century Europe.

Caprice, Opus 11

Mauro Giuliani was part of an exciting circle of musicians along with Beethoven, Moscheles, and Hummel who lived in Vienna during the Napoleonic era. The versatile Giuliani played guitar, sang in a "pleasing tenor", and played the cello in the premiere of Beethoven's seventh Symphony on June 21st of 1813. This Caprice was published on January 27th 1810. The Caprice uses the 19th-century cliche "Alberti Bass", which was named after an influential Italian baroque composer. This work so transcends the cliche by modulating to somewhat adventurous keys that the listener is engaged from beginning to end.

Overture

Ferdinand Carulli was an Italian expatriate as well as Giuliani, but Carulli chose to live in that other mecca of musical activity of the time -- Paris. Carulli worked closely with the guitar maker René Françoise Lacote to improve the guitar. Apparently the collaboration worked well since the Lacote guitar became, and remained for some time the guitar to play in public.

Carulli wrote over 400 works for solo guitar, guitar duo, guitar and other instruments, and guitar and orchestra. He is perhaps best known for his method which has been continually in print since 1810. In Traditions of the Classical Guitar (London, 1980), Graham Wade states that Carulli's music is suitable for pedagogical purposes but not for solo recital. I disagree. Many of his compositions, including this little overture, have a simple grace and charm that should merit place on any but the most pedantic of solo programs.

Caprice in E Major, Opus 250
Caprice in D Minor, Opus 20
Caprice in D Major, Opus 20
Caprice in A Major, Opus 250
Caprice in B Minor, Opus 20
Caprice in G Major, Opus 20
Caprice in A Major, Opus 20

Luigi Legnani was a virtuoso performer on, and prolific composer for, the guitar. He left Italy in 1819 to live in Vienna. He concertized throughout Europe and in 1836 and 1837 performing in a duo with Nicolo Paganini. At the end of his life, Legnani became quite interested in guitar construction. One of his instruments is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Legnani published two sets of Caprices. The first, Opus 20, was didactic in nature, and consists of 36 pieces including all of the major and minor keys. The second, Opus 250,consists of six Caprice's which are slightly more extended and developed. They are all well worth the time and effort taken to learn them either as pedagogical works or vehicles for expression.

Die Lustigan Weiber von Windsor

By far the most celebrated work of Karl Nicolai was the opera, Merry Wives of Windsor. Following the custom of the 19th-century, Johann Kaspar Mertz wrote this exciting little pastiche of themes from the opera. Pieces like this for guitar or piano were a regular part of the ouvre of composer's ranging from the celebrated Giuliani to Liszt.

Mertz and Coste were born in the same year and became involved in a composition competition in 1856. Mertz won first prize with a concerto. Coste came in second having submitted three solo compositions for the guitar. Unfortunately, Mertz died before he could claim his prize.

Waltz favorite, Opus 46

Napoleon Coste was a protégé of Fernando Sor's, and a virtuoso performer until about 1863 when he tripped on a flight of stairs and injured his right arm. His arm recovered but coste never regained full use of his right hand. He became a civil servant, but continue to teaching composed for the guitar. This waltz has great wit and charm which makes it a favorite of mine as well as the composer's.

El Delirio

Not much is known of the life of Alberto Cano. When I have asked modern guitarists about him, virtually all of them expressed complete ignorance. Yet Cano published an important Grand Method for Guitar in Madrid in 1852, and one of his etudes was published recently in Soundboard, organ of the Guitar Foundation of America.

El Delirio is an evocative, waltzlike piece which uses a tremolo technique to imitate the sound of sustained melody.

Deuxieme Polonaise, Opus 14

This extended piece, in an apparent oxymoron, is to be found in volume IX of the complete works of Napoleon Coste, published by Chanterelle, entitled Unpublished Works. The Polonaise was originally a formal processional, rather than a dance, which was used to open formal balls. There are numerous examples of folk dances being used as marches -- the Pavan for instance. However, it is somewhat unusual for the Polonaise to be used in this way because its meter is triple. This example begins with a grandiose introduction. The music uses the full range of the guitar to good effect.

Meditation

Fernando Sor was a captain of artillery in the Spanish army during the Napoleonic wars. After the full defeat of organized resistance to the French forces and the installation of Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain, it appears that Sor was what would come to be known as a collaborator. When the French were driven from Spain in 1813, Sor thought it best to go with them. He settled in Paris and toured Europe and Russia. He wrote an enormous amount of music for the guitar, as well as symphonies and operas.

This piece appears in several modern collections of music for the guitar, but cannot be found in the complete works of Sor. Was it actually by Sor or is it a clever counterfeit by another composer? Does it matter?

Les Soirees D'Autieul, Opus 23

In the 19th-century, Autieul was a fashionable resort area near Paris. This composition, which consists of two movements: Serenade and Scherzo, is as descriptive as pieces get. One can only imagine the scene in Autieul that inspired Coste to write this lovely music.

Joseph Mayes is currently on the faculty of Ronan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. He has studied with Andres Segovia, Jose Thomas, Carlos Barbosa Lima, and Glenn Caluda. He regularly performs solo recitals on the renaissance lute, renaissance guitar, vihuela de mano, mandolin, and classical guitar. He holds degrees from Thomas Edison college and Shenandoah University.

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