Music For Two Guitars by Akerman - Teixeira Guitar Duo

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) was born into a musical family and showed talent at an early age. By the time he was 18 years old he was already establishing himself as an opera composer. He claimed to have written his most famous opera, "II Barbiere di Siviglia" in only 12 days. At the time of its premier in 1816, Rossini was already wealthy and internationally famous.

The transcription for two guitars, by A. H. Varlet, dates from 1821. Amateur performers abounded during the 19th century, and many similar arrangements and pastiches of popular operatic and orchestral works were published at the time. For this recording a few changes to the original transcription have been made in order to more closely follow the original Rossini melodies and ornaments.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote the 'Theme and Variations' as the second movement of his Sextet op. 18. He explored the warm rich timbral qualities of strings throughout the work, which features a double trio of violin, viola, and 'cello and was one of Brahms' first chamber works without piano. Brahms also wrote a version of the Variations for solo piano and presented it as a gift to his friend, the pianist Clara Schumann on her 41st birthday. His admiration for Handel and Bach are evident in the style of the Theme and the trills and imitative counterpoint of the Variations. As the work progresses, it becomes more clearly a product of 19th century Romanticism, moving from explosive scales to tender melodies in harmonics and pizzicato. The exquisite craftsmanship, sincerity of expression, and absence of histrionics characteristic of Brahm's own style are always evident.

Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909) began his musical life as a child prodigy on the piano and went on to pioneer a style of composition based on the folk music of Spain. In addition to influencing his fellow Spanish composers such as Granados and Falla, Albeniz was acknowledged to have created a unique harmonic vocabulary which influenced the impressionists Debussy and Ravel. Years later Olivier Messiaen declared Albeniz to be his immediate compositional predecessor.

The two pieces on this recording are light and charming works transcribed by the guitarist Miguel Llobet, a student of Albeniz' contemporary, the guitarist Francisco Tarrega. Albeniz was known to have approved of the transcription of his works for guitar, and he even arranged a concert for Llobet in 1906 at which his solo transcription of Albeniz' "Granada" was performed. The "Tango" is not the famous "Tango in D" but another undeservedly less familiar composition, also in the Cuban 'Habanera' style. "Castilla" is a Seguidilla, a folk dance in which instrumental and vocal sections alternate in a lively triple rhythm.

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) along with Bach and Handel, is a part of a great outpouring of musical composition occurring at the culmination of the Baroque era. He is primarily famous for his keyboard sonatas, of which he wrote more than 550. An adventurous composer in his use of melody and harmony, he was favorably compared to Mozart by none other than Frederick Chopin. Scarlatti spent many years in the service of the royal court in Madrid, and the sound of the Spanish guitar is often implied in his music. The two sonatas presented here are typical of Scarlatti's style, being single-movement works in binary form. K9 in E Minor makes ample use of trills and ornaments, while K113 in A Major features playful contrapuntal repartee in a romp of continuous motion.

Dr. Miroslav Loncar (b.1964) is a native of Croatia who currently lives and teaches guitar in Virginia and conducts summer guitar schools in Croatia. He has been in demand internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher, composer, arranger, clinician, and all-around promoter of classical guitar. With his wife Natasa Clasinc, he performs in the Clasinc & Loncar duo.

When asked about the title of his duet "Who is Eve", he wrote the following: "The piece was written for an art lecture that took place in New Orleans ... given by my architect friend, Ivan Mandie to whom the piece is dedicated. The topic of the presentation was 'Who Is Eve?' and the goal was to look into the different depictions of Eve through various works of art from different places and different times ... What I wanted to do was to use a number of different styles of music to give the piece a thematic connection to the title. So I picked three notes, E B, and A (which translated into cyrillic means EVA, or Eve), and used them as my main motive. These three notes, or their transpositions, can be found in many places in the piece ... As for the different styles I would say that I thought of Schubert's Gretchen am Spinrade when I came up with the accompaniment figure, of the unfolding Baroque melodies that use many long sequences, of a 16th century-style vocal polyphony which shows up in the slower section, of Flamenco guitarists which you can find in the rasqueado chords, and rock guitar which shows up in the slurred triplets in the melody, all of this to represent the different styles and periods and tie them together."

Atanas Ourkouzounov (b.l970) has written more than 50 works for guitar in solo, duo, chamber, and concerto settings. A native of Bulgaria, he uses rhythmic and modal elements from Bulgarian folk traditions combined freely with his own formal and melodic ideas in a manner reminiscent of Bartok, but with a unique and personal style. A frequent performer, Ourkouzounov often concertizes with his wife, flautist Mie Ogura. He teaches at the "Conservatoire Maurice Ravel" in Paris.

The "Horo" on this recording was the first duet written by Ourkouzounov, in 1992. It is a typical example of a horo, the most popular folk dance of Bulgaria, with modal melodies in a 4/3/4 rhythm.

Luis Bonfa (1922-2001) was an influential composer and performer in the world of Brazilian popular music during the mid-20th century when the fusion of jazz harmony and Afro-Brazilian rhythms gave rise to the samba and later the more suave bossa nova. He had a long career during which he lived in the United States for more than a decade and worked with many musicians including Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, and Frank Sinatra. However, he is best known as the composer of two sambas from the score of the film "Orfeu Negro" ("Black Orpheus"): the lovely and pensive "Manhii de Carnaval" and the joyous "Samba de Orfeu". The arrangements by Bob Teixeira on this recording reflect the improvisatory spirit of the samba tradition while remaining true to the beauty of the original melodies and harmonies.

Jorge Morel (b.l931) began his career as a guitarist in his native Argentina and went on to concertize worldwide. After he moved to New York he became a part of the Manhattan jazz scene, and also became friends with country guitar legend Chet Atkins. He has been a friend and mentor to many talented guitarists, and his compositions and arrangements have been recorded and performed by a long list of the guitar world's most prominent performers. Morel skillfully combines diverse elements in his compositions, often using indigenous rhythms from a variety of Latin American countries with jazz-tinged harmonies and his own memorable melodic style. The "Danza Brazileira" is probably his best-known work. However, the solo version is the most familiar and frequently performed. Morel also composed the duo version presented here, which has many features not found in the solo including a quasi-improvisatory section in the middle.

Akerman - Teixeira Guitar Duo

Award winning guitarist Mary Akerman has concertized and taught around the globe. She currently teaches at Kennesaw State University, and has recently given concerts and masterclasses at the Festival de Guitarra Paracho in Paracho, Mexico, the Festival Internacional de Guitarra del Noreste in Saltillo, Mexico, the Southwestern Guitar Festival in San Antonio, Texas and at the ECU Summer Music Workshop in Greenville, North Carolina. In addition to giving solo concerts throughout the US and internationally, she has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, recorded with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Festival Singers, and has played on National Public Radio’s "In Performance Today" program. Mary Akerman won first prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition and the Casa de Espana of Puerto Rico Competition. She was also awarded the bronze medal in the Concours International Radio France. In 1986 she had the honor of being selected to perform in the Master Class of Andres Segovia. She also studied with Jose Tomas in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Bob Teixeira first gained recognition as one of twelve guitarists selected to compete at the Guitar Foundation of America’s 1987 international festival. He has appeared as a soloist with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the North Carolina Dance Theater. Texeira has also composed music and developed and performed arrangements to accompany the Moving Poets Theater and Dance Company. In addition to his duo performances with Akerman, he performs with his wife, cellist Tanja Bechtler and with the seven member world music ensemble, "Without Borders".

The guitarists met while in graduate school at Florida State University and have been performing duo concerts together since 2006.

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