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Paysage Hypothétique by Benoît ALBERT Original Compositions For Solo Guitar $14.95
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Program - Including MP3 Audio Excerpts
Les dérangements Suite #1- Fingerstyle Les Anecdotiques Vol. 1 Suite #2- Siegfried
Total running time: [58:29] About the Music "Les Dérangements" (derangements) as their name indicates, are very free arrangements of famous works from the repertoire. "Greensleeves" takes on the shape of a green Spanish tarantula, John Lennon's "Imagine" transforms into a tango, and the famous french song "Le Jardin Extraordinaire" by Charles Trenet turns into a long-forgotten maze. The Suite "Fingerstyle" is dedicated to the French Finger Picking legend Christian Laborde. Meeting Christian and the Finger-style milieu in the 2000's allowed me to reconsider the guitar as a more friendly and popular instrument. The suite consists of four continuous movements that borrow heavily from the styled "song" form (verse chorus). The final "Eastern Rush" has an arch structure, strongly influenced by Eastern European music. The slow movement "Quietly" is a tribute to Pat Metheny, following countless plays of "One Quiet Night", a disc that I would happily take with me to the proverbial deserted island... an atmospheric, improvisatory Prelude was the last piece added to the Suite, it serves as a unifying introduction to the other three movements. "Les Andecdotiques" is a series of short imaginary anecdotal pieces written for my students who were looking for graded repertoire to take to exams and auditions. Every piece in the series is inspired by a different style of popular folk music, each posing a separate technical and musical challenge associated with the guitar and its practice. The Suite "Siegfried" is dedicated to the British painter Paul Storey. It was commissioned by the Festival "Guitaromania" of Agen for an exhibition at l'Eglise des Jacobins that was premiered on May 21, 2008. Through our frequent travels and countless discussions, Paul has directly impacted my understanding of composition and esthetics. Since he is an impassioned guitarist himself, it seemed natural for us to work together and create an exposition that combined the visual arts with a large-scale guitar composition (The Ring Triptych). The Suite "Siegfried" (23 min) is the central solo section of the larger-scale work that uses electronics along with guitar (45 min). It evokes the death of Siegfried, the hero from the legend of the Nibelungen, a central figure in Richard Wagner's well-known opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen". The Suite "Siegfried" blends British 20th century music language with dance forms of the 17th century. Benoît ALBERT, February 2011 As a solo guitarist, chamber musician and composer, French guitarist Benoît Albert is a unique and versatile voice in the world of the classical guitar. He has performed across Europe, Asia, North and South America and recorded seven CDs, including two featuring his own compositions. He founded and leads the multi-arts ensemble "La Compagnie des Arts" which has two releases to date: "l'Histoire du Tango" (Music by Astor Piazzolla) and "Detour" (Music by Benoît Albert). Albert grew up in the southwest of France and was drawn early on to classical music and a broad range of popular music. At the age of 13, he began his guitar studies and quickly progressed to earning a place at the Conservatoire de Paris (C.N.S.M.D.P.) where he graduated with top honors. He collaborates with a broad spectrum of artists: classical guitarist Randall Avers (the international duo Les Frères Méduses), fingerstyle guitarist Christian Laborde, lutenist René Vayssières, dancers Laurène Albert and Pierre-Michaël Faure (PM4 Project), painter Paul Storey, engraver Pierre Cambon, and many others. He describes his musical language as modal with a broad rhythmical spectrum reflecting popular music influences from Eastern Europe and South America as well as French impressionistic music. Albert teaches guitar at the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Agen - France. SPACE SPACE SPACE |