Classical guitar repertoire
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- This article is a history of the classical guitar repertoire. For a longer list of compositions and composers who wrote for the classical guitar see List of composers for the classical guitar and List of compositions for guitar.
To a greater extent than most other instruments and ensembles, it is difficult to compose music for the guitar without either proficiency in the instrument or close collaboration with a guitarist. As a result, a large part of the guitar repertoire consists of works by guitarists who did not compose extensively for other instruments. Music prior to the classical era was often composed for performance on various combinations of instruments, and could be adapted by the performer to keyboard instruments, the lute, or the guitar. Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, a significant amount of music has been written for the guitar by non-guitarist composers.
Repertoire
Renaissance era
During the Renaissance, the guitar was likely to have been used as it frequently is today, to provide strummed accompaniment for a singer or a small group. There also were several significant music collections published during the sixteenth century of contrapuntal compositions approaching the complexity, sophistication and breadth of lute music from the same time period. These works are intended for the vihuela, which differs in tuning with respect to both the renaissance and modern guitar.
Main compositions and composers for the vihuela:
- El Maestro by Luis de Milán (1536)
- Los Seys libros del Delphin de Musica by Luis de Narváez (1538)
- Tres Libros de Música by Alonso Mudarra (1546)
- Silva de Sirenas by Enríquez de Valderrábano (1547)
- Libro de Música de Vihuela by Diego Pisador (1552)
- Orphénica Lyra by Miguel de Fuenllana (1554)
- El Parnasso by Estevan Daça (1576).
Baroque era
Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 to 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and to be followed by the Classical music era. The original meaning of "baroque" is "irregularly shaped pearl", a strikingly fitting characterization of the architecture and design of this period; later, the name came to be applied also to its music. It is associated with composers such as J.S. Bach, George Friedrich Händel, Antonio Vivaldi, and Claudio Monteverdi. During the period, music theory, diatonic tonality, and imitative counterpoint developed. More elaborate musical ornamentation, as well as changes in musical notation and advances in the way instruments were played also appeared. Baroque music would see an expansion in the size, range and complexity of performance, as well as increasingly complex forms.
Main composers for the baroque guitar:
- Francesco Corbetta (1615–1681)
- Gaspar Sanz (1640–1710, Spain)
- Robert de Visée (c.1655–c.1735, France)
- Ludovico Roncalli (1654–1713)
- Santiago de Murcia (1673–1739)
- Angelo Michele Bartolotti (?–1682)
Classical era
- Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805)
- Ferdinando Carulli (1770–1841)
- Salvador Castro de Gistau (1770–18XX)
- Fernando Ferandiere (1771–1816)
- Francois de Fossa (1775–1849)
- Antoine de Lhoyer (1768–1852)
- Wenzel Thomas Matiegka (1773–1830)
- Francesco Molino (1768–1847)
- Pierre Jean Porro (1750–1831)
- Fernando Sor (1778–1839)
Romantic era
Main composers of the early romantic era:
- Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826): Weber's Last Waltz
- Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840): Several virtuoso pieces specifically for the guitar
The Golden Age
The first 'Golden Age' of the classical guitar repertoire was the 19th century. Some notable guitar composers from this period are:
- Dionisio Aguado (1784–1849)
- Julián Arcas (1832–1882)
- José Broca (1805–1882)
- Matteo Carcassi (1792–1853)
- Napoléon Coste (1806–1883)
- Anton Diabelli (1781–1858)
- Mauro Giuliani (1781–1829)
- Luigi Legnani (1790–1877)
- Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806–1856)
- Giulio Regondi (1822–1872)
- Francisco Tárrega (1852–1909)
- Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti (1800–1878)
- José Ferrer (1835–1916)
Modern era
Some genres of modern music include atonal music, which rejects the tonal system of nearly all other musical styles, as well as aleatoric, which rejects the absolutism of the composer and allows the player to take an active role in how the piece is played. For example, in Leo Brouwer's Étude No. 20, he supplies a series of melodies that increase in length, and he invites the player to play each section of the melody as many times as he or she chooses. Regional styles are also prevalent in modern guitar music, such as the music of Latin America, where unique harmonies and fresh material can be found.
Guitarist–composers of the 20th century
- Heinrich Albert (1870–1950)
- Sergio Assad (*1952)
- Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1885–1944)
- Ángel Barrios Fernandez (1882–1064)
- Paulo Bellinati (*1950)
- Gilbert Biberian (*1944)
- Dusan Bogdanovic (*1955)
- Leo Brouwer (*1939)
- Abel Carlevaro (1918–2002)
- Carlo Domeniconi (*1947)
- John W. Duarte (1919–2004)
- Roland Dyens (1955–2016)
- Dimitris Fampas (1921–1996)
- Abel Fleury (1903–1958)
- Stephen Funk–Pearson (*1949)
- Garoto (Anibal Augusto Sardinha) (1915–1945)
- Angelo Gilardino (*1941)
- Stephen Goss (*1964)
- Brian Head (*1965)
- Bruno Henze (1900–1978)
- Carl Henze (1872–1946)
- Tilman Hopstock (*1961)
- Vojislav Ivanovic (*1959)
- David A. Jaffe (*1955)
- Bryan Johanson (*1951)
- Avril Kinsey (*1955)
- Francis Kleynjans (*1951)
- Nikita Koshkin (*1956)
- Annette Kruisbrink (*1958)
- Andrei Krylov (*1961)
- Antonio Lauro (1917–1986)
- Miguel Llobet (1878–1938)
- Celso Machado (*1953)
- José Luis Merlin (*1952)
- Behzad Mirkhani (*1969)
- Gentil Montaña (1942–2011)
- Jorge Morel (*1931)
- Darko Nikčević (*1971)
- Anatolij Olshanskij (*1956)
- Atanas, Ourkouzounov (*1970)
- Marco Pereira (*1950)
- João Pernambuco (1883–1947)
- Máximo Diego Pujol (*1957)
- Štěpán Rak (*1945)
- Brad Richter (*1969)
- Rodrigo Riera (1923–1999)
- Eduardo Sainz de la Maza (1903–1982)
- Regino Sainz de la Maza (1896–1981)
- Reginald Smith Brindle (1917–2003)
- Eric Sessler (*1969)
- Anton Stingl (1908–2000)
- Eythor Thorlaksson (1930–2018)
- Dietmar Ungerank (*1950)
- Benjamin Verdery (*1955)
- Heitor Villa–Lobos (1887–1959)
- Andrew York (*1958)
- Alan Willcocks (1869–1956)
Other composers for the classical guitar
In the 20th century, many non–guitarist composers wrote for the instrument, which previously only players of the instrument had done. For a larger list of composers who have written for the solo guitar, see the list of composers for the classical guitar. Some of the better–known are:
- Miguel del Aguila (*1957)
- Hermann Ambrosius (1897–1983)
- Louis Andriessen (*1939)
- Malcolm Arnold (1921–2006)
- Boris Asafiev (1884–1949)
- Vicente Asencio (1908–1979)
- Georges Auric (1899–1983)
- Milton Babbitt (1916–2011)
- Robert Beaser (*1954)
- Richard Rodney Bennett (1936–2012)
- Niels Viggo Bentzon (1919–2000)
- Luciano Berio (1925–2003)
- Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989)
- Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)
- Elliott Carter (1908–2012)
- Tristram Cary (1925–2008)
- Mario Castelnuovo–Tedesco (1895–1968)
- Peter Maxwell Davies (1934–2016)
- Stephen Dodgson (1924–2013)
- Petr Eben (1929–2007)
- Manuel de Falla (1876–1946)
- Michael Finnissy (*1946)
- Jean Françaix (1912–1997)
- Roberto Gerhard (1896–1970)
- Giorgio Federico Ghedini (1892–1965)
- Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983)
- Cristóbal Halffter (*1930)
- Hans Werner Henze (1926–2012)
- Theodor Hlouschek (1923–2010)
- Vagn Holmboe (1909–1996)
- Antonio José (1902–1936)
- Ernst Krenek (1900–1991)
- Gian Francesco Malipiero 1882–1973
- Frank Martin (1890–1974)
- Nicholas Maw (1935–2009)
- Darius Milhaud (1892–1974)
- Federico Mompou (1893–1987)
- Federico Moreno Torroba (1891–1982)
- Lior Navok (*1971)
- Per Nørgård (*1932)
- Maurice Ohana (1914–1992)
- Goffredo Petrassi (1904–2003)
- Ástor Piazzolla (1921–1992)
- Manuel M. Ponce (1882–1948)
- Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)
- André Previn (1929–2019)
- Einojuhani Rautavaara (*1928)
- Alan Rawsthorne (1905–1971)
- George Rochberg (1918–2005)
- Joaquín Rodrigo (1901–1999)
- Ned Rorem (*1923)
- Albert Roussel (1869–1937)
- Poul Ruders (*1949)
- John Rutter (*1945)
- Henri Sauguet (1901–1989)
- Ananda Sukarlan (*1968)
- Toru Takemitsu (1930–1996)
- Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986)
- Michael Tippett (1905–1998)
- Joaquín Turina (1882–1949)
- Pēteris Vasks (*1946)
- William Walton (1902–1983)
Contemporary era
Solo compositions
- Miguel del Aguila – Tennessee
- Robert Beaser – Shenandoah
- Luciano Berio – Sequenza XI
- Benjamin Britten – Nocturnal after John Dowland
- Howard J. Buss – Dances and Interludes, 2018 (Brixton Publications)
- Roland Chadwick – Song and Dance Nos. 1,2 & 3
- Constantinos Chizaris – Guitariana
- Pascale Criton – La Ritournelle et le galop for 1/16th tone tuned guitar
- Brian Ferneyhough – Kurze Schatten II
- Alberto Ginastera – Sonata
- Sofia Gubaidulina – Serenade
- Bruno Maderna – Y Después
- Julian Mock – Ecstatic Mechanism
- Tristan Murail – Tellur
- Lior Navok – Remembrances of Jerusalem; Six for a Dance; Meditation
- Maurice Ohana – Tiento
- Marco Pereira – Samba Urbano
- William Walton – Five Bagatelles
- Hans Werner Henze – Royal Winter Music
- Ananda Sukarlan – The 5 Lovers of Drupadi
- Anton Del Forno – Guitar Concerto
- Eric Sessler – Sonata No.1; Rhapsody & Afterglow; Bombadiliana
Transcriptions
- Humberto Bruni Lamanna (*1957) (Venezuela) – Johann Sebastian Bach
- Roland Dyens (*1955)
- Eliot Fisk (*1958) (USA / Austria) Luciano Berio
- Tilman Hoppstock (*1961) (Germany) Béla Bartók
- Carlo Marchione (*1964) (Italy) Georg Philipp Telemann
- Behzad Mirkhani (*1969) (Iran)
- Andrés Segovia (1893–1987)
- Francisco Tárrega (Spanish) – Johann Sebastian Bach
- Kazuhito Yamashita (1961)
Guitarists for whom many pieces have been composed
- Andrés Segovia (1893–1987) (Spain)
- Alexandre Lagoya and Ida Presti
- Julian Bream (*1933)
- John Williams (*1940) (Australia)
- Christopher Parkening (*1947) (United States)
- Magnus Andersson (*1955) (Sweden)
- Eliot Fisk (United States)
- Adam Holzman (guitarist) (United States)
- Heike Matthiesen (Germany)
- Ricardo Gallen (Spain)
- David Russell
- David Starobin (United States)
- David Tanenbaum (United States)
- Pablo Gomez (Mexico)
- Sharon Isbin (United States)
- Sanel Redzic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Reviewed compositions for guitar
References
- Noad, Fredrick. "The Renaissance Guitar," "The Classical Guitar," "The Romantic Guitar". Compilations of notable repertoire for each era in standard musical notation.
- Chappell, Jon; Mark Phillip (2009). Classical Guitar for Dummies. For Dummies. ISBN 978-0-470-46470-0.
External links
Free music scores
- Boije Collection (The Music Library of Sweden)
- includes Sor, Giuliani, autographs by J.K. Mertz, etc.
- Det Kongelige Bibliotek The Royal Library of Denmark (info)
- Advanced Search Usage example: Field "All fields": Sor, and Field "URL (www link)": http NOT sheetmusicnow NOT freehandmusic NOT hebeonline
- Rischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music: Index of guitar titles (alt.)
- Printed Music: Index of guitar titles
- George C. Krick Collection of Guitar Music Gaylord Music Library, Washington University
- (Index - Online access to pdf, via "Connect to resource or more info")
- GFA Archive Searchable archive at "Guitar Foundation of America"
- BNE - Biblioteca Digital Hispánica| National library of Spain[permanent dead link] Click "Advanced Search" - Usage example: Field "Title": guitarra Or Field "Title": vihuela Or Field "Title": laud
- Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal| National library of Portugal
- Catalan composers of the 19th century José Ferrer y Esteve (1835–1916), José Brocá y Codina (1805–1882), José Viñas y Diaz (1823–1888) - info
- Oviatt Library Digital Archives
- creativeguitar.org
- ClassicalGuitarSchool.Net Free sheet music for guitar by Eythor Thorlaksson and Sveinn Eythorsson, Iceland.
- Forrest Guitar Ensembles - Music for guitar ensembles.