{"id":12396,"date":"2019-03-20T12:11:38","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T19:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=12396"},"modified":"2019-03-20T14:06:56","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T21:06:56","slug":"the-guitar-quintet-from-obscurity-to-celebrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/the-guitar-quintet-from-obscurity-to-celebrity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Guitar Quintet: From Obscurity to Celebrity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once a rarity, there are now over 300 works combining the guitar with string quartets<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

BY DR. KEVIN GARRY |\u00a0FROM THE SPRING 2019 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR<\/a><\/h6>\n

\u201cMusic for guitar and string quartet comprises some of the best, yet least performed, music in print.\u201d So begins Richard Provost\u2019s article in the February 1987 issue of American String Teacher<\/i>. While the former part of the statement remains true, the appositive phrase does not. The repository of works for this chamber ensemble, born in late 18th century Europe, holds a deep, rich tradition, as evidenced by the growing body of 300-plus works making their way into the repertoire of artists around the globe. <\/span><\/p>\n

Several issues plaguing the guitar quintet, including balance with the quartet and the scarcity of concert-worthy literature, have diminished. Balance issues are resolved by today\u2019s high-quality microphones and sound reinforcement systems, while repertoire for the guitar quintet boasts hundreds of concert-level compositions contributed by highly decorated composers, including Luigi Boccherini, Antoine de Lhoyer, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Leo Brouwer, Alan Hovhaness, David Diamond, Carlos Guastavino, Michael Daugherty, S\u00e9rgio Assad, Gerard Drozd, Miguel Bareilles, and Gabriela Lena Frank. Guitar quintets can be found on programs by international artists ranging from Andr\u00e9s Segovia and Julian Bream to Manuel Barrueco, Berta Rojas, Pepe Romero, Nicholas Goluses, David Tanenbaum, Stanley Yates, Dusan Bogdanovic, S\u00e9rgio Assad, Lily Afshar, Jason Vieaux, and Xuefei Yang.<\/span><\/p>\n

IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES<\/span><\/h4>\n

The first appearance of the guitar quintet is traceable to the late 18th century by composers from France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. These include a small collection of period arrangements and \u201cconcertos,\u201d which contributed to early efforts to usher the guitar out of the parlor and onto the concert stage. Much of our current understanding of early guitar quintets come from the writings of contemporary scholars Brian Jeffery, Erik Stenstadvold, and Stanley Yates.<\/span><\/p>\n

One issue regarding these early guitar quintets is that of instrumentation. \u201cLate 18th century\/early 19th century works titled \u2018quatour\u2019 or \u2018concertante\u2019 are chamber works, one player per part,\u201d says Yates. \u201cWorks titled \u2018concerto\u2019 imply\u2014along with an exclusive focus on the instrument featured\u2014at least more than one player for each string part.\u201d Many early guitar works were labeled \u201cconcerto avec accompagnement, de deux violons, alto et basse,\u201d where the term basse<\/i> did not necessarily imply the double bass. All extant concertos can be performed as quintets, though the original intention may have been a concerto setting. Of the early works available, such as those by B. Vidal (d. 1800), Antoine de Lhoyer (1768\u20131852), and Charles Doisy (d. 1807), most are known today as guitar quintets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vidal\u2019s Concerto pour la Guitarre<\/i>, the first known guitar \u201cconcerto,\u201d might surprise the modern listener with its integrity and beauty. This 1793 single-movement work retains elements of the Baroque concerto\u2014such as having the soloist playing tutti sections, as well as solo sections\u2014but it follows Classical period conventions with its long tutti introduction setting the stage for the entrance of the guitar and the \u201cimprovised\u201d guitar cadenza. Guitar solo sections are lightly accompanied, allowing the guitar to penetrate; the guitar writing is virtuosic but idiomatic, with melodic figures shifting modes, rapid arpeggios, and scalar octaves. <\/span><\/p>\n

The works of Luigi Boccherini (1743\u20131805), one of the major Italian composers of the late 18th century, contain a buoyant rococo appeal\u2014shaped by the classical ideal of form and harmony\u2014with Spanish folk inflections. Boccherini masterfully made use of the guitar, balancing the musical texture of the quartet and guitar to reveal the technical capacities of the guitar in this ensemble. Nine of his guitar quintets (G. 445\u2013G. 453) survive, though in varying versions, and several have become staples of the guitar quintet literature, including the popular Quintet in D Major<\/i> G. 448 (\u201cFandango\u201d), the masterful Quintet No. 9 in C Major<\/i> G. 453 (\u201cLa Ritirada de Madrid\u201d), and the outstanding Quintet No. 1 in D minor<\/i>, G. 445. All of Boccherini\u2019s quintets are arrangements based on his earlier string or piano quintets dating from 1798\u20131799.<\/span>
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