Four hundred years of guitar music.

摘要

From the Renaissance to the present the guitar's popularity has fallen in and out of favor although it has had a continuous presence in art music. John Dowland, the Elizabethan lutenist whose life was embroiled in the political turmoil of his time, composed works that are highly regarded by guitarists and often performed by contemporary guitarists.In the early 19th century, one of the most influential guitarists was Mauro Giuliani. He was one of the first guitarists to use the new notational practice of the melody having stems facing upward with accompaniment stems facing down. This new form of notation made it easier to delineate the melody from the accompaniment. During Giuliani's time, the guitar was still in its developmental stage and the addition of a sixth string was a recent development. This sixth string added to the guitar's range and power, particularly in solo works. Giuliani was known as the greatest living guitar virtuoso during his lifetime and his compositions are reflective of this.While the early 20th century Mexican composer Manuel Ponce was not a guitarist, he did write extensively for one of the twentieth century's most prominent guitarists, Andres Segovia. Their friendship lasted throughout their lives and helped solidify the guitar as a concert instrument in the early part of the twentieth century. The extensive editing practices of Segovia are clearly evident in Ponce's guitar music since the original manuscripts are still in existence and the Segovia editions are readily available.Two contemporary guitarist/composers are the Russian Nikita Koshkin and the Argentinean Maximo Diego Pujol. Koshkin's work the Usher Waltz is based on, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe and is a good example of contemporary guitar composition in a programmatic setting. This works relation to the story reveals interesting compositional techniques. Maixmo Diego Pujol's Tres Piezas Rioplatenas uses folklorick elements from the tango, milonga and the candombe and is an excellent example of modern nationalistic styles in modern guitar music.