Guitar

The guitar consistently ranks as one of the most popular instruments worldwide, and while most people associate it with more popular genres like rock or pop music, its roots run deep within classical music history. In fact, the guitar appeared as early as the Baroque era, and its popularity especially began picking up steam in the Industrial Revolution, when 19th-century master composers became infatuated with the instrument.

Composers are still finding interesting ways to incorporate this instrument into classical music settings – that’s never changed – including all of the pieces on this edition of Arizona Encore.

We start with the question: what happens if George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is performed not by a pianist and orchestra…. But by two guitarists?

Well, the Kupinski Duo has the answer, and their arrangement of Gershwin’s Rhapsody was described by Blair Jackson of Classical Guitar Magazine as “the finest guitar version [of the piece]” she’s encountered… noting that “these two musicians are so in sync throughout the piece’s nearly 16-minute run time that it’s quite miraculous.”

This is followed by Gary Schocker’s meditative journey for guitar and harp titled Hypnotized. Schocker is no stranger to modalities related to the mind and body: for decades, he has studied such practices as the Alexander Technique and the Feldenkreis method, even teaching a monthly virtual masterclass with players from around the globe joining him to learn how to overcome physical challenges to discover more musical joy. This work for guitar and harp resonates beautifully with this aspect of his life.

And finally, Hilary Purrington’s Harp of Nerves, a concerto for guitar that imagines the performers being interconnected like the human body’s nervous system. Purrington describes the orchestra members and the soloist as “co-dependent parts of a single entity; the entire ensemble becomes a kind of nervous system with its parts and connectors laid bare. Throughout the work’s three movements, the soloist functions as the body’s control center, tethered to each individual member of the orchestra.”