𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞́𝙖𝙨 ♫ Leonardo Balada • 𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘰 𝘠𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘴 ♪ 10-string guitar • live in London 1974

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As someone who has performed this work many times (in South Africa, Australia, and Asia), I think it is important to add the following detail to Narciso's introduction to the music. That is, to his explanation of the third movement ("Contours" or "Outlines"). Not only is it necessary to 'close' the resonance of the 10-string guitar for this movement, to achieve the "pure line" of which Narciso speaks, but it is also necessary to play this line with a single finger of the right hand (either the index or the middle), without alternation, as if sketching with a pencil (like "hatching" and "cross-hatching"). That is, except in those cases where this "pure line" is disrupted by chords or by the accelerandos (which Narciso has introduced).

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Leonardo Balada has written the following account of the origins of this work: "For my part, I felt a strong necessity to become up to date aesthetically, to look to the future and not be criticized as a reactionary. How could it be otherwise for a liberal young fellow brought up in Spain, opposed to Franco’s conservatism? On the other hand the music I was listening to in New York was not for me. The strict rules of serial techniques were not fitting with my personality while on the other hand, the free-open 'aleatoric' techniques seemed to me capricious. "In 1965 the late Spanish guitarist Narciso Yepes-a master as well as an innovator of the instrument-had just premiered a work of mine at Town Hall in New York. He urged me to find a solution to my aesthetic-technical unhappiness. I greatly thank Narciso for his interest, support and confidence in me. I vividly remember the conversation we had when I accompanied him in a taxi from Manhattan to the airport on his return to Madrid. He once more urged me to overcome my uncertainties and compose a new work for him, a 'contemporary' one this time, which, he said, he would perform all over the world and record. This was to be 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪́𝘢𝘴 (1967)."

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00:00 • Introduction to the music 04:05 • 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 ("Propulsions") 06:11 • 𝘖𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 ("Oscillations") 08:17 • 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘴 ("Outlines") 09:34 • 𝘈𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘴 ("Depths")

[@terrymarshall6664]

Impossible?😂😂. As Fritz says, "you dare not tell him something is impossible". Completely masterful.

[@10String]

Thank you Terry.

[@10String]

This is a live performance in London (1974). For the official Deutsche Grammophon studio recording of 1977, please refer to: Propulsiones: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGevgaVjoNZ7rJI Ocilaciones: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXLMmoZ8ipKFmas Contornos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWHOZpiOo5aZZ68 Abismos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnLEn6yDn7ugmbs There is also video footage of Narciso performing the first movement, here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2G1faB3grmVqqM

[@ursulazangl1655]

Propulsions:starting a Moped or Tractor Energy Oscillations:Dehnung von etwas Elastischem von A Nach B Glockenschlag Outlines:sewing maschine is sewing on material lines Dephts:Flip der Grashopper,Flöhe hüpfen

[@ursulazangl1655]

To close the resonance?

[@10String]

To mute the resonance. To stop the resonance.

[@ursulazangl1655]

Okay

[@ursulazangl1655]

To get a pure line

[@ursulazangl1655]

What is meant by Analogias?

[@10String]

"Analogies" in English. In German: Analogien, Ähnlichkeiten.

[@ursulazangl1655]

@@10String Thank you.Are there Analogies concerning the parts of the piece meant or is it just a title

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The first part is like acceleration in a machine such as a motor engine. The second part is like oscillations or alternations between two points, like a pendulum, for instance. The third part is like sketching an outline of something with pencil. The fourth part is about the relations between high and low notes, like leaping from high to low places or vice versa.

[@ursulazangl1655]

Thank you.Why did Yepes not like his first piece?

[@10String]

Because composers often make the mistake of thinking that they must write "guitar" music for the guitar. In other words, it must be similar to other "guitar" music and it must be "possible" to play. When the composer is not a guitarist, certainly not a great guitarist like Narciso, then this idea of "possible" becomes very limiting. It is limited by what the composer knows or thinks he knows about the technical possibilities of the guitar. This is always less than the knowledge and technical possibilities of a great guitarist like Narciso. But if the composer stops worrying about what is so-called possible or not, if he writes music true to his own style and imagination, then he can perhaps write something that expands the concept of "the guitar" and "guitar music." This is the case with the Analogias by Balada, as was the case also with the Concerto dedicated to Narciso by Maurice Ohana. This brings us back to the criticism that Fritz has expressed about other so-called important guitar works of the 20th century, like Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal (written for Julian Bream), that were written around existing so-called guitaristic techniques and patters, instead of significantly expanding the concept of "the guitar" in the way that composers who wrote for Narciso sometimes did.