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John Williams - Spanish Guitar Music Audio CD

A fair review of the John Williams "Spanish Guitar Music" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all John Williams reviews here, or go back to the John Williams tabs.

John Williams Band: John Williams
Title: Spanish Guitar Music
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-01-29
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Albeniz: Asturias 2: Albeniz: Tango 3: Sanz: Canarios 4: Rodrigo: Fandango 5: Torroba: Nocturno 6: Segreras - El Colibri 7: Albeniz: Sonata in D 8: De Falla: The Corregidor's Dance 9: De Falla: Fisherman's Song 10: De Falla: The Miller's Dance 11: Torroba: Madronos 12: La Nit de Nadal 13: El Noy de la Mare 14: Granados: Ma Maja de Goya 15: Abeniz: Cordoba 16: Tarrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra 17: Granados: Spanish Dance No. 5 18: El Testamen de Amelia 19: Villa-Lobos: Prelude No. 4 in E Minor 20: Albeniz: Sevilla 21: De Falla: Homanaje 22: Mudarra: Fantasia 23: Turina: Fandanguillo

Just good Spanish Guitar
Good selections and presentations. I like to listen to this CD when I working at home.


spanish guitar music
I listen to this while i cook or relax. The music is melodic and beautiful. it is amazing.


pleasant, soothing, beatuiful
Gorgeous playing, excellent song selection. . I listen to this while reading, or painting - it's great music for shutting down a "noisy" brain - very relaxing. Good quality sound, too. Lovely on rainy days, in winter with candles burning . . . really adds to a contemplative (but not somber) ambience.


~Spanish Guitar is relaxing~
This cd by John Williams, is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l-l-y put together! It is so full of flavor, everything from the Classical down to Flamenco is on this cd. I l-o-v-e Spanish guitar music especially with music composed by, Isaac Albeniz. It is very relaxing as well as lively. I would & already have recommend this to people who are in love with the Spanish guitar. It's a perfect mood enhancer as well as a wonderful ambience to any backyard gathering with family & friends.

For those of you who have been to Disneyland & dined at "Rancho del Zocalo" (in Frontierland) . . . this cd is similar to the music you would enjoy while eating.

Hopefully this will help you decide if this is something that you might enjoy for yourself.
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The Best Classical Guitarist in the World
These are those albums (and I've had them all for 35 years):

COLUMBIA RECORDS PRESENTS JOHN WILLIAMS (1964)
VIRTUOSO MUSIC FOR GUITAR (1965)
MORE VIRTUOSO MUSIC FOR GUITAR (1967)
JOHN WILLIAMS PLAYS SPANISH MUSIC (1970)

Fourteen of the first fifteen tracks here are from the 1970 LP and are presented in their original sequence. All of the music on this disc was recorded for Columbia Records between 1964 and 1970 for release on four different LP albums. Track 6, "El Colibri" by Segreras, is not from that LP. It here replaces the proper sixth LP track, "Valses Poeticos" by Granados, which strangely has been omitted from this collection entirely. Otherwise, the album, certainly one of Williams's greatest, would have been complete on this disc.

What follows is a complete list of the Spanish and Latin American pieces included on the three earlier LPs and in the original sequences (* signifies omission from this collection):

COLUMBIA RECORDS PRESENTS JOHN WILLIAMS
"Sevilla"
"Recuerdos de la Alhambra"
"Fandanguillo"
"Soleares" (Turina) *
"Rafaga" (Turina) *
"El Testemen de Amelia"
"Scherzino Mexicano" (Ponce) *
"El Colibri"

VIRTUOSO MUSIC FOR GUITAR
"Spanish Dance No. 5"
Etude No. 8 (Villa-Lobos) *
"Homenaje a Debussy"

MORE VIRTUOSO MUSIC FOR GUITAR
"Fantasia. . . " (Mudarra)
"Diferencias Sobre el Conde Claros" (Mudarra) *
Prelude No. 4 (V-L)
Prelude No. 2 (V-L) *
"Aires de la Mancha" (Moreno-Torroba) *

Better choices could have been made from this pool. I myself would have included the "Valses Poeticos" and left out the Villa-Lobos. I've always been bowled over by JW's approach to Spanish repertoire, but don't find him completely convincing with Villa-Lobos' music which in my opinion benefits greatly from a "warmer" touch (like Bream's). Most certainly, the inclusion of these Segreras and Villa-Lobos pieces in a "Spanish" recital is a bit strange, although they're both showy and can be loosely associated with Spanish guitar. Turina's "Rafaga" is one of JW's most fiery performances and could have made the cut. One could in fact make a compelling case for all three Turina pieces from the first LP. Happily, another JW disc which draws from the same recordings, SPANISH GUITAR FAVORITES, does have both the "Valses Poeticos" and all the Turina, and is also available on Amazon.

Quibbling aside, these performances were at the time (and still are) STARTLINGLY good. It's difficult to convey nowadays just how impossible it seemed in 1970 that a human being could play like this. This music is difficult to play and nobody had ever done it with such confidence and ease. I'll never forget seeing JW in 1971 and looking around the hall to see faces uniformly agog.

There are three different packagings for this same disc. I have not heard them all and am in no position to comment as to their relative value. Thank you for reading.
.


You can see a complete list of all John Williams discography, or go back to the John Williams tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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