Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco emigrated to California in 1939 to escape Jewish persecution and later became an American citizen.
Performer Biography
Friedemann Wuttke, the guitarist on this album, has been a selected artist with the Goethe Institute since 1998 and has been significantly influenced by encounters with composer Joaquin Rodrigo and pianist Igor Zhukov.
Composer Biography
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, a composer of Spanish-Jewish and German descent, wrote over a hundred Hollywood film scores in addition to his classical works.
Compositional Technique
Joaquin Turina's Sonata para guitarra blends classical sonata form with Spanish elements, including the Andalusian 'Cante Jondo' and the Flamenco strumming technique 'rasqueado'.
Composition History
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Concerto No. 1 for guitar was inspired by and dedicated to the famous guitarist Andrés Segovia.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Joaquin Turina, along with other Spanish composers like Isaac Albeniz and Manuel de Falla, aimed to combine European musical tradition with Spanish folklore and Flamenco to create a unique national style.
Interpretation
Friedemann Wuttke's arrangement of Joseph Haydn's String Quartet op. 2 No. 2 for guitar and strings transposes some phrases by an octave to achieve a more transparent texture, accounting for the guitar's lower sounding pitch.
