CD-ROMs run on both Windows® and Macintosh

Song List: Pavana* Diferencias Sobre "Guardame Las Vacas"* Minuet in D Minor* Estudio #5, Op. 35, No. 22* Lagrima* Adelita
(Click on a song title to see more information on it)

• Transcription plus 2 breakdowns

• Performance Video of transcription

Luis Milán was a sixteenth-century composer from Valencia, Spain. A Renaissance-era musician, he played and wrote for an instrument called the vihuela (a sister to the lute and the guitar). Though written for the vihuela, "Pavana" is transcribed and rearranged here for guitar. A pavan (also spelled pavane) was a slow, stately court dance that originated in Italy and was also popular in Spain. It remained in vogue as a couple's dance for most of the sixteenth century. The processionlike pavan became a popular idiom for composers. "Pavana" is a good example of the pavan genre - a nice composition that represents well the dance music of the sixteenth century.

• Transcription plus 1 breakdown

• Performance Video of transcription

Luys de Narváez was from Granada, Spain. A court composer for Prince Philip II in the mid-1500s, he wrote popular dance music of the day. He played and composed for the Renaissance stringed instrument called the vihuela, a sister of the lute and guitar. "Guardame Las Vacas" (Guard My Cows) was a popular "air" (song or tune) during the Renaissance. In England it was known as The Shepherd Carillo His Song. "Diferencias Sobre" means "variations on," which is exactly what this piece is: a theme with four continuous variations based on harmonic structure. Composed for the vihuela, it was published in 1538 in a volume entitled Delphin de Musica. These "diferencias," or variations, are some of the earliest of their kind ever printed.

• Transcription plus 1 breakdown

• Performance Video of transcription

Robert de Visée, you might guess from the name, was French. Born in 1660, he was a guitarist and composer for the French court. His guitar pieces show the influences of the early baroque period. "Minuet in D Minor" is a good example of a minuet, an elegant court dance of the baroque period (1600-1750). It was introduced in France in about 1650 at the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King whose reign saw a great flourishing of culture. Originally a lively folk dance, the minuet became slower and more refined and it spread quickly throughout Europe's ballrooms. Danced by a few couples, it was organized in groups of 3 beats. Like other baroque dances, the minuet made its way into concert music. It was eventually superseded by the waltz. This particular minuet is a nice piece to play in that it is less like a study and more music-oriented.

• Transcription plus 1 breakdown

• Performance Video of transcription

Fernando Sor was a composer and touring guitar player from Barcelona, Spain. Born in 1778, he is known today as a guitar virtuoso who actually composed for the guitar (he also wrote one opera). His guitar method book was popular in his day, making him something of a combined Jimi Hendrix-Mel Bay of the nineteenth century. Most music schools devote an entire course to the music of Sor. "Estudio #5" is what is known as a "study" ("estudio" in Spanish). A study is composed to teach one particular technique; generally studies are written with the exploitation of the technique in mind rather than a musical idea. This piece is a good study in arpeggios from the late classical/early romantic period and more or less resembles the style of Mozart. Compare this Sor piece to our demo, which is another Sor study in arpeggios. You will find "Estudio #5" a little more difficult and with fewer open chords than "Estudio #2."

• Transcription plus 1 breakdown

• Performance Video of transcription

A guitar player and concert performer from late-nineteenth-century Spain, Tarrega is famous for his innovations on the instrument, many of which were precursors to guitar techniques used in the twentieth century. His legacy also includes the violin and piano pieces he transcribed for the guitar. Tarrega compositions tend to be on the more difficult side. This piece, however, works well on the beginner level. "Lagrima" means "teardrop"; both the title and the slower pace hint at the trend toward more emotive music. Music of the period was modeled less after popular dance forms and was becoming more free-form, and this is no exception. Though there are a rhythm and melody throughout, the piece does not resemble a dance per se but rather is written more like a song.

• Transcription only

• Performance Video of transcription

Like "Lagrima," "Adelita" is one of Tarrega's easier pieces. And like "Lagrima," it shows music becoming more emotionally driven and less systematically derived. We do not know who Adelita was; all we know is that the proper name is the diminutive form of "Adela" and that diminutives usually express smallness or endearment. There is less strict form and more musical individuality in this piece - one of the reasons it is enjoyable to play. And one can always try to imagine the Adelita who inspired it.