Album Review – Spanish Gems in JWR

“A delectable Spanish set, with nary a castanet in sight!”

The venerable Canadian music website James Wegg Review (JWR) wrote a few words about Spanish Gems.

READ: https://www.jamesweggreview.org//Articles.aspx?ID=2584

“Less, as measured by duration,
can most certainly be more”

4 Stars 

Click here or the link above to read the complete review

Milestone: honey cadence reaches 4 million streams!

This summer, the 2022 release of my original guitar solos, honey cadence, reached 4 million streams on Amazon Music

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This was not expected, but most welcome.

The most popular songs are a surprise to us.

Do you have a favorite?

From the honey cadence liner notes:

Composed at the end of 2021 and early 2022, the six pensive solos of honey cadence are the first of my compositions to be recorded.

I started sketching melodies and gestures that were floating in my head with the intent of creating an album of meditative intimacy, which though on the quiet side, would be able to keep one’s attention. Improvisations highlighting my preferred qualities of the guitar: tone and timbre variation, note doubling, harmonics, pitch bends, and percussion gave me the confidence and freedom to explore. Each of the six titles has a connection to music, as well as general language, i.e., ‘anticipation’ is a musical ornament and linguistically expresses expectation or prediction.

May the album add some sweetness to your life.

We are over joyed and grateful to all who have listened and continue to listen to the album

honey cadence is on all streaming services and a few physical copies are available at concerts or via Bandcamp.
Scores are published by the American Composers Alliance.

* album streams are different than song streams

Album Review – Spanish Gems in The WholeNote

Guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan is back with his 11th solo album, and second celebrating Spanish musical heritage with Spanish Gems, a collection of works from the classical and flamenco repertoire (Tiger Turn 888-11 ALCguitar.com).

Included are Tárrega’s Capricho Arabe and Adelita, Esteban de Sanlúcar’s Panaderos, Albeniz’ Asturias, Gaspar Sanz’ Canarios from Suite Española, Emilio Pujol’s El Abejorro and – perhaps somewhat surprisingly – the ubiquitous Spanish Romance.”

Torroba’s three-movement Sonatina closes a thoroughly enjoyable – albeit brief at 35 minutes – CD full of Larget-Caplan’s customary clean and sensitive playing. O

June, July, August 2024
page 61

Link for listening: https://lnk.to/SpanishGems

Link for reviews, videos, and press: https://alcguitar.com/album-spanish-gems.php

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Album Review – Spanish Gems in Fanfare

SPANISH GEMS • Aaron Larget-Caplan (gtr) • TIGER TURN 888-11 (34:43)

TÁRREGA Capricho Árabe (Serenata). Adelita (Mazurka). SANLÚCAR Panaderos. ALBÉNIZ Asturias (Leyenda) (arr. Larget-Caplan). SANZ Suite Española: Canarios. ANONYMOUS Spanish Romance. PUJOL El Abejorro. TORROBA Sonatina

Spanish Gems is another outstanding recital by Aaron Larget-Caplan. On three previous occasions, I’ve reviewed for Fanfare recitals by the Boston-based guitarist. God’s Time—Music of J. S. Bach on Guitar (Tiger Turn 888-09) (Fanfare 46:3, Jan/Feb 2023) features Larget-Caplan’s transcriptions. Nights Transfigured (Stone 888-02) and Drifting (Stone 888-03) (both reviewed in Fanfare, 45:2, Nov/Dec 2021) are Volumes 2 and 3 of Larget-Caplan’s New Lullaby Project, featuring works the guitarist has commissioned, premiered, and recorded. In all cases, I was impressed by Larget-Caplan’s lovely, singing tone, aligned with mastery of both the technical demands and idioms of the works involved. That same level of artistry may be found in Spanish Gems, a collection of favorites teeming with seductive melody, rhythm, and color (strumming effects abound). Larget-Caplan plays all the Spanish works with a compelling balance of fire and elegance, magnified by the closely miked recording. This is a most enjoyable recital. Ken Meltzer

Four stars: Aaron Larget-Caplan’s beguiling recital of Spanish guitar favorites

– Fanfare, September/October, 2024

Link for listening: https://lnk.to/SpanishGems

Link for reviews, videos, and press: https://alcguitar.com/album-spanish-gems.php

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Residency at the John Cage Trust

In early July, I was invited to spend a few days at the John Cage Trust. Located a couple hours north of New York city in Red Hook, New York, it is housed at the wonderfully beautiful Wilson House at Bard College.

The JC Trust was established in 1993 as a not-for-profit institution whose mission is to gather together, organize, preserve, disseminate, and generally further the work of the late American composer, John Cage. It moved to Bard College about 17 years ago. Click here to read more about the JC Trust and a gallery of photos is at the bottom.

Brief Background:

I started transcribing the music of John Cage for guitar in 2013, beginning with the piano part of Six Melodies for violin and piano. My arrangement, premiered at the Boston Conservatory that year, turned out to be the first arrangement for guitar of Cage’s music to be published with the expressed approval of the JC Trust, being issued  by Edition Peters in 2015.

I didn’t know it then, but I quickly descended into a rabbit hole of musical arranging magic, a collection of his early and mid-career solos in Piano Music Arranged for Guitar (2018), as well as the prepared piano work, Bacchanale (2022), for two prepared guitars.

An album of all of the above works came out in 2018 on the UK label Stone Records under the title, John. Cage. Guitar.

Since the release of the album, I have been awarded two residencies focused on continuing my exploration of the music of John Cage. The first was in January 2020, at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada, and the second was in 2022, a Community Artist Residency at the Kirkland Arts Center in Clinton, New York.

It was an amazing honor to be invited by John Cage Trust Director, Laura Kuhn for a third. 

My Work:

I came to Bard College with the intent of researching and presenting a couple of Cage’s later works inspired by Erik Satie: Perpetual Tango and Swinging

From the description of Perpetual Tango on the John Cage website:

Cage maintained the rhythm of Satie’s work, but omitted and lengthened certain of its notes, a process similar to that used in the composition of his Cheap Imitation. Pitches are unspecified, but indications for registers are notated and directions are given for the sounding of single notes or intervals.

While at the residency, I also arranged Satie’s original works from “Sports et Divertissements” from which the two works are based, Le Tango Perpétuel and La Balançoire.

These works are fascinating!

Satie wrote 21 short works, each with a different Sport or Entertainment title. Each work also includes an original poem written above the music. Curious on whether the performer should speak the text while playing, I did find a note in the Virgil Thompson edition stating that Satie wanted the poems read before each piece was to be played.

I admit to being slightly disappointed by that, but I may experiment and perform the works with the text, in French of course, on a repeat. Maybe it’ll work and Satie doesn’t like it, well…he can complain to me. 

The Cage pieces do include a poem, a “mesostic” (similar to acrostic, but led by middle rather than initial letters), with each one spelling ERIK SATIE, though they are not presented in the usual vertical manner.

Cage did begin a third work, Hunting, based on Satie’s, but it was not completed. Seeing the manuscript with all of his notes both for the music and the mesostic, was a gift I will cherish.

It should be noted, that Virgil Thompson translates Satie’s musical direction of Modéré et très ennuyé as Moderate and Agitated. I disagree with this and consider Moderate and Very Boring to be the proper musical directions.

The Concert

As the two works by Cage and Satie are both very short, I decided to create a program around arrangements by composers who Cage knew and who were influenced by him. On Saturday July 13, I presented “Arranging Influence.”

PROGRAM:  Music of John Cage, Alan Hovhaness, Erik Satie, Toru Takemitsu, and Larget-Caplan*

  • Larget-Caplan – sweet nuance
  • Satie – Le Tango Perpétuel
  • Cage – Perpetual Tango
  • Satie – La Balançoire
  • Cage – Swinging
  • Takemitsu – Over the Rainbow & Summertime (arrangements)
  • Hovhaness – Mystic Flute, Op. 22
  • Cage – Chess Pieces
  • Cage – In a Landscape
  • Larget-Caplan – honey cadence & moving still

*All original works except the Takemitsu performed in arrangements by Larget-Caplan.

I found the program to be quite rewarding. Special note was made of Chess Pieces, a work I have only performed live three times, as many had not heard it performed on guitar. The music literally comes from a painting Cage did on a chess theme for his friend and chess partner Marcel Duchamp. The music written across the painted chess board was not transcribed until 2005 by Margaret Leng Tan. Though written in a grand staff, it does not designate  an instrument or tempo. It is a perfect work for guitar, asking for a variety of colors and textures, and only a couple of spots seem not to be written for the instrument. My arrangement is in CAGE: Piano Music For Guitar.

For a future presentation of the Satie & Cage works, I would present both Satie works and then both Cage works. 

It was a great pleasure to meet Bard College composer Kyle Gann and John Cage fan Ralph Benko.

Presenting my latest published arrangement, Mystic Flute by Alan Hovhaness brought me great pleasure, as I just gave the east coast premiere of his work for choir & guitar ‘How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings.’ Of Hovhaness, Cage wrote: “Alan Hovhaness is like a ‘music tree’ that produces music as trees produce fruit” – NY Times.

The Toru Takemitsu arrangements were a surprise to the listeners. Many musicians outside of guitar do not know that Takemitsu taught himself guitar and wrote a number of solo and chamber works, including a concerto, which Hovhaness did as well. The Harold Arlen and George Gershwin arrangements are two of my favorites and are gems for the instrument. 

My solos sweet nuance and moving still are directly influenced by John Cage. I approached each with a desire to create works that take the listener out of time and celebrate the colors of the guitar. 

Conclusion

I returned home inspired to continue working on my arrangements and to explore further into Cage’s music and life.

I am grateful to JCT director Laura Kuhn for her hospitality. The house sits amongst the incredible landscape of the Hudson Valley, and the grounds of Bard College are immaculate. When one is in the area, I recommend a walk on Poet’s Path; it is incredibly inspiring.

Laura Kuhn is retiring from her position as Director of the John Cage Trust, and I wish her well on her new musical adventures. She and the JCT board have created an excellent space to celebrate and learn about the life, music, writings, and art of one of America’s most important 20th century composers. 

I do hope my work and sharing of Cage’s music opens the eyes and ears of more guitarists and general listeners. There are many things Cage is known for and first and foremost it should be as a composer. 

* The Cage and Hovhaness scores are published by Edition Peters and available worldwide online. Aaron’s compositions are published by the American Composers Alliance and recorded on honey cadence (Tiger Turn). The album John. Cage. Guitar. is on all streaming services and physical CDs are available via Amazon and online retailers. All scores and albums are also available via the Artist’s Bandcamp.

 

Pravasa for choir and guitar by Vineet Shende

Since November 2023, I have had the immense pleasure of sharing the stage with the Bowdoin Chamber Choir under conductor Jeff Christmas on the realization of 4 movements Vineet Shende’s luscious PRAVASA – TRAVELS OF THE GUITAR.
The work is an immense and colorful tapestry of emotion, exploring the migration (pravasa) of the guitar from its earliest inception (~200 bc) to post-civil war. 
Some may recall that I premiered the first four movements in 2011 with the Oratorio Chorale under Peter Frewen. For the May concert we performed movements 1, 3, 4, and premiered movement 6. Yes, movement five is in the works!
Video: Pravasa begins at 12:40, but the whole concert was just beautiful. It was amazing work with the students and I have uploaded photos to facebook (click to see). The composers program notes are in the YT video comments and below. Well worth a read.
 

Note by the composer

Pravasa : The impetus for this piece stems from research I did for my Spring 2010 History of the Guitar course at Bowdoin College. As many people know, the guitar’s most immediate ancestor, the vihuela, came about because of Ferdinand and Isabella’s persecution of Islamic culture in late- 15th century Spain.

Luthiers tried to distance their instrument from the Moorish oud and its round back and pear- shaped body by changing it to a “Western” flat back and waisted body (while keeping everything else basically the same). As I found out in my research, the guitar’s earlier ancestors have equally compelling story lines, and it is these story lines that I have tried to musically express in Pravasa. (Pravasa means “migration” in Sanskrit.)

Each movement of the piece focuses on a particular early relative of the guitar and uses concepts and techniques associated with that early relative.

For texts, I used poems that were written in those cultures at the same time when these instruments appeared. Whereas the long-necked lute (a plucked string instrument that has one main melodic string and one or more drone strings, such as the sitar) has a 5000-year history, the short-necked lute (where all strings are fretted, like the guitar) is relatively recent, and dates to the second-century BCE. The earliest depiction of this instrument comes from a sculpture from the ancient kingdom of Gandhara (in modern-day Pakistan). At this same site were found the earliest extant Buddhist writings in the world (on birch- bark), and I used one of these as the text for the first movement, The Rhinoceros Sutra. The Indian rhinoceros is a solitary creature, and this solitude is used as a metaphor in this sutra to illustrate the Buddhist concept of detachment from worldly and base concerns. The first section of the movement uses a driving guitar line with repeating figures that slowly expand. Over this, half of the choir sings the original Gandhari text in short, syncopated bursts while the other half sings their English translation in a sustained manner. In the second section, the text deals with the concept of detachment, and I set the Gandhari text in polyrhythmic expanding cells that quickly “detach” from semantic meaning itself. This concept continues to the aleatoric climax of the piece, where the text “becoming free of earthly intention” corresponds to freedom from meter as well. All short-necked lutes are held cradled and close to the body.

When one plays a guitar (or pipa, for that matter), one feels its vibrations against their heart. Even a slight rotation of the fingernail will cause a vast change in timbre. This intimate relationship between player and instrument is wonderfully reflected in the text of the Chinese fifth-century poem The Pipa. In setting this text, I have used many techniques associated with that instrument such as string bends, harmonics, and tremolos.

The text of the piece, At the Gateway of Rhyme, was written just as the barbat was transforming into the oud and making its way into the Arabian Peninsula. Seventh-century poet Suwayd ibn Kura’s metaphor of words as beautiful, unruly animals that must be lovingly tended, but also cajoled and herded into poems is an apt description of the creative process, and definitely one that I can relate to as a composer. Pitch material for this movement was derived from traditional Arabic maqams, and specific characteristics of the oud, such as microtonal ornamentation and double courses can be heard in the use of string bends and unison note doubling.

The banjo is a direct descendant of West African instruments such as the Senegambian Akonting. However, by the 19th century, it began to be strongly associated with a different tradition – the racist minstrel show. After the Civil War, to distance themselves from this painful connection, African Americans began to leave the banjo behind in favor of the guitar. Langston Hughes’ 1925 poem The Minstrel Man perfectly captures the shame and anger felt by African Americans compelled to participate in these humiliating minstrel shows.

In setting it, I have used many of the techniques – rolls, bends, cross-picking, etc. – that African American banjo players brought to the guitar. The influence of these banjo techniques was foundational for the sound of blues and rock, and though they began in a world of unimaginable oppression, they have ultimately made the guitar the most popular instrument played today.

I am thankful for all the work that Jeff Christmas and the Bowdoin Chamber Choir have put into Pravasa over the last year. And as you will hear, the guitar part for this piece is not only difficult, but requires familiarity with several completely different fretted instrumental traditions. I feel so grateful (and, quite frankly, spoiled) to have Aaron Larget-Caplan’s immense talent and dedication on this journey. -Vineet Shende

Aurore by Aaron Larget-Caplan • world premiere

Aurore by Aaron Larget-Caplan
On April 26, 2024 in Distler Performance Hall at Tufts University, composer and pianist John McDonald gave the world premiere of Aurore, the first piano piece of mine to be performed in public. He performed it with such love and beauty.

Happily written in January 2024 for Chinese pianist Yilin Shi, aka Yilin ‘Aurore’ Shi. Aurore means first light in French.

 

See John and Aaron working on Aurore at Tufts University in March 2024.

 

Tufts University Recital – 4/26

On Friday April 26, I return to Tufts University for the third time this semester for a recital that will complete an Arts Residency.

The recital, Altered Worlds, is on Friday April 26 at 12pm.

In the beautiful Distler Hall at Tufts University, it is free to attend and will stream online at: https://as.tufts.edu/music/news-events/live-streaming

Except for a short arrangement by Somerville native Alan Hovhaness, that was recently published (read about it), the concert features all living composers, the Boston premiere of the Richard Cameron-Wolfe micro-opera Heretic, three new lullabies, the world premiere two new works written by Tufts students, and the world premiere of a piano piece by yours truly played by John McDonald.

PROGRAM

Info Link:https://as.tufts.edu/music/news-events/events/calendar?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D172105413

New Publication – Mystic Flute by Alan Hovhaness, Edition Peters

Latest publication: Mystic Flute by Alan Hovhaness
Now published by Edition Peters

Aaron’s 4th Publication with Edition Peters

A sweet miniature and wonderful encore, Mystic Flute was composed for solo piano in 1937. It consists of two voices: a simple melody in the harmonic minor scale balanced by an ostinato accompaniment in 7/8 meter that gives the work a hypnotic and ceremonial spirit.

The melodic line begins in the top voice, before moving to the bass voice, and returning to the top voice with small ornamentation.

PURCHASE: AmazonFaber • PrestoFicks Music

*Some offer physical scores and PDFs

As I tend to do, no notes were removed from the piano score, and all dynamic and phrase markings follow the original score as well. There are probably a couple of places where a player could adjust it more, but that is up to each of us as individuals. 

This arrangement was premiered on July 29, 2018 at the Coaster Theater in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

This is my fourth publication with Edition Peters and first that is not John Cage.

Special thanks to Gene Caprioglio, Owen Summers, and everyone at Edition Peters.

“GREAT ARRANGEMENT”
~This is Classical Guitar
(click to read)

UNBOXING VIDEO

 

Plastic Dream Fugue – Now Musique Concert

Boston, MA – March 8, 2024 – Now Musique presents an evening of transcendent musical exploration and distinctive musical premieres with acclaimed guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan in “Plastic Dream Fugue.” The concert is Friday, March 29, 2024, at 7:30 PM at the historic First Church Boston, located at 66 Marlborough Street.

Larget-Caplan will perform a solo program featuring masterpieces from the 18th and 21st centuries, including a mash-up violin-organ-lute fugue by J.S. Bach, arranged by Larget-Caplan.

The concert will showcase music specially curated for Larget-Caplan’s award-winning New Lullaby Project by American composers Laurie Spiegel, John McDonald, Dean Rosenthal, and Ian Wiese, as well as Czech composer Štěpán Rak. The concert will include the world premieres of two New Lullaby Project compositions (n. 72 & 73) by Pasquale Tassone and Charles Turner. Lament by Mexican composer and Boston University alumnus Luis Obregon and a stellar multi-movement work by American composer and NEC alumnus Daniel Felsenfeld complete the program.

The New Lullaby Project, a cornerstone of Aaron Larget-Caplan’s artistic vision, represents a harmonious blend of tradition and innovation exploring the genre of the lullaby with over 70 compositions created for it, three albums, and two collections of scores. After all, who’s afraid of a lullaby?!

“We are delighted to present Plastic Dream Fugue, a concert that epitomizes Now Musique’s commitment to exploring the new and neglected in the world of music,” said Aaron Larget-Caplan, founder and director of Now Musique. “The composers featured are of exceptional talent and dedicated to pushing artistic boundaries and make this concert a must-see event for music lovers of all backgrounds.”

Tickets for Plastic Dream Fugue are available for $25 and can be reserved online at Eventbrite or purchased at the door. $5 discount for those in pajamas. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the lovely lyrical lulling of the guitar in the enchanting space of First Church Boston.

About Now Musique:

Founded in 2019, Now Musique is dedicated to showcasing innovative and boundary-pushing musical experiences that challenge convention and inspire audiences. Through our curated concerts and events, we seek to explore the richness of musical diversity and celebrate the artistry of both established and emerging talents in the recital format. Committed to education through experience and working to tear down the elitist stereotype of classical music, Now Musique brings music to audiences without watering it down. The 22-23 season featured 5 concerts, 4 all-ages programs, a commission from composer Daniel Felsenfeld, and over 30 living composers.