My arrangement of John Cage’s prepared piano work Bacchanale for 2 prepared guitars is now available through Edition Peters Group !!!
Guitar Preparations
Written in 1940, Bacchanale is the earliest of John Cage’s prepared piano works, which was originally written for choreographer and fellow faculty member at Cornish College, Syvilla Fort, who was one of the earliest black choreographers of modern dance in the US.
From John. Cage. Guitar.
“A rhythmically riotous piece, polyrhythms are created through the music’s consistently adjusting groupings and meters. Bacchanale was first conceived by Cage as a dance work for percussion ensemble by fellow Cornish College faculty choreographer Syvilla Fort, who asked for a composition of African inspiration. The space of the performance was not large enough to allow for the battery of percussion instruments, so Cage decided to fix weather stripping, bolts, screws and nuts into the strings of the piano to create a percussion ensemble, and the first work for prepared piano was born. Its large form being Fast-Slow-Fast, the outside sections are also broken into smaller sections of various levels of Fast-Faster-Fast. The middle section is marked Very Slow-Slow-Slower and has only one dynamic triple piano (ppp). The preparation of the guitars consisted of paper woven through strings 6-2, and an alligator clip on the first string with two washers around it. It is as close to rock and roll as one can get in 1940 or with classical guitars.”
It is the closing track of John. Cage. Guitar, Recorded with Adam Levin on Stone Records.
The score comes with preparation instructions and photos.
On Friday April 1st, the video premiere of the first single from honey cadence will be live!
sweet nuance was born in early January 2022, from an improvisation and idea: a repeated harmonic figure (ostinato) with a melody floating over. I sought to capture a moment of stillness that is both intimate and timeless. sweet nuance, the first piece on my instrumental album honey cadence, marks my debut as a composer. The solo felt special as soon as I found it and resides close to my heart. Having only focused on performing and arranging for almost 20 years, composing this album in just a couple of weeks was magic.
Programs*:
A mix of new Bach keyboard arrangements, popular songs by Gershwin and Arlen, solos by John Cage and from the New Lullaby Project by Antonio Celso Ribeiro, Laurie Spiegel, Ian Wiese, Brian Schober, Ken Ueno, Antony R. Green, and Stepan Rak, the Legend of Hagoromo by Keigo Fujii, new works for guitar+electronics by Tom Flaherty, Lainie Fefferman, and Lou Bunk, and my own original compositions from ‘honey cadence’. Lots and lots of music!
Concerts are still being announced so check back in for more!
One of my most popular videos, España Cañi by Pascual Marquina is a classical music standard, though not for guitar! Originally written for orchestra there are few transcriptions for guitar solo. I made this at the request of the phenomenal flamenco and bolero dancer Gabriela Granados.
This is the premiere performance in 2011 in Springfield, Massachusetts and filmed on point and shoot camera. Who knew it would take off!?
My arrangement has changed in a few places since 2011, but the energy and excitement of the music remains central to the realization. It combines classical and flamenco techniques into a serious solo. You can find scores (tab and standard notation) in my website STORE.
A brief video demonstrating how one can practice a “lick/run” using rhythmic variations and groupings. The music is from Tango En Skaï by Roland Dyens.
Here’s a video of the complete piece (with lots of variation):
This is a video I made as part of a group lecture given for the 2021 Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) on the subject ‘Developing Successful Practice Habits’ on Friday, June 25, 2021. Music: Lullaby For Children Of The New World by Ricardo Odriozola
Watch Aaron’s latest video ‘Steps and Leaps’ for guitar and electronics by Tom Flaherty. Inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing, it includes percussion, effects, and a few other things.
Video by Aaron and art work by Agustín Castilla-Ávila. Premiered for the New Music Gathering on August 16, 2021. In-person premiere on August 27-28 at the Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, Rockport, Massachusetts
Steps and Leaps (2019) by Tom Flaherty was composed for the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, its title inspired by Neil Armstrong’s first words from the surface of the moon, “One small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind.” The music brings to my mind the beating hearts, ticking clocks, interlocking actors, rising tension, and release into weightlessness that I associate with that first lunar landing.
“Steps and Leaps” is dedicated to Aaron Larget-Caplan
