The Guitar
The Guitar
Artist: Rupert Boyd
Composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Leo Brouwer, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Graeme Koehne, Lennon/McCartney, Astor Piazzolla, Fernando Sor
Format: 1 CD
DSL-92231
This album pays homage to the guitar. While the casual listener may recognise many of these works as favourites from the guitar canon, the majority of the repertoire wasn’t originally written for the instrument.
Only the Sor and the Brouwer were originally guitar compositions. The other works started life in a different form, and stand testament to the strength and versatility of the guitar to not only play such a diverse range of repertoire, but to truly embrace it.
With its polyphonic capabilities and roots in popular music around the world, the guitar is singularly capable of such a traverse of styles. This album is not, as the title may imply, a collection of the most beloved or greatest hits from the classical guitar repertoire, but instead a demonstration of the power and ability of the guitar to perform and assume ownership of such beloved repertoire.
—Rupert Boyd
New York-based Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd has been described by The Washington Post as “truly evocative”, by Gramophone as a “fine guitarist”, and by Classical Guitar Magazine as “a player who deserves to be heard”. He has performed across four continents, from New York’s Carnegie Hall, to festivals in Europe, China, India, Nepal, the Philippines, New Zealand and Australia.
Active as both a soloist and chamber musician, Rupert Boyd regularly performs throughout the world in Boyd Meets Girl with cellist Laura Metcalf, and as part of the Australian Guitar Duo with guitarist Jacob Cordover.
Track List
Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994)
1. Felicidade (arr. R. Dyens) 4:41
2. Estrada Branca (arr. P. Bellinati) 2:47
Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
3. Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart 8:03
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Suite in E Major, BWV1006a
4. Prelude 4:21
5. Loure 3:25
6. Gavotte en Rondeau 3:18
7. Menuett I & II 4:53
8. Bourrée 1:37
9. Gigue 2:03
Graeme Koehne (b. 1956)
10. A Closed World of Fine Feelings 5:20
Leo Brouwer (b. 1939)
Estudios Sencillos
11. I: Movido 0:45
12. II: Coral. Lento 1:09
13. III: Rápido 0:20
14. IV: Cómodo. Allegretto 0:41
15. V: Montuno. Allegretto 0:50
16. VI: — 1:01
17. VII: Lo más rápido posible 0:38
18. VIII: Tranquillo 1:20
19. IX: Scherzo 0:38
20. X: — 0:41
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
21. Milonga del Angel (arr. B. Benítez) 5:31
22. La Muerte del Angel (arr. B. Benítez) 3:50
Lennon/McCartney
23. Julia (arr. R. Boyd) 2:03
Total time: 60:12
Release date: April 26, 2019
UPC: 053479223128
QUOTES & REVIEWS
…widely diverse …thoughtful yet perfectly judged performance. …an utterly exceptional recording.
Classical Guitar Magazine
…clean technique, broad tonal palette and intelligent musicianship. It’s the style that respects the composer and the music without allowing one’s ego to be subsumed by them.
Will Yeoman, Limelight
Rupert Boyd makes his guitar sing.
Rafael de Acha, Rafael's Music Notes
Anyone who responds to the classical guitar legacy in its many variants will no doubt be quite happy to experience The Guitar in its diverse ebbs and flows. Bravo Boyd! If he is the future of classical guitar we are in good hands.
Grego Applegate Edwards, Classical-Modern Music Review
KDFC Album of the Week
…wide-ranging program…
Staff, kdfc.com
It’s a nicely balanced program that always holds your interest and has much to offer, with clean, resonant and idiomatic playing throughout.
David Olds, The WholeNote
Rupert Boyd is the latest name to add to Australia’s richly studded classical guitar scene…
Instantly one’s ears are pricked up by Boyd’s interpretative directness and a sparkling technique…
Graham Strahle, The Australian
It's just possible that Boyd's technique has only grown more phenomenal since his last solo album, Fantasias—whatever the reason, he absolutely slays me on the opening tracks here, two Jobim pieces that find composer and player at their most expressive.
Jeremy Shatan, AnEarful
“Remember the name Rupert Boyd. While there may never be another classical guitarist like Segovia, this young Australian left his Marlow Guitar Series audience with the impression that someday there may not be the likes of him again, either.”