Search - Lynn Harting-Ware (guitar) :: Many Moods of the Guitar

Many of these works were commissioned and written specifically for me. Following the elegant Tarrega is Nakina by Peter Ware, a special work in my repertoire that I commissioned through the Ontario Arts Council. This virtuoso showpiece has a strong blues influence and exudes a dramatic flare throughout its four movements. The selections from Schumann's Kinderszenen are introspective in character and their expressive subtleties emerge from simplicity of form. Titles suggest extra-musical and poetic connotations. Music for the Waiting Angel and Sonare by composer-guitarist Richard Jordan Smoot are lyric works revealing idiomatic writing in a beautiful harmonic language. In contrast, Robert Rollin's Hassidic Dance, which I commissioned with additional support from Youngstown State University in Ohio, is a playful setting of a folksong traditionally sung at weddings asking all to put past differences aside and join in friendship. The biting harmonies humorously symbolize conflict while interacting with the folksong theme. Dance, Fantasy and Ricercare are pieces I composed in memory of my grandfather, who first introduced me to the guitar. They are written in a Renaissance style with contemporary and jazz elements. River Sky by Kathy Henkel was composed in connection with my poem of the same title. This evocative work has a charming clarity and freshness of form and style. The Blue Guitar, by Willam Roberts, has a lineage progressing from Picasso's famous painting through Wallace Stevens' poem to David Hockney's etchings. This collection of succinct Satiesque miniatures draws influence from popular music. Shimmering and mirage-like, Manifestations of the Spirit by Stephen Elderkin leads us back to the Spanish character with which we began and to the closing work, Tarrega's well-known and well-loved favorite Recuerdos de la Alhambra. Enjoy!