Preludos y estudios, and: 23 canciones populares de distintos paises, and: Transcripciones, and: Obra completa para guitarra (review)

Virgil Thomson once remarked that "there is no guitar but the Spanish guitar, and Andrés Segovia is its prophet" (notes accompanying Eliot Fisk's compact disc recording of Segovia, Canciones populares,MusicMasters Classics 01612-67174-2 [1996],quoting an unidentified review by Thomson in the New York Herald Tribune). Indeed, by developing a highly sophisticated technique and performing both transcriptions and original works from the classical repertory, Segovia (1893-1987) played a tremendous role in turning the guitar into a respectable concert instrument. His contribution extended beyond performance, however. As an educator, he influenced generations of prominent guitarists, among them Oscar Ghiglia, John Williams, Christopher Parkening, and Eliot Fisk. And his collaborations with important composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Manuel Ponce, and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco resulted in significant additions to the twentieth-century guitar repertoire. The recent publication of Segovia's three-volume Obras para guitarraby the Italian publisher Bèrben presents yet another aspect of Segovia's contribution, as composer and arranger.

Bèrben's edition of Segovia's works has much to recommend it. Printed in large format, with plenty of space between staves, and handsomely bound with a square spine, the two volumes of this edition here under review provide excellent introductory remarks by Fisk and editorial notes by Angelo Gilardino in Italian, Spanish, English, and French. The repertoire consists of some previously unknown and unpublished works, which the editors divide into three volumes: Preludios y estudios, 23 canciones populares de distintos países,and Transcripciones(this last volume, published in 2001, was not sent for review, but is included in this review heading for the information of readers). As noted in the introductory essay, the autograph manuscripts of these works, discovered by Emilia Segovia after her husband's death in 1987, were sent to Bèrben only after Fisk recorded them on the aforementioned compact disc Canciones popularesto ensure their copyright. The significance of this collection cannot be overestimated, as it will help scholars and students to further assess Segovia's contribution to the guitar world.

The first volume contains eleven preludes and three etudes ranging from easy to moderate levels of difficulty. The preludes consist of short pieces composed at different stages of Segovia's life; the lengthy seventh prelude( Preludio madrileño), which fills eight pages, is an exception. Fisk points out that the Estudio en mi mayor,dated 1921, is one of the earliest known compositions by...