An Interview (Classical Guitar Ensemble)

Part I: The Interview

Question:
-How do you put the guitar ensemble together? (in terms of the dynamics, rhythm and harmony)


Answer:
-Well, there were five people in the ensemble, plus Tully, for a total of six. So for most of the songs we had a double trio, or two people on each part. We'd have to go through each song and note when someone needed to give a cue so we'd all be able to come in together, and make sure we all knew who was cueing. There was usually already dynamic markings, so we only added a few more dynamics to the scores, and then we decided what textures to play where, like if we wanted a thin, dry sound, or a dark, heavier sound. Usually, we'd have someone at the beginning count off the rhythm for a bar or so, so that we'd all know how fast the piece was going to go.


Question:
-Tell me more of the interpretation of the music that you have transcribed (What does it signifies? What is/are your motifs?)

Answer:
-The two Bach pieces I transcribed were from his little organ book, which were organ arrangements of various, short hymns. The book is divided into sections for various holidays. "Christ Lag in Todesbanden" means something like "Christ Lies in Death's Bonds" and is one of the Easter pieces. So, it's supposed to be kind of exciting and emotional, when Christ is suffering on the cross. The other piece, "Ich Ruf zu Dir, herr Jesu Christ", means (I think) "I come to thee, Jesus Christ", and is in the miscellaneous section of the organ book. It's not so much a specific event as it is more of a feeling, I guess, of sort of peaceful meditation. Mostly, however, I just like how the pieces sound.

Question:
-How about rehearsel? Did you find any difficulties during your rehearsels? ( like, how people reacted to another, and was it hard to put things together? especially on the piece played by 11 members)


Answer:
-Rehearsals were pretty smooth, everybody got along winningly. But none of us got really friendly with each...