MUS 111 (Johnson) Adelene LaiConcert Report #1 7 Feb 2012

The Czar’s Guitars

On the evening of the 7th of February 2012, The Czar’s Guitars consisting of

Oleg Timofeyev and John Schneiderman performed a programme of Russian guitar

music from the time of reknowned Russian guitar composer Mikhail Glinka in

Houghton Chapel. As a classical guitarist who has only learnt Western European and

Latin American music, this was a wonderful learning experience as I had not known

that the Russian guitar tradition is so rich and dates back to the late 18th century.

One of the most interesting things about the performance was the use of the

Russian 7 string guitar and kvart-guitara, these being customarily used for guitar

duets in the 19th century. I also later found out from the guitarists after the concert

that the strings are tuned entirely differently (in fact, to mimic a harp’s tuning)

which means that notes are on completely different frets. This practically would

require a traditional classical guitarist to re-learn all the notes in order to play these

instruments! We were told that the reason for this different tuning is so that notes B,

C, and D can be played across the strings instead of on the same strings, which

allows the notes to ring longer. Overall, the extra string on the 7-string guitar gave it

an expanded capability as it could play lower notes which complemented the

higher-pitched kvart-guitara, creating a very rich and full sound together as the

latter’s melody line would be very distinct from the deeper bass accompaniment.

In terms of the programme, the pieces which are the most memorable to me

are Russian Song and The Jenny Lind Polka, both of which were composed by M.

Glinka. Russian Song consisted of almost completely parallel lines for both guitars

(most of which consisted of chords), with the kvart-guitara often providing

embellishments in the form of harmonics and ornaments. This is unlike the

Argentinian duet music I’ve been learning whose two parts are different but

complement each other through syncopation and motifs. My first impression of it

was that it sounded very reminiscent of a Baroque Sarabande because of its triple

metre (indeed, the guitarists mentioned that Baroque music heavily influenced the

Russian guitar tradition). Texturally, the frequent use of vibrato on the higher parts

gave the piece a sweet sound, while the tonal variations made in the bass part (from

tasto to ponte and back) helped emphasise the transition between phrases.

The polka which was played right after the Russian Song created a markedly

different atmosphere because it had a faster tempo and a more discernable melody

line for the kvart-guitara instead of just chords (the bass part remained mostly in

chords). The overall contour of the melody of each phrase piece was similar and

most of the piece was written in 8th notes with the strong beats on 1 and 3, which

meant that only the pitches distinguished phrases from each other. As a budding

guitar duo player, I was astounded by how well the two guitars were synchronised,

which, for this particular piece, was very important especially because of the faster

tempo and the fact that it is meant to be a dance. The final few measures were

dynamically impactful as the guitarists had been shaping their piece to build-up to

this final, conclusive phrase which they performed at a faster speed with a crescendo

and a last definitive-sounding staccato chord.