#4706, A Different Kind of Classical Guitar

New Sounds | Jan 26, 2024

Listen to classical works played on electric guitar, mostly. There’s music from 12th Century abbess and mystic Hildegard von Bingen, the late downtown composer Julius Eastman, 20th Century French composer Olivier Messiaen, and Romantic era Czech composer Antonin Dvorak, in arrangements by guitarists Sean Shibe, pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, and Yonatan Gat.

Hear adaptations of Hildegard’s music from Scottish classical guitarist Sean Shibe, along with an arrangement of singer, pianist, and composer Julius Eastman’s work “Buddha”. Throughout these arrangements, Shibe plays a black Mexican Fender Stratocaster fed through  effects pedals for what NPR calls a psychedelic swirl of celestial light — a kind of "star-way to heaven," (NPR Music).

Then, listen as New York-based  Israeli producer, guitarist, and composer Yonatan Gat arranges  Antonín Dvořák's hit string quartet, the ‘American’, written while Dvořák was – like Gat – an immigrant living in New York City. The arrangement is for rock band, featuring Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier on drums, where he takes the cello part; violin and viola parts are traded by organ and bass. Plus, listen to a beautiful kora piece from Mali called “Jarabi”, made famous by Toumani Diabate, as arranged by Virginia-based lap-tapping guitarist and occasional kora player, Yasmin Williams. Plus, pedal steel virtuoso Susan Alcorn arranges French composer Olivier Messiaen, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4706, A Different Kind of Classical Guitar

ARTIST: Sean Shibe
WORK: Hildegard: O Coruscans Lux Stellarum [1:16]
RECORDING: Lost & Found
SOURCE: Pentatone 
INFO: 
seanshibe.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Yonatan Gat
WORK: Tremolos I. Allegro ma non troppo (Dvorak) [13:49]
RECORDING: American Quartet
SOURCE: Joyful Noise Recordings
INFO: yonatangat.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Yasmin Williams
WORK: Jarabi [3:34]
RECORDING: Urban Driftwood
SOURCE: Spinster Sounds
INFO: 
yasminwilliams.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Sean Shibe
WORK: Hildegard: O Viridissima Virga [6:55]
RECORDING: Lost & Found
SOURCE: Pentatone 
INFO: seanshibe.bandcamp.com

ARTIST:  Susan Alcorn
WORK: Messiaen: O Sacrum Convivium [6:35]
RECORDING: Curandera
SOURCE: Fire Museum Reocrds
INFO: susanalcorn1.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Sean Shibe
WORK: Hildegard: O Coruscans Lux Stellarum  [4:59]
RECORDING: Lost & Found
SOURCE: Pentatone 
INFO: seanshibe.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Jeff Beck
WORK: Puccini: Nessun dorma [2:55]
RECORDING: Emotion & Commotion
SOURCE: Atco Records
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon.com

ARTIST: Sean Shibe
WORK: Julius Eastman: Buddha [4:42]
RECORDING: Lost & Found
SOURCE: Pentatone 
INFO: seanshibe.bandcamp.com

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