Les Voix Humaines
Solo Concert
This is a full video of a solo concert at Frostburg State University from April 1, 2022. The program pairs works by Bach with 20th and 21st century works that have stylistic similarities. The inspiration for this program was attempting to bring some of the varied styles of contemporary music into more historical focus, seeing them as an extension and continuation of the the classical music tradition rather than a departure from it.
Baltimore Guitar Duo at Frostburg State
Another full-length concert at FSU from September 2020. This was scheduled before the covid shutdowns, but they allowed it to go on as a primarily livestream event (there were about 10 people allowed to attend in a hall that seats 400).
Cody Criswell: The Birth of Venus / Under a Rustler’s Moon
Many years ago my duo (Baltimore Guitar Duo) won a competition of sorts at Peabody. We won headshots, the title “Peabody Honors Ensemble”, and a piece commissioned from a composition student. All of these turned out to be quite valuable prizes, but the one we have enjoyed most is the piece written for us by our friend Cody Criswell. It’s a wonderful piece we have performed many times. We have a studio recording and also a live recording from a concert in 2018. They were done a few years part and you can hear how the piece developed over time. (For those that really want to do deep in the comparative listening, we also did this piece in our concert at Frostburg State linked above. It starts just after the 25′ mark.)
The observant may notice the audio and video have different names. It was delivered to us as The Birth of Venus which is what we have usually called it in programs. Cody later renamed it and in his official catalog it is known as Under a Rustler’s Moon.
For the nerds: the second string of one guitar is tuned to the 6th partial above D, making it a C that is about 1/6 of a tone flat. That is the just intonation sound you hear on the high harmonics.
Alexandre Tansman: Sonatine
Baltimore Guitar Duo with the first two movements of Alexandre Tansman’s lovely Sonatine. This was another piece we played many times. It didn’t reveal its beauties easily, but after much rehearsal we made something we really enjoyed playing and audiences responded well to.