Hey!

Where do you draw your creative energy from? What inspires you? Over the past two weeks, we’ve once again come across several sources of inspiration while researching this issue. Leon Albert draws his creative energy from his inner restlessness and has yet again presented us with a gem of an etude. This week’s YouTube find offers several sources of inspiration: the stylish performance, as well as the vibrant colors and lighting of the video location. The album of the week captivates with its exceptional musicality and the performer’s unique repertoire selection, while the interview features Rosie Bennett’s insightful answers on precisely that latter topic.

We hope you enjoy this issue!
Stefan and Willi

YOUTUBE FIND OF THE WEEK
with Orlando Pellicori

The beauty of the opening shot is hard to beat, and just as you’re admiring the vibrant colors of the ceiling murals and being captivated by the lighting, the camera pans very slowly toward the performer, and suddenly we’re right in the middle of Lliobet’s “Variations on a Theme by Sor”. Orlando Pellicori’s performance lives up to the promise of the opening sequence. It’s a treat for both the ears and the eyes. Check it out! How we would have loved to experience this moment live.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
with Antigoni Goni

One album, many new impressions and inspirations. That’s certainly how we felt while listening to today’s featured album.

On Hymn to the Muse, Antigoni Goni interprets a substantial selection of contemporary pieces, all composed in the second half of the 20th century and sharing another common thread: the guitarist’s homeland – Greece.

In addition to the ever-popular “old favorites” – Dušan Bogdanović (“Hymn to the Muse”) and Sérgio Assad (“Three Greek Letters”) – we were particularly drawn to the following composers: Atanas Ourkouzounov (*1970), who creates a unique, intricate, and energetic soundscape in his “Four Greek Miniatures.” And Manos Hadjidakis, one of THE Greek composers, best known for his 1965 album Gioconda’s Smile (which we also totally recommend) – produced by none other than Quincy Jones. Antigoni performs three pieces from it, arranged for guitar. Pure delight!

In fact, as special as the composers and their compositions may be, the focus of this album is clearly on the performer, Antigoni Goni. Her playing captivates with a completely natural musicality. She moves with a naturally organic rhythm and an extremely consistent tone.

Treat yourself to some downtime – do your ears a favor!

MORNING-ROUTINE
A coffee with Leon Albert

Hi Leon, what’s the routine for this week?

To use inner restlessness as a source of strength.

INTERVIEW

“In terms of process I allow myself complete liberty!”

About repertoire expansion and selection

with Rosie Bennet
The guitar has always had one foot in the classical tradition and one foot slightly outside of it. Rosie Bennet leans into that tension and turns it into a method: repertoire as curiosity, arranging as an artistic stance, and programming as a way of expanding what “classical guitar” can mean today. Alongside her releases, she’s also built a strong online presence and hosts the Fret Not podcast, keeping the conversation around the instrument moving.

We wanted to know what connects the musical worlds she’s been drawing from lately, how she thinks about freedom and responsibility when adapting music for the guitar, what makes a new piece worth committing to, and how she balances all of that activity without losing time at the instrument. As always, we end with our poster question.

Hi Rosie! Your recent releases are all music that originally lived in other sound worlds than classical guitar. What’s the thread you’re building with these choices?
Yes, aside from the Barrios all of the releases have been from different musical worlds! My music education was very classical and I always struggled with the fact that guitar sat on the edge of the classical canon. Most of the people I worked with felt that guitar was an outsider that lacked something and had to squeeze itself into the space that traditional instruments had created. In my early 20s I started looking for heroes outside of my immediate circle and found that many of the guitar’s heroes, Sor, Tarrega, Barrios took part in the classical tradition in a different way through arrangement. I realised that arranging was not a ‘solution’ to the pseudo problem of guitar’s limited repertoire, it actually constitutes the guitar’s role in the classical canon.

When you adapt a piece to the guitar, what do you allow yourself to change, and what do you refuse to compromise?
In terms of process I allow myself complete liberty! I’ve realised that what makes a musician is not just their ability to make manifest their musical ideas, but having the musical imagination and ideas in the first place. Part of creating a convincing arrangement that feels true to me and to the instrument is allowing myself to start with a blank page and letting the original inspiration that drew me to the piece seep through. I try not to listen to the work and instead allow myself complete flexibility with every musical parameter. Especially for the songs, like the Laura Marling, it was much more important to me to try and capture and recreate the haunting mood and the feeling of inevitability than to stick to the notes of the melody or even the structure.

When you choose new music, what are you looking for first, and how do you know a piece is worth living with?
One of the first pieces I arranged for solo guitar was Ravel’s “Tzigane” and that taught me that with enough inspiration, creativity and willingness you truly can create a successful arrangement of anything! So the process has shifted from thinking about what may or may not work, to whatever inspires me and whatever I can dream and imagine playing. One of the most rewarding parts of being signed to Sony Classical is working with an A&R who has an endlessly daring imagination for programming. I think the traditional classical education system doesn’t include enough daring, so that has been one of the biggest pleasures, brainstorming and listening together and being creatively audacious.

You’re very active online alongside your releases, including hosting the Fret Not podcast. How do you keep all of that in balance without your playing and practice getting squeezed?
The core of everything I do online is always just talking about and playing music, so honestly it's quite an easy balancing act and one that I feel incredibly lucky to be able to live. When I was a child I found practice so boring, I think because traditional classical music has a lot of rules that a lot of people want to impose on you so it feels like you’re being told ‘no’ a lot, now I get to practice after the most inspirational conversations with Brian May, or after writing and sharing an article about Adorno’s theory of musical truth and talking about it. Despite the negative sides of social media, at its centre is conversation, collaboration and idea sharing, so I always feel that I’m getting energy off of it!

Imagine you could have one sentence printed on a poster to be put up in huge numbers at all the (classical) music festivals in the world. What sentence would that be?
There’s no musical truth, only interpretation.

FEEL-GOOD TUNE OF THE WEEK
with TEKNOIR

Whether it’s between rehearsals and lessons, after practicing, before a concert, or whenever you need it: put on your headphones, take a break from the noise, and feel good.

Our feel-good tune of the week!

OUTRO

Thank you for reading! Please send any suggestions or comments directly in response to this newsletter. New music discoveries – including from artists we wrote about in today's issue – can be found, as always, in our Spotify playlist for the newsletter, which we've linked below.

Be kind to each other.

Stay tuned!

Stefan & Willi

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New Classical Guitar is a newsletter by Willi Leinen and Stefan Degel from TMBM. You can find our music and more information about our journey at http://t-m-b-m.com/.

On Spotify, we curate a playlist with our favorite pieces. Feel free to follow our New Classical Guitar Playlist at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZwxJRAsW9Zs2JiS2eLy6a?si=9b2a737f01c043a4 and recommend new additions.