CLOSING THEME/FUNDING CREDITS

This week's edition of Classical Guitar Alive! features 400 years of popular music and interviews with Mark Cruz, Kaare Norge and Manuel Barrueco. One of the oldest musical traditions is the use  of pre-existing popular music by composers for new works in theme & variation form, elaborate new arrangements, and simple settings.

The program begins with a set of variations on the popular Elizabethan English song, "The Woods So Wild". Lutenist Julian Bream based his recording on settings of this tune by both William Byrd (1543-1623) and Francis Cutting (1583-1603).

One of the earliest (1538) printed set of variations was Spanish vihuelist Luys de Narvaez's setting of the popular song "Guardame las Vacas", or "Guard my Cows". Venezuelan guitarist Alirio Diaz performs.

Unlike, Narvaez, fellow Spanish composer Manuel de Falla chose not to use the theme & variations form for his 7 Popular Spanish Songs. Instead, the songs are set in a fairly straightforward manner. Cellist Sharon O'Connor and guitarist Marc Teicholz perform "Asturiana", a lullabye titled "Nana", and "Cancion".

Early 20th Century guitarist Miguel Llobet harmonized popular songs of his native Catalonia (NorthEastern province of Spain-bordered by France and the Mediterranean Sea). France’s Mosaic Guitar Quartet performs "La Fille del Marxant" (The Merchant's Daughter),

In this extremely rare live concert recording (recently issued on the Italian label: Frame Records) made in Havana in 1978, composer/guitarist Leo Brouwer performs his arrangement of the 60's pop hit "Love is Blue". This recording proves what a great, exciting performer Leo Brouwer was! His decision (early 1980s) to quit performing as a solo guitarist was a real loss.

Danish guitarist Kaare Norge speaks about his approach to his Beatles recording in a 2014 interview, followed by his arrangements of “Here, There, and Everywhere,” “Michelle,” and “Blackbird.”

“Acoustic Interpretations” is Mark Cruz’s 2015 CD of solo classical guitar arrangements of popular songs. He speaks about the inspiration from his brother Edgar Cruz, whose own arrangement of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” gained over 14 million views, his own approach to arranging, and his admiration for Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters.

In a 1995 interview excerpt, Manuel Barrueco discusses how his work with the Kings' Singers influenced his decision to record music by pop artists Paul Simon, the Beatles, and others. Barrueco performs Paul Simon's "Bookends", and this edition ends with Leo Brouwer's masterful setting of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby". Listen for the fugal writing in the strings, and the opening quote from Brouwer's own Concerto de Toronto, Ist movement.

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