This recording presents some of the most significant early pieces by the Cuban composer Leo Brouwer (b.1939); it also includes other works, such as Hika from 1994 and the third and fourth series of his Estudios sencillos (1981), which show clear similarities with the composer's early style. First to be composed of the works here is a Danza caracteristica from 1956. A popular song melody forms the basis for an Afro-Cuban flavored fantasy. The Fugue No.1 dates from the following year, when Brouwer was still a teenager: having outlined a theme of Baroque proportions he takes a fairly free attitude to it's contrapuntal elaboration, anticipating the concise play of fantasy in the Tres Apuntes of 1959. Having soon after moved to the US, Brouwer composed the first two books of the Estudios sencillos out of financial necessity, but they have proved among his most enduring and successful works, drawing energy not only from his Cuban heritage but the didactic economy of the Mikrokosmos by BartÃ³k. Almost all of the third and fourth books from the series date from 1981; although Brouwer had both moved back to Cuba by then as well as moved on in his own style towards a more neo-romantic language, he rediscovered the lively economy of thought which runs through the earlier studies, combining it with both neoclassical harmonies and even chance procedures to produce among the most significant collections of guitar studies from the second half of the last century. 'These short pieces reflect all of Brouwer's creative genius,' says FrÃ©dÃ©ric Zigante, 'and I have always been fond of them, first as a young student of guitar and later as a guitar teacher. To me, they are an ideal method for weaning young guitarists from the didactic repertory of the 19th century.'

Tracklist:

Hika - In Memoriam Toru Takemitsu (1996) - Tempo Libero
Tres Apuntes: I. Del "Homenaje A Falla"
Tres Apuntes: II. De Un Fragmento Instrumental
Tres Apuntes: III. Sobre Un Canto De Bulgaria
Fuga No. 1
20 Estudios Sencillos: I. Mosso
20 Estudios Sencillos: II. Coral. Lento
20 Estudios Sencillos: III. Rapido
20 Estudios Sencillos: IV. Comodo. Allegretto
20 Estudios Sencillos: V. Montuno. Allegretto
20 Estudios Sencillos: VI. -
20 Estudios Sencillos: VII. Il Più Rapido Possible
20 Estudios Sencillos: VIII. Tranquillo
20 Estudios Sencillos: IX. Scherzo
20 Estudios Sencillos: X. -
20 Estudios Sencillos: XI. Allegretto
20 Estudios Sencillos: XII. Tranquillo. Moderato
20 Estudios Sencillos: XIII. Mosso
20 Estudios Sencillos: XIV. Allegro
20 Estudios Sencillos: XV. Sarabanda
20 Estudios Sencillos: XVI. Tempo Di Ouverture Francese. Grave
20 Estudios Sencillos: XVII. Moderato
20 Estudios Sencillos: XVIII. Moderato Quasi Lento
20 Estudios Sencillos: XIX. Mosso. Allegretto
20 Estudios Sencillos: XX. Mosso
Elogio De La Danza: I. Lento
Elogio De La Danza: II. Obstinado
Danza Característica: I. Allegro

UPC: 5028421958385
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 1.18.19
Format: CD

Frédéric Zigante - Hika & Young Composer (CD)