No comments about Twenty Studies for Guitar: Kalmus Edition.

No comments about Album of Selected Works (Tarrega) (Kalmus Edition).

No comments about Anthology for Guitar.

1 comments about Romantic Music (Music Scores).

1. One of the most unbelievable guitarists of the past century. To have his music in the original form is........ WOW.

No comments about Francisco Tarrega - The Complete Early Spanish Editions.

1 comments about Fernando Sor: The Complete Studies for Guitar.

1. This edition has both strong and weak points.
   
   Its greatest strength lies in the appendices. Included therein is a comparison of differences between important historical publications of Sor's pedagogical output. These include the original editions and those of Coste, Segovia and Sainz de la Maza. This information is clearly presented and is a long overdue addition to the repertoire. The thematic index, notes on grading and Aguado's comments on expression are also welcome.
   
   Whilst interesting, in my opinion the volume's editorial comment suffers from the intrusion of both authors' personal conceptions of Sor's approach to guitar technique. While presumably purporting to be informed (and unbiased) the commentaries occasionally fall into the trap of misrepresenting Sor's position and then proceeding to attack the misrepresentation. This is especially apparent in the discussions on right hand technique and is aptly illustrated in regard to Op6 no6. Here Richard Salvino states that bars 100-101 betray the false assumption that Sor would not employ the ring finger of the right hand because to play these bars with only index or middle fingers would, in his opinion, involve impractical rapid repetition of the fingers. This argument, given that the rest of the entire study demands exactly such repetition, is logically baseless. Similarly in his introduction Ophee allows preconceptions to intrude into his discussion of scale passages and draws a long bow when inferring aspects of Sor's technique from Aguado's account of what Sor may have discussed with him regarding Aguado's technique. The introduction ostensibly discusses Sor's use of the ring finger but omits to relate Sor's strongest and most unequivocal statement about his use of the finger in melodic lines. Not much use is made of Ockham's razor.
   
   The volume presents musical examples from Sor's 'Methode pour la Guitarre' (Paris, 1830). These are reproduced without much of Sor's accompanying text. Ironically, presenting such an extraction of content is a practise outrightly condemned by Sor in his method. It would be difficult for a reader unfamiliar with the method to ascertain the validity of the author's interpretation of Sor's comments on Example 23 of the method. It would have been better had the author looked to Ex. 25 to make his point, but even then it remains debatable.
   
   Editorial fingerings that appear are clearly indicated by the use of italics. These fingerings can distract from and mask the original intent of the studies, even though that intent is often, but not always, discussed in the performance notes.
   
   Nevertheless as a modern performance edition the book is excellent. The layout is superb but could be improved further by spiral binding. Unfortunately there is a danger that the book leads away from, rather than towards, the equally valid goal of understanding the approach that Fernando Sor had to his own music and chosen instrument. For this reason and the because of the added editorial fingerings I recommend to my pupils urtext editions providing a facsimile of the first editions.

No comments about Gran Jota Aragonesa.

No comments about Recuerdos de la Alhambra: for Guitar and Piano.

4 comments about The Francisco Tarrega Collection: Book/CD Pack.

1. This is a wonderful collection of the greatest classical style composer of our time. Paul Henry continues his excellence in teaching aids. My only complaint is that tablature is included and for me it clutters up the score. But, for others the tablature may be helpful. Thank you Paul Henry!



2. Before I bought this volume, I knew some of Tarrega's easier pieces, like Lagrima, a pretty piece, apropriate for my level. When I got this collection I realized that the rest of his work is significantly harder.
   
   I have to choose a number of stars, and for mee it is more like 2-3 stars, but for those who possess the required skill, this is an 5-star collection of beautiful pieces for guitar. But I have not been able to learn much of it.



3. I have great admiration and love of the work of Tárrega, and this is a great collection, but there are actually two very similar collections available here at Amazon. So which one should you grab? I actually decided on this one due to its inclusion of Malagueña, although it wasn't actually written by Tárrega, but Lecuona, the Cuban composer of Siboney.
   
   It is no fault of the Author, as Malagueña has been falsely attributed to many of Spain's great composers. It is just that good and has been covered by everyone: Andrés Segovia, Paco de Lucia, Chet Atkins, Xavier Cugat, Richie Valens, Liberace, etc.



4. This is a great book. Tarrega was one of the most important Spanish composers and his work is very important to be familiar with. The only complaint I could make is that this is not really a book for beginners and therefore should not have tablature included. Otherwise it's nicely edited and fingered.