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Guitar Composers: Matteo Carcassi, Ferdinando Carulli, Mauro Giuliani, Fernando Sor, Heitor Villa-lobos.
Asturias, by Issac Albéniz,
free guitar transcription by Mark Windham
3/28/1998
Below are the notes (edited for web presentation - any mistakes are mine...) that Mark
sent via e-mail. If possible, I suggest that you obtain the PDF version of these files
(the print quality will be better than using these gifs) OR if you have Finale, the actual
.MUS file of the transcription. Hat's off to Mark for making this available for discourse,
study and enjoyment!
:)
Dale Reagan, site maintainer
Also see the 2002 setting of "Asturias" by Isaac Albéniz for flute, viola and guitar by Angelo Gilardino.
From: "Mark Windham" <musemark (at) vienna.at>
Subject: Transcription Notes
Here are a few notes on the transcription that I had originally sent along to Richard
Yates and Donn DuBois when they performed the proof reading. The score is by no means
perfect but it is close enough that it may be shared with you for your enjoyment and
feedback. There are plans to author a professional addendum to the piece, complete with
ossia options, but time is too limiting at the moment.
>> -all tempo indications, accents, dynamics, and fermatas are faithful to the
original score. (if anything, a few are missing like accents on the first note/chord of
each measure in the A section)
-mm. 1: planting the m finger on E is preferable for several reasons. to achieve even
tones on the B string by using the same nail, to gain extra security, and to prepare (very
early) for mm. 17. The repetition of i at this speed is a breeze.
> -mm. 9: the sustained B is nothing really new but I feel it is necessary due to the
guitars need to pull off an effective crescendo from mm.1 to mm.17. Without the sustained
B it sounds a bit odd to go from the staccato B on to a sustained E in mm.17 The bar
technique employed is not difficult.
> -mm. 25: the use of p for the strum is my personal preference.
>
> -mm. 37: this chord is used by several guitarists because it's quality is closer to
the original.
> -mm. 42: this is not my preferred chord! I have an alternative with a# in the bass
and c in the soprano but I'll only place it as an ossia (later) due to its difficulty.
> -mm. 49: I recommend planting i on string 3 at this point for preparation.
> -mm. 54: retaining B in the bass is really a must for an authentic transcription and
not difficult to achieve.
> -mm. 57: reverting back to duplets here is done to prepare the listener for mm.59 and
if you look you'll see 4 bars of duplets occur again in mm. 133, providing consistency.
This pattern is a sort of cadential preparation.
>
> -mm. 59: well..... this is really not a problem with practice and is the closest one
can get to the original on a 6 string
> -mm. 77: notice the tied f# between mm. 77 and 78. This is often ingnored even though
it lends itself greatly to the legato intentions of the chord change.
> -mm. 82: this is one of the best parts about this transcription! I have never seen
this in print and it is extremely close to the original. I'll never play the other way
again!
>
> -mm. 88: we are way past due in accurately transcribing this measure and the others
like it.
>
> -mm. 92: I see no reason why a guitarist should lose the octaves here (especially
with the forte indication). The stretto indication gives interpreters a tendecy to get too
speedy here but the stretto can be performed properly with the octaves. There are many
possible fingerings for this passage.
> -mm. 104: Yes, even I submitted to losing the octaves here. All for good reason:
Albeniz' original indication for the piano to play 'una corda' and the pp indication.
Notice the second trill that is almost always left out.
> -mm. 108: a downfall in the transcription. this is not harmonically complete with the
original but an a on the 3rd and f# on the 1st just sound like shit (bad inversion). One
might choose to play an a on 1 instead of f#.
>
> -have you been noticing the very important fermatas that are so often ignored?
> -mm. 114: take notice of the fermatas at the end of the measure. this gives insight
into Albeniz' impressionistic (and possibly neo-classic) intentions. I believe Albeniz
intended to have mm 114 stop on a dime, take a nice breath, then dig back into the theme
of the B section. Dramatic dynamic changes are pertinent here. For further reference into
this style of interpretation see Schubert's first mvmt. of the "unfinished
symphony", Emilio Pujol's "Sevilla", or a zillion Impressionistic pieces.
> -mm. 132: not difficult to achieve and faithful to the original harmony.
>Note the placement of the fermatas.
>
> -mm. 135: another treasure of the transcription. this has been avoided time and again
but its time for an introduction. this is absolutely faithful to the original, not
difficult to achieve with the correct body position, and it builds up the ending in a way
that can finally keep Albeniz from turning over in his grave!
>
> -mm. 137: One would break their guitar trying to achieve double forte harmonics here
but it is truly the best option. they don't sound too bad if played ponticello.
>
>
> Well, those are the basics. I would GREATLY appreciate your input into the various
changes, fingerings, etc. I would also like to know whether or not you think I have
underfingered the piece (I finger so that anybody with common sense can figure it out and
nothing more). I believe fingerings like this lend well to increasing sight reading
ability and speed up memorization.
Enjoy!
Mark Windham
Dir. A.G.I., Wien
03/98
musemark (at) vienna.at
| Download the Finale score (53KB) | Download the PDF Version (98KB) | Gif Pages | Midi (21KB) |
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