Bach to Hauer - arrangements for Guitar & Cello Bach J.S., An Wasserfluessen Babylon - chorale, BWV267 (arr. Woodrow) James Woodrow, Guitar 10 May 2013 Charlton House, London A pleasing lunchtime concert by two teachers of their instruments. They had enjoyed working together in the Gavin Bryars ensemble and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and teamed up as a guitar/cello duo, an unique combination in British concert life, which I had never encountered in live recital *. With no published repertoire, their appearances rely upon arrangements by James Woodrow, of which this was a highly successful sequence. The Bach duets, substantial pieces, formed the background of the programme and they went well on cello & guitar as did some small recorder duos by Tippett. I was glad that he included a transcription of a piece by one of the Gaultier cousins**. I had difficulty with the Bryars piece, too long for me, composed in his "stretching" manner and reluctant to stop... The inclusion of pleasant twelve-tone compositions by Hauer reflected Woodrow's wide ranging scholarly research. Peter Grahame Woolf * See our recent discovery of the Spanish/English Maruri/Jones duo, who have recorded for EMEC an extensive treasure trove, an international repertoire of guitar/cello duos. * *See Luis Pernot playing Gaultier on YouTube; I heard Pernot in Paris (& had supper with him afterwards) at a time when he was retiring from playing & taking Holy Orders? Maybe he has combined both vocations?
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