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The guitar has given me the opportunity to immerse myself in the works of great and historical composers such as those recorded in Ancient Mosaic with Guitar. I consider it a privilege to be able to receive through their scores, the sensitivity of such maestros.

The works of Reusner, Milan, Roncalli, etc, sound good on the modern Spanish guitar, a direct descendant of all those old instruments for which they were written. I just had to play them freely and with respect, feeling them as part of the guitar and without trying to make them sound as anything other than what they intrinsically are. The recording of Ancient Mosaic with Guitar was made several times over the last few years. I never consciously set out to make an album like this, I was simply interested in a particular piece, and so studied and recorded it. Finally, I found I had enough stylistically homogenous material to produce an album.

Two musical friends participated: the soprano Palmira Irisarri, who sings on tracks 3, 5, 7, 10, 13 and 15, and the percussionist Ángel Martín, who plays on track 16. My thanks to both of them.

It was very gratifying for me to work with Palmira Irisarri, an excellent soprano and musicologist. Her singing is distinguished by her sweet, natural timbre and the perfect tuning of her voice. No doubt her style is perfectly suited for these Spanish Renaissance pieces, so often interpreted with later centuries' approaches.

Track 16, "Improvisation about Quand voie", deserves a separate paragraph. It is not an old piece, but is based on a familiar melody in the repertoire of the troubadours "Quand voie la flor nouvelle", anonymous. This is a recreation of the original, but with a completely modern interpretation, adding parts of my own composition.

Esteban Canyar Show more Show less