Sanssouci

Instruments come and go. Various instruments that had flourished in the baroque era (and even earlier), disappeared in the classical era. It happened to the gamba, the harpsichord and the lute, among others. Piles of lute music had been released in the 16^th and 17^th centuries – often in print, as it sold well and more than paid for the cost and effort of printing. But in the late Baroque era, the lute became less popular and by the end of the century, the instrument was all but extinct.

But as in biology, this niche did not remain vacant for long. A new instrument came into circulation from Spain: the guitar. For centuries, this instrument was confined to its own country, but around 1800, amateur musicians from all over Europe picked it up.

The guitar became especially popular in France and Italy. From that last country we will hear 2 composers, one amateur and one professional. Mauro Giuliani was a guitarist by profession. He had reached such an advanced level on his instrument, that he could make it sound like a whole ensemble – just as a great pianist can. Like many star pianists of that time, he had great success with variation sets on folk songs or popular opera melodies.

Niccolò Paganini is of course known as the greatest violin virtuoso of all time, but he also played the guitar. He did not perform with it on stage; for Paganini the guitar was a hobby that he practised indoors. In his compositions for guitar – and for mandolin – we get to know a different side of him. These compositions do not have to be driven by effect or virtuosic, it is just simply music for the sake of making music.

But the most important composing guitarist of this era is a Spaniard. If you have formerly studied classical guitar, you may remember Fernando Sor. He had great success with endless collections of short pieces. Often, these pieces are of a didactic nature, with an increasing degree of difficulty: the first pieces are doable, but later on in the book it’s a different story…

Playlist

1. Mauro Giuliani – Variations of Ich bin ein Kohlbauern Bub, opus 49
   2. Mauro Giuliani – Variations of an original theme, opus 62
   3. Niccolò Paganini – Sonata for guitar no. 6 in F major
   4. Niccolò Paganini – Sonata for guitar no. 7 in F major
   5. Niccolò Paganini – Sonata for mandolin
   6. Fernando Sor – Etudes for guitar, opus 6 no. 6, 11 and 12
   7. Fernando Sor – 6 short pieces for guitar, opus 32 (Andantino – Wals – Andante pastorale – Mazurka – Andante – Galop)