Classicalguitarman15
07-24-2006, 01:13 PM
So I was looking through my guitar records that have aquired through garage sales mainly, and inside Parkening Plays Bach was a playbill for his concert at the Portland Civic Auditorium from January 5, 1975. It contains his concert program for the night as well as a biography and because this is so exciting to see, I feel I must share it with you. The advertisements first off, were fantastic to see, because many of these places no longer exist. Parkening had just turned 27 and at this time, he was truly the heir to Segovia and he was at his prime. The pieces played were in general, not all that difficult, with the exception of a few, but the organization and beauty of them all made difficulty irrelevant. I would love to hear your opinions on this too, as to the program and your feelings on the biography.
The pieces were list like this:
Program
I.
Two Pavanes- Luis Milan(1500-1561)
Guardeme las Vacas - Luis de Narvaez (ca. 16th century)
II.
Sarabande with Variations- George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Minuet
III.
Preambulo- Alessandro Scarlatti
Allegro Vivo
IV.
Three Studies- Fernando Sor
V.
Estudio Brilliante- Francisco Tarrega
Capricho Arabe
Intermission
VI.
Gavotte en Rondeau (Solo Violin Sonata No.6)
Fugue (Solo violin Sonata No.1)- Johann Sebastian Bach
Les Barricades Mysterieuses- Francois Couperin
VII.
The Girl With the Flaxen Hair- Claude Debussy
Gymnopedie I- Erik Satie
Empress of the Pagodas (Mother Goose Suite)- Maurice Ravel
Clair de Lune (Suite bergamasque)- Claude Debussy
VIII.
Scherzino and Danza pomposa (Suite Cavatina)- Alexander Tansman
IX.
Soleares No.2 (Homage a Tarrega)- Joaquin Turina
His Biography Reads:
Blond California-born Christopher Parkening is the first American ever to achieve the position of world-renowned virtuoso of the guitar. In every center of musical learning today, he is recognized as one of the few surpassing masters of the guitar. And that living legend Andres Segovia, himself almost certainly the greatest living guitarist has stated, "Christopher Parkening is a great artist, one of the most brilliant guitarists in the world."
Christopher took up the guitar at the age of eleven. He began to study the instrument entirely by his own wish and brought to it immediately that intensity of interest and swift mastery that signaled the virtuoso-to-be. His first recital at 12 stirred critical excitement. Two years later, performing at the annual auditions of the California Youth Musicians Foundation, he created a sensation with his astonishingly fine playing of the Bach Chaconne. In 1966, as the composer's own choice of soloists, he gave in Los Angeles the world premiere of the Second Concerto in C for Guitar and Orchesta by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
In subsequent years, Christopher took up academic and musical studies at the University of Southern california and worked with Segovia in master classes at Berkeley and North Carolina. He also accepted a position on the School of Music faculty at USC, where he is now Head of the Guitar Department and full-time instructor.
In 1968, after signing with Columbia artists Management Inc., he made a tour of the United States and canada. He was highly acclaimed in every city. Christopher now makes annual tours of the States to unanimous critical acclaim. At Segovia's invitation, he gave recitals in Spain at which he was personally presented by the Maestro, and joined the judges panel for the International Guitar Competition in Santiago de Compostela.
His future concert itenerary includes another tour of Japan where he is a great favorite, and a European tour qhich will include debuts in such cities as London, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Amsterdam, and Barcelona.
He has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Philidelphia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Washington National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, the Honolulu Symphony, and in season 1973-1974 he was a guest with other major orchestas including Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Memphis.
Christopher's record albums on the Angel label include "In the Classic Style","Romanza","Parkening Plays Bach", and the "Christopher Parkening Album". These characteristically appear on the national lists of best-selling classical recordings. "Parkening Plays Bach" was chosen by the membership of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as one of the five best solo classical albums of 1971. In preparation is a new Angel album to be entitled "Impressionism" which will feature his own transcriptions of works by Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, Satie, and others.
He recently published his own book of basic techniques, "The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method, Volume I".
This is a great piece of history and I am very happy to be able to share it with you and hope you get enjoyment from looking at this. And like I said before, I would love to hear your opinions.
The pieces were list like this:
Program
I.
Two Pavanes- Luis Milan(1500-1561)
Guardeme las Vacas - Luis de Narvaez (ca. 16th century)
II.
Sarabande with Variations- George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Minuet
III.
Preambulo- Alessandro Scarlatti
Allegro Vivo
IV.
Three Studies- Fernando Sor
V.
Estudio Brilliante- Francisco Tarrega
Capricho Arabe
Intermission
VI.
Gavotte en Rondeau (Solo Violin Sonata No.6)
Fugue (Solo violin Sonata No.1)- Johann Sebastian Bach
Les Barricades Mysterieuses- Francois Couperin
VII.
The Girl With the Flaxen Hair- Claude Debussy
Gymnopedie I- Erik Satie
Empress of the Pagodas (Mother Goose Suite)- Maurice Ravel
Clair de Lune (Suite bergamasque)- Claude Debussy
VIII.
Scherzino and Danza pomposa (Suite Cavatina)- Alexander Tansman
IX.
Soleares No.2 (Homage a Tarrega)- Joaquin Turina
His Biography Reads:
Blond California-born Christopher Parkening is the first American ever to achieve the position of world-renowned virtuoso of the guitar. In every center of musical learning today, he is recognized as one of the few surpassing masters of the guitar. And that living legend Andres Segovia, himself almost certainly the greatest living guitarist has stated, "Christopher Parkening is a great artist, one of the most brilliant guitarists in the world."
Christopher took up the guitar at the age of eleven. He began to study the instrument entirely by his own wish and brought to it immediately that intensity of interest and swift mastery that signaled the virtuoso-to-be. His first recital at 12 stirred critical excitement. Two years later, performing at the annual auditions of the California Youth Musicians Foundation, he created a sensation with his astonishingly fine playing of the Bach Chaconne. In 1966, as the composer's own choice of soloists, he gave in Los Angeles the world premiere of the Second Concerto in C for Guitar and Orchesta by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
In subsequent years, Christopher took up academic and musical studies at the University of Southern california and worked with Segovia in master classes at Berkeley and North Carolina. He also accepted a position on the School of Music faculty at USC, where he is now Head of the Guitar Department and full-time instructor.
In 1968, after signing with Columbia artists Management Inc., he made a tour of the United States and canada. He was highly acclaimed in every city. Christopher now makes annual tours of the States to unanimous critical acclaim. At Segovia's invitation, he gave recitals in Spain at which he was personally presented by the Maestro, and joined the judges panel for the International Guitar Competition in Santiago de Compostela.
His future concert itenerary includes another tour of Japan where he is a great favorite, and a European tour qhich will include debuts in such cities as London, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Amsterdam, and Barcelona.
He has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Philidelphia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Washington National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, the Honolulu Symphony, and in season 1973-1974 he was a guest with other major orchestas including Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Memphis.
Christopher's record albums on the Angel label include "In the Classic Style","Romanza","Parkening Plays Bach", and the "Christopher Parkening Album". These characteristically appear on the national lists of best-selling classical recordings. "Parkening Plays Bach" was chosen by the membership of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as one of the five best solo classical albums of 1971. In preparation is a new Angel album to be entitled "Impressionism" which will feature his own transcriptions of works by Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, Satie, and others.
He recently published his own book of basic techniques, "The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method, Volume I".
This is a great piece of history and I am very happy to be able to share it with you and hope you get enjoyment from looking at this. And like I said before, I would love to hear your opinions.