1 Anonymous Romance This piece is anonymous. It is normally performed on guitar. The authorship and origin of this famous piece have always been subject to widespread speculations. However, this solo guitar piece has been attributed to a host of musicians - Narciso Yepes, Vicente Gómez, Miguel Llobet, Francisco Tárrega, David del Castillo, and Antonio Rubira, to name a few. |
2 Che Faro Senza Euridice Normally sung, notably by Pavarotti, this piece is from Gluck's Orfeo et Euridice |
3 Beethoven's Emperor Concerto Piano and full orchestra in its original form, this is a massive piece. I've used synthesised human voice in this version. Second movement. |
4 Estudio Brilliante de Alard This is a solo guitar piece by Jean Alard. This is an example of my originally having played quite slowly, speeding it up in post-production |
5 How Beautiful Are the Feet A piece from Handel's Messiah. |
6 Invention in F Major By the extraordinary J S Bach |
7 Italian Concerto Another by J S Bach. This is the third movement of the piece. I'm particularly fond of this one. |
8 Ombra Mai Fu Known as the Largo from Xerxes, this is by George F Handel, another with synthesised human oohs and aahs |
9 Canon in D One of the most well-known pieces of classical music, this is the Canon in D by Pachelbel. Pachelbel's music enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany. |
10 Estudio Another for solo guitar, this is Estudio by Francisco Tarrega. He was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe and Recuerdos de la Alhambra. He is often called "the father of classical guitar" and is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time. |
11 Lagrima Another for solo guitar, also by Francisco Tarrega |
12 Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra By a relatively unknown composer, Giuseppe Torelli. Torelli is most remembered for contributing to the development of the instrumental concerto, especially concerti grossi and the solo concerto, for strings and continuo, as well as being the most prolific Baroque composer for trumpets |
13 Where'er Ye Walk Originally this was sung. It's from the opera Semele by Handel |
14 Concerto for 2 Mandolins By one of my favourite composers, Vivaldi. This is the first movement of his Concerto for Two Mandolins. In a very unusual move for me, I've added a drum track to this, turning it inot a rather more upbeat piece |
15 Gavotte and Variations This is a major piece, composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau, and in my opinion, the best piece he ever wrote. It was composed for solo harpsichord, but is sometimes heard being played on piano. It consists of a simple opening statement, followed by six variations. In my version, I've used a synthesiser sounding remotely like a harpsichord. However, in one of the variations I've introduced a second somewhat surprising instrument |