Imagine you were a virtuoso guitarist who didn’t want to just play in a rock band. What to do?
Well, if you were Spanish, you could form a symphony orchestra with a bunch of like-minded guitarists, call yourselves SInfonity, and play some classical music like, oh say, Bach’s venerable Toccato & Fugue in D minor.
Not that this would have been one of your goals, but you would end up making Kim du Toit a very happy man.
To my Readers: set aside ten minutes of your busy day and give the above a listen. And yes, it’s live.
No need to thank me; it’s all part of the service.
That’s excellent! I notice that one of the guitars has angled frets. They sort of fan out from about halfway down the neck. It’s visible toward the end especially, since it’s being played by the guy who stands and does a sort of solo. What does that do to the tuning, having the frets not at right angles to the neck?
Via Reader Rich C. comes the explanation of “fanned fretboards”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-scale_fingerboard#Fanned-fret_guitar
What hath 2Cellos wrought?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk
Now that right there is righteous.
Thank you, that is some fantastic Bach, who was my mother’s favorite composer. When mom passed away at 79 she was still teaching and judging piano, playing the organ and taking organ lessons. She had the music for her funeral, all Bach and the organist chosen to play it. I put a piece of Bach sheet music in here hands, her request, and she would have been thrilled to hear this excellent Bach rendition. Lots of fun listening to this good old music. Thanks.
Yer Mom and Bach both are looking down on this music and nodding in agreement.
Wow! That’s great stuff. Old farts playing real music that doesn’t blow you into the next county.
That is very nice indeed. I have always felt that the Tocatta was the most overplayed and the Fugue the most underappreciated piece of classical music. I had a concert cellist explain to me once that a Fugue (From the Latin for chase, from the same root word as Fugitive) Was just a way of accentuating a musical phrase by repeating it in slightly different keys and in different manners. I don’t no nuthin bout that, I just like it. I also think it’s amazing to hear the range of sounds the guitars make, from the subtle bass notes to the crunchiness to the almost harplike. Thanks for the link. I will be listening to a lot more of these guys.
This was very well done. Opening bars and the opening scene of Rollerball came to mind. The entire piece didn’t disappoint either. Going to have to look them up for more stuff. Once I get done with my other stuff I am listening too.
Somehow the comment login process ate my previous comment…
I listened all the way through. Then pulled out the good Bose headset and listened all the way through again. Then listened to sections of this piece played on a big organ, then on the guitars again. Thank you for this one. Shamelessly posted over on the book of face.
NB: The fanned fretboard here has an additional 4 frets on the high E as compared to the low E, allowing for even higher solo work.
Agh! Electric guitars!