Move Records Australian classical & art music, est. 1968
Front cover art for Contra

Contra

Contra Guitar Duo’s debut recording presents the lyricism, complex rubato and colour the pair most enjoy in two-guitar playing, across a short programme of romantic and contemporary works.

  • CatalogueMCD 644
  • Released8 May 2023
  • Playing time26 minutes 24 seconds

Listen & tracks

4 works · 26:24

  1. 1 Divertimento Andrés Segovia 2:53
  2. 2 Crisantemi Giacomo Puccini 5:48
  3. Three DuetsPhillip Houghton 3 movements9:28
    1. 3 The Mantis and the Moon 3:32
    2. 4 Lament 3:05
    3. 5 Alchemy 2:51
  4. 6 Variations on a Theme of Scriabin Alexandre Tansman 8:15

It opens with Andrés Segovia’s Divertimento, his only work for two guitars: colourful, lyrical and romantic in style, a short dynamic piece that passes the melodic line seamlessly between the players.

Giacomo Puccini’s Crisantemi, arranged by Angelo Gilardino, is a sincere elegy written in a single night after the death of Amadeo di Savoia in 1890. First composed for string quartet, the music is poetic and yearning, with sustained lines that demand extreme control and balance.

Phillip Houghton’s Three Duets supply a scherzo contrast and angular rhythm. He calls The Mantis and the Moon an “existential ‘Insect/Lunar Comic-Tragedy of Whimsical Proportions’!” Lament is sparse and still; Alchemy, inspired by “sparks of gold and threads of light coming out of the guitars,” drives an ostinato traded between the instruments.

Alexandre Tansman’s Variations on a Theme of Scriabin, arranged by Tilman Hoppstock from the dense solo original, shares thick polyphony across two guitars so that the work’s lyrical colour and clarity emerge more fully than on one instrument alone.

Artists

Photograph of Hamish Strathdee

Hamish Strathdee

guitar

Classical guitarist, Hamish Strathdee, is regarded as an "excellent young Australian performer" (Limelight Magazine).

Photograph of Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle

Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle

guitar

Photograph of Phillip Houghton

Phillip Houghton

composer

Phillip Houghton’s guitar music has been performed and recorded by leading musicians, including John Williams and Timothy Kain. A self-taught composer, he drew on classical, jazz, rock, ambient and world music.

Photograph of Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Puccini

composer

Puccini’s operas live on melody that climbs and breaks, on love, jealousy and sacrifice drawn with verismo heat. La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot still fill houses because the drama is already inside the tune.

No photograph: Angelo Gilardino

Angelo Gilardino

composer

No photograph: Tilman Hoppstock

Tilman Hoppstock

composer

Tilman Hoppstock (born 1961) is a German classical guitarist, cellist and musicologist. A recitalist and teacher based in Darmstadt, he also publishes arrangements and original works for guitar.

No photograph: Andrés Segovia

Andrés Segovia

composer

No photograph: Alexandre Tansman

Alexandre Tansman

composer

Buy now

$15.00 AUD

Compact disc

Stream now

Also available to download from the iTunes Store.

Performers

Technical credits

  • Recording Engineer Jakob Schmidt
  • Mastering Engineer Jakob Schmidt

Details

List price
$15.00 AUD
Total playing time
26 minutes 24 seconds
Release date
Category
Classical
Musical work copyright
© 2023 Contra Guitar Duo
Sound recording copyright
℗ 2023 Move Records
Catalogue
MCD 644
EAN
9314574064421

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