Next Fretworks: Bach on 8-String Guitar and Dvorak for 4 Mandolins

Join us Saturday evening at 7 for Fretworks, an hour-long program devoted to music for the classical guitar — and occasionally other stringed instruments with frets. This week, we'll hear Bach played on an unusual 8-string guitar by Paul Galbraith. The Scottish-born guitarist plays by holding his specially-made guitar like a cello. It has a metal end pin at the bottom that rests on a wooden resonating box, which amplifies the sound. The guitar has one extra higher string and one extra lower string, thereby extending its range a bit. Guitarist John Williams will be back for music of Mexican composer Manuel Ponce. The Concierto del Sur is a fine guitar concerto that was written for Andres Segovia, who gave the first performance of this piece in 1941. It combines the composer's own original themes with native Mexican rhythms and harmonies. http://youtu.be/hToWv78K3BY The Modern Mandolin Quartet will play music by Antonin Dvorak from his American Quartet, String Quartet No. 12, arranged for four mandolins. The American Quartet is one of Dvorak's most popular works and is here given a rather unusual treatment, with the rhythmic effect of rapidly plucked mandolin strings offering a refreshing change of sonority for this familiar and much loved music. Here they are with something of a Russian tinge: http://youtu.be/2Bl7tPNOpCE We'll conclude the hour with Galbraith back for his arrangement of selections from the Norwegian Folk Tunes by Edvard Grieg. Join me for some enjoyable music from these fine artists on Fretworks here on Classical 101. http://youtu.be/UNvGMK3g8Kw