Happy birthday Nikita Koshkin!

Russian composer Nikita Koshkin turns 62 today. His most celebrated work is:

Koshkin, Nikita (1956-) [134 recordings]

Usher Waltz after The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, Op. 29 (1984) [54 recordings]

It is dedicated to Vladislav Bláha, a guitarist from the Czech republic. Koshkin, wanting to write a concert-scale waltz, was inspired by his memory of reading Poe’s text when he was a young adolescent. The mood alternately goes from romantic to gloomy to violent, then using strong rasgueados and Bartok pizzicati but still ending in a whisper, shortly after some delicate harmonics.

I recommend Elena Papandreou’s beautiful version of this piece as recorded for the Bis label (CD-1236) in 2003. The whole CD is dedicated to Koshkin’s music.

All you need is love!

Browsing through my CG computerized discography, I found 2409 composition titles with the word love: in English (love), French (amour) and Spanish (amor). Here is a small sample of what I have found. Happy Valentine Day!

Brégent, Michel-Georges

Sappho. Trois poèmes d’amour [Three Love Poems] (1979) [Soprano and Guitar]

Brouwer, Leo (1939-)

From Preludios Epigramáticos (1981) [solo guitar]:

VI Llegó con tres heridas: la del amor, la de la muerte, la de la vida

[He arrived with three wounds: the love one, the death one, the life one]

Goss, Stephen (1964-)

From Songs of Ophelia (2016) [Soprano and guitar]: II. Tomorrow Is Saint Valentine’s Day

Gray, Steve (1947-) From Guitar Concerto: II Love Song

Houghton, Phillip (1954-) Kinkachoo [a sacred bird], I Love You [Solo Guitar]

Kleynjans, Francis (1951-)

Variations sentimentales et capricieuses sur une mélodie d’amour [Solo Guitar][Sentimental and capricious variations on a love melody]

Kučera, Václav (1929-2017)

From “Diario”, Omaggio a Che Guevara (1971): I Day of Love [Solo Guitar]

Marco, Tomás (1942-) From 22 Tarots (1991): VI L’Amoureux [The Lover] [Solo Guitar]

Merlin, José Luis (1952-)

From Cinco Canciones De Amor: I Canción Del Caminante Enamorado [Enamored Walker Song] [Solo Guitar]

Paganini, Niccolo (1782-1840)

From Duetto amoroso for mandolin and guitar: VIII Marques d’amour [Love marks]

Rak, Štěpán (1945-) First Love [Solo Guitar]

Sor, Fernando (1778-1839)

From 12 Seguidillas for soprano and guitar: II De amor en las prisiones [Of Love in jails]

Tesař, Milan (1938-) From Suite Pinocchio: III Avec amour [With Love] [Solo Guitar]

Walton, William (1902-1983) Anon. in Love (Song Cycle for Tenor and Guitar]