GUITAR NEWS THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE CLASSIC GUITAR ASSOCIATION

:'IJ 0. 2 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1951

THE CLASSIC GUITAQ ASSOCIATION is now firmly established as an internatio,na.J organisation with members in more than twenty lands . These include distinguished Professors of Cons·~vafoires and Academies, well­known guitar recitalists, teachers, compo,sers, arrangers and publishers, organisers of guita1r societi-es and tlhose who play and study the guitar for sheer enjo,yment and interest- in fact the salt ol the guitaristic earth I They band themselv•es together to protect the dignity of the legitimate guitar.

CONTEMPOQAQY GUITAQISTS (2) Karl Scheit, seventh child of a musical family, was born on April 21st,

1909, ,at Sthonbrunn in former Austrian-Silesia, though soon afterwards the family moved to Linz on the Danube . Hi s father, conductor of a mili tary band , was a g ifted and versatile musician who took a keen interest in the musical ed ucation of his children ( each of whom lea rned a different instrum'ent), though he did not wish any of them to become professional mus icia ns . Little Karl learned to play the violin and gained some knowledge of the other inst ruments as well.

At the age of fifteen Karl became .acquainted with the guitar through the Youth Movement where it was used to accompany songs. He soon noticed that the instrument was not fully utilised, being played only in the lower positions. One day he fou nd a trio for guitar , clarinet and flu te by Kreutzer . This gave much more scope for the gu•itar and after considerable study he played it ,,·ith his father and brother. But fath er Scheit , who wanted Karl to become a Doctor, disapproved of his new enth usiasm for the guitar and banned the instrument from the house. H e would have been surprised if he could have seen what happened when he went out! Karl had hi s guitar hidden behind a corner cupboard , so when the coast was clear he hauled it up by means of a long string and practised with fiery zeal .

H aving been made conductor of the Youth Movement Cho,ir at the age or sixteen, he arranged a concert in Linz, playing guitar solos by Bach a nd de Visee between the choral items. His playing was so successful that he resolved to concentrate on the guitar. This ca used a dispute with his father so Karl left secreth- for Vienna.

Li fe i~ the city was difficult for the young man. By giving lessons a nd with secret help from his mother he just managed to keep his head above water. H e attended the Vienna Music Academy for lectures on Guitar and Theory of Music, but was disappointed at the o'd-fashioned way of teaching the guitar and the choice of music . H e visited all the well-known guitar teachers in Vienna in · the hope of learning something. H e imagined instruction such as he was accustomed to on the violi n, but was disappointed.

Then Miguel Llobet came to Vienna. With revived enthusiasm Karl spent his small savings following the master through the provincial towns to hear him again and again . His meeting with Segovia was a decisivJ influence

2 GUITAR Naws August-September, 1961

and this great artist filled him with new courage. Scheit's love for the music o.f Bach induced him to make a special study

of that master's lu te composi t.on s. After careful preparation he played this music on his g uitar to several well-known musicians in Vienna because he was of the opinion that only through worth-while music could good musicians be won for the guitar. He must have made a good impression for soon he was invited to take pa rt in the concerts of the Vienna Bach Circle and the Collegium Musicum Mertin. These concerts were visited mostly bi)' profes­sional musicians so Scheit soon became known in those circles which set the standard . "In order to perfect his Bach playing he undertook studies with J .

. David, the eminent Austrian composer and a distinguished student of Bach. One happy result of this was the composition by David of a trio for flute, viola and guitar (ded:cated to Karl Scheit), followed by further com­positions for the guita.r.

The great producer, Max Reinhardt , was always interested in anything out of the ordinary, so he asked Scheit to play after one of the performances at the Schonbrunn Castle Thea tre. He was so taken by Scheit 's Bach play­ing that he arranged for him to play at the Salzburg Festival at Castle Lepold­skron. At ·that time Reinhardt was producing Shakespeare 's "As you: Like It" and he commissioned Scheit to provide the music, Reinhardt 's art setting off the important role of the guitar.

Scheit has always been convinced that the guitar should be in\roduced side by side with the violin and piano as a subject of study in s,econdary schools and teacher's Training Colleges. In this connection Scheit achieved successful results in the State Educational Establishments for boys and girls. If at first not many enrolled for g uitar lessons Scheit's enthusiasm infected his pupils so that they brought their friends and the numbers steadily increased.

At the age of 24 Karl Scheit was appointed Professor of the Guitar -(theory and practice of guitar playing) at the Vienna Music Academy in 1933 on the prop{)!Sal of P rof. Dr. Donath , director of the Musikpadagogischen Seminars.

In order to ensure the continued gro~th of guitar playing he formed classes in Evening Schools and Institutes , and in due course he was able to hand over this field of activit :es to some of his pupils . '

Karl Scheit' s techn ique was self-taught. Practice before a large mirror enabled him to control the motions of h is fingers and eliminate superfluous movements. He also made use of his technical knowledge of the violin for his studies of the guitar and together with Schaler, a violinist and composer, compiled a method for the guitar which was published in 1936 by Universal Edition, Vienna. H e is continuously bringing out works for the guitar which serve not only as instruct ional material but are also suitable as concert solos; these include transcriptions of lute music (Weiss, Dowland , Morley, . etc.) His efforts to interest· contemporary composers in the guitar resulted ' in a _succession of valuable new works by W . Burkhart, J. N. Diavid, J. Lechthaller, A. Uhl, E. Wray, e tc.

· In spite of his many activities in Vienna he has made concert tours of all the well-known towns of Austria and also Germany, Norway, Czecho­slovakia and Hungary. Further and more extensive tours are anticipated. He has given many broadcasts.

In 1949, with pupils and friends, he founded the guitar society "Gesellschaft der Gitarrefreunde" of which he is Honorary President.

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August.;Septeniber, 1951 GUITAR NEWS 3

DESEQT ADVENTUQE The profession of one of the British members of the Classic Guitar

Associatiop takes him into the Sudanese desert. With a truck-load of equip­ment he often passes considerable periods ir. this barren solitude. His Mart,n guitar goes with him on these journeys-a highly valued comp.anion in the hour of relaxation. ·

On New Year's eve the lorriY, was parked for the night at a place where there was some dry grass. Our friend's wife was with him on this occasion in addition to the servants. At 9.30 on the morning of New Year's Day the lorry caught fire and was completely destroyed with all its contents, including equipment, guitar and music. The grass was set alight bjy1 the flames so all had to run for their lives from the spreading fire . They were nine miles from the nearest water (it might have been 40 !) and it took a week to reach Khartoum. There they re-equipped for the next expedition and the guitar was replaced with another bought in Khartoum. By \an extraordinary coin­cidence it was a Martin, almost identical with the one destroyed in the fire and in perfect condition. It had been left in Khartoum by some Ameridan missionaries.

QADIO British Broadcasting

There are several· B.B.C . Pro­grammes in which the listener requests the playing of some par­ticular record. Although a propor­tion of the requests are for good light music or singing, some items chosen are either of the "Bells across the Barnyard" type of sentimental stuff, or else jazz-in varying degrees of musical depravity. lt was, therefore, an unexpected plea.­sure to hear the request for a Segovia recording from a listener at Chepstow in a recent "Down Your 'Nay" prog·ramme conducted by the genial Richard Dimbleby.

Victoria Kingsley wias heard on May 24th singing with her guitar traditional folk songs of Surrey, Somerset , Cornwall and Ireland. Also Arne's "Where the Bee Sucks.''

"Ye r ~ a" - Federico Garcia Lorca's drama was revived in a broadcast on June 16th. Julian Bream anti Desmond Dupre played guitars in the music which was so suitably set by EduardOI M. Torner.

The sympathetic accompaniment of .a song, the wild rhythmic dancing and the exquisite notes at the end of the drama were the high spots of the guitar playing.

The Suite in D minor for guitar by Robert de Visee broadcast by Julmn Bream on June 20th, and repeated on July 3rd, was absolutely delightful. Authorities disagree about the country o:f origin of the 17th century guitarist who composed this music; Portugal, Spain and France having been mentioned by various writers. He ,WIS taught by Francisco Corbetta and wrote three books of music for the five-stringed Spanish guitar. These were pub­lished in 1682, 1686, and 1689, and dedicated to Louis XIV of France who was one of his pupils.

Julian Bream was he!ard in other programmes accompanying with his guitar the fine soprano voice of Victoria de los Ange1es.

On July 1st he played "Adelita (Tarrega) and Two Mexictan Songs (Ponce) m a "South American Way" programme, his sensitive rendering of these solos was most enjoyable.

4 GUITAR NEWS August-September, 1951

SEGOVIA COMING TO BQIT AIN We are delighted to be able to give

preliminary information of Segovia's visit in October a nd lovember. There are other arrangements still lo be made and fuller details will be given in '"Guitar News" 1 o 3. On October 20th there wili be a recital at the City Hall,. Sheffield; another at Wigmore Hall, London, on October 31st ('and possibly a second} and a recital at the Chelsea Music Club. He will also be playing with the Scottish Orchestra in Edinburgh and GlasgO\Y on . ovember 9th and 10th.

"HOMENAJES" Guitarists in Britain were inter­

ested to hear Manuel de Falla'~ "Homenaje a Debussy" played by an orchestm for the first time in Britain on April 21st.

According to the notes contri­buted by Deryck Cooke in "Radio Times," Falla, in 1939, collected four pieces which he had dedicated respectively to Fernandez Arbos, Claude Debussy, Paul Dukas and Felipe Pedrell and orchestrated them to form a symphonic suite.

We thought that "Homenaje a Debussy'' gained little from orches­tration; the lack of the distinctive tone colours of the guitar showed how perfect was Falla's original inspiration in choosing that instru-ment. ,

Mr. Cooke states that "Homenaje a Dukas" was also originally com­posed for guitar solo and published

in the French magazine "Revue Musioale" after the death of Dukas in 1933. We should be interested to know if thi can be obtained from any publisher.

"Homenajes", \ hich was broad­cast, was played by the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Juan Jose Castro.

"GUITAQ REVIEW" The "Song and Guitar" number

has been received land while it is of particular interest to the singer­guitarist there i very much of general interest. The music con­sists of twelve guitar songs and four guitar solos, including one by Segovia. This issue (No. 12} com­pletes the second volume.

"Guitar Review" ca n now be ordered through Messrs. W. and G. Foyle, 1Ltd., 119-125 Charing Cross Road, London, W.C.2. The annual subscription rate (six issues) is 37 / 6 and this amount should be remitted with the order.

GQAMOPHONE \Ne are indebted to our Scottish

member, Mr. George Boag, for the following list of records by Vicente Gomez which are now obtainable in Britain (price 6/ -). They are from the Brunswick list. La Farruca } 02820

evillanas y Pand.eros

Alegrias } ~65 Granada Arabe

Cancion Triste } 02866 Romance de Amor

MEMBERS' ANNOUNCEMENTS Every member and subscriber may have a 25 word noti ce inserted free in "Guitar News'' for each 5/- subscription paid. Extra notices may be included at the following rates : c1p to 25 words 2/6; from 26 to 50 words (maximum) 5/-. SMALL guitar . for sale, £::i / 10 /0. Miss M. H amilton, "Marden Ash,"

Eldorado R~d, Cheltenham (Glos.).

~r SIC, sent for C.G.A. Funds, for sale. Stamp for list. Organiser, C.G.A., 4 7 Clarence Street , Cheltenham, Glos. ·

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August-September, 1951 GUITAR N11ws 5

GUITARISTS MEET IN PARl'S A 1etter from Andre Verdier describes what appears to be a miniature

Convention of Guitarists which occurred in Paris on July 20th, four continents being represented at a meeting of Les Amis de la Guitare. Ida Presti (France), and Julian Bream (England ) played solos from their repertoires to the great delight of at! present. Visitors included Eithne Golden and Estelle Zabriskie of New York, R. S. Adams, of Sydney (Australia) and Alex Liagoya (Egypt). Among the Paris members presen t were Jean Lafon, Robert Bouchet, A. Delahaye, and others, including· Madame Verdier who is steadily recovering from her recent illness. Monsieur 'Verdier sends to a11 guitiarists " Vibrants Salutations!"

INTERNATIONAL NEWS Algeria. Ida Presti gave three

recit!als in Algeria during June . ' Argentina.. The Association Guit­

arristica de Rosario bias issued a "Review" ( 24 large pages) of i!s activities during the past year. This organisation played an important part in ,a Music Festival, or~ani~ed recitals and concerts by gu,tansts and its successes serve as a model and an inspiration to other guit~r societies. The leaders of this Association iare :-President : Senor Andres Calabrese; Vice-President : Prof. Nelly Ezcaray; Hon. Secre­tary: Prof. Ines Panero; Hon. Treasurer: Prof. Juan Carlos Zemp.

vVith deep regret we learn of the death of Professor D. Segundo N. Contreras on April 5th in Bueno,s Aires .

Brazil. The Associacao Cultural de Violao ( Cultural Association of the Guitar) of Sao Paulo has elec~ed at its annual meeting Prof. Isaias Savio as President. R onoel Simoes, Hon. Secretary and Pro. Alfredo Scupinari , Hon. Treasurer. Prof. Scupinari gave a recital on March 30th under the auspices of the Association, in which he played the following programme. Le Lac de Come VaJse op. 15 No. 39 Noturno op. 9 No. 2 Passodoble Noite Oriental

Mme. Gallos Brahms Chopin Scupinari . Scupinari

Danca de Negros Rosmarin Ma•rcha T= Variations on a

Scupinari Kreisler Mozart

Theme Mozart-Sor Asturias AJbeniz Torre Bermeja Atlbeniz ,jevilla Albeniz

The 267th broadcast of guita r records presented by Ronoel Simoes brought the number of records played to the total of 857 represent­ing 109 guitarists.

On April 23rd Carlos M. Carrion , a guitarist from Spain , gave an interesting recital at S. Paulo where he intends to settle.

Maria Luisa Anido has given a number of recitJals in S. Paulo, Santos, Rio de J aniern, and other places in Brazil during recent weeks . Guitarists who heard her write in high praise of her brilliant technique.

Britain. C'heltenham Guita,r Circle held meetings in M:ay a nd June at which the soloists were C. E. Robins, Suite (Bach-Segovia), Prelude (Chopin), etc.; Mrs. Kay Appleby, Solos (Tarrega), etc.; i'vlarek Gaskiewicz, Piece de !Salon ( Paganini-Chesnnkov), Frohlicher Landmann (!Schumann}, Studies (Fortea }, etc.; W. M. Appleby, Minuetto (Rameau-Savio), Sara­bande and Bourn~e ( de Visl!e­Scheit), Andla.nte ( Haydn-Tarrega) , etc. Trios and duets, including " Melodie" (Schumann-Pujol), were

6 GUITAR N1¼WS August-September, 1951

played at both meetings. The Circle cert at Grant H al'l, Queen 's Univer-wished 'bon-voyage' to its young sity, Kingston, his solo being member Marek Gask.e\\'icz who has Andante ( Haydn arr. Tarregia). left England for New York, U .S.A. It can now be revealed that i\lr.

Autumn meetings of Cheltenham Atkins was the generous donor of c.;uitar Circle will take place al £,,2 / 15 / 0 to C.G.A. funds ackno,1·-Royal \,Veil Centre at 6 p .m. on !edged under 'Canada' in "Guitar August 25th, September 29th ~ews" (No. 1). (Annual leeting), October 20th and Denmark. Solos by Turina and November 24th. Villa Lobos were broadcast on May

The guitar in Joan Prior's Man- 29th by the Danish Radio. The doliers ( often heard at functions in soloist was J ytte Gorki-Schmidt . the Cheltenham district), is pha.yed When the Schubert quartet for by one of her pupils, Mary Ellis, guitar, flute, vio1a and cello was who is only/ eleven years old! performed at 1a concert in Copen-

Liverpool Guitar Circle. The hagen, Matiegka 's variations were fol'lowing programme was played added. These were l~ft out by at the June meeting: Schubert in his arrangement of W. Price Matiegka's Trio. Madame Gorki-

Cadiz Albeniz Schmidt was the guitarist at this Romance d 'amour Gomez performance. Study Giuliani France. Andres Segovia is to

Colin Wynne give a recital on September 18th at Suite in D minor de Visee the Theatre des Champs-Elysees . Danza Espanola Granados

No. 5 A recent visitor to Paris was M. Study Aguado Romera, the flamenco guitarist of

Derek Wright the Carman Amaya company. Granada Albeniz Italy . Ida Presti's recitals were Cordoba Albeniz again a triumph for the dlassic

Tom Ritchie guitar and its brilliant exponent. Study op. 24 No. 22 Sor Her programme at Milan was as V alse Aguado Recu.erdos de la follows :-Gigue (G. Legrenzi a rr .

Alhambra Tarrega Abloniz), Sara ban de and Gigue (A. "Ay, Ay,. Ay" Perez-Friere Corelli arr. Azpiazu), Arietta (D. Derek Wright also gave a special Scarlatti arr. Ab1oniz), Gigue (D.

recitlal of flamenco play ing at which Scarlatti arr. Presti, Three Ancient he displayed a remarkable insight Pieces (J. Rousseau), Chaconne (J. into Spanish folk-idiom. S. Bach ) , a Folias ,and Three

Welsh Guitar Circl,e. A fine por- Mexican Songs (Ponce), Albada trait of the Honorary Secretary, 0 . (M. Torroba), Sevilla (E . P ujol ), Morton Lawrence, with his guitar, Danza :--lo. 5 ( E. Granados ), appeared in "Hera1d of Wales" on Rumores de 1la Caleta and Asturias May 12th over an interesting article (J. Albeniz arr. Presti). headed "The guitar is so easy to Lolita Sabicas Tagore gave a carry ..... " recital on May 9th organised by the

Canada. The second Annual Associazione 1 talo Britannica in Eastern Ontario Rotary Festival of GenoJa at the Palazzo Durazzo in ~Iusic was held in February. The which she played music by Bach, de winner of the Classic Guitar solo Visee, Sor, Aguado, Tarrega , contest (Class 419) wras Bertram Fortea, Granados, etc. T he press Atkins. He was chosen to take part gave e. cel'lent reports of her playing m the ",Sitars of the Festival" con- -we quote "The guitar as a solo

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August-Sep.tember, 1951 GUITAR/ NBWS 7

instrument is !able to surpass in re­finement and poetr;y of sound most other instruments, and this fact was once more demonstrated by Lolita Sabicas Tagore, a young recitalist, who presented ia long and difficult programme with remarkab1e tech­nical skill and artistic sensibility."

Mexico. Riafae'l Sole, the dis­tinguished Uruguayan guitarist and composer, ,,·ell-known through his gramophone recordings, has settled in Mex;co, and a1though he has taken up other activities he h as not aban­doned his beloved guitar, which he plays with mastery and artistry. Hi s compo.sitions have not yet been published.

Spain. From Antonio Company, a concert guita rist of Valencia, we received an interesting letter saying that the influence of Francisco Tarrega is still very strong in Val­encia where the r.1aestro spent a considerable part of his life. . Tar­rega left many friends 1a nd disciples thereabouts . " His spirit therefore continues among us" writes Senor Company who says that his own teacher was one of Tarrega's pupils .

Sweden. The membership od' the Svenska Guitarr Siamfundet has in­creased to 35. Music at its April meeting included duets : Sonatina (Scarlatti ), Andante (Schubert), Cordoba (Albeniz arr. Johansson) and Bal'llade ( Rebay), pla;y~d by Zeron Lambertz (President of the Society ) and Bengt Johansson. Mozzani 's '' Heu reuse Rencontre'' for two guitars was played by Miss Ewa Sundquist (Hon. Secretary) and B. Johansson. Sblos played included Prelude in D minor (Biach) by Z. Lambertz, Andantino op. 2, N9. 3 ( Sor), ' by Miss Ewa Sund­ouist. Etude (Villa Lobos) by B. .JohanSSQn. There were a'lso trios by -Mozart and Sor for three guitars -and South American flamenco themes played by Carl-Olav Finnberg , a professional guitarist from Buenos Aires. . ·

U.S.A. Guita rists will be sorry to hear of the death of Alfred N. \/\Tesler. He was the first Editor of the "Guitar Review" in which he \\'rote under the nom-de-plume 'Alfred Ah·er' the serial article "A >le,,· Light on Paganini." \/\Tith Rey de la T or re he produced two issues of the "Guitarists' Treasury." He formed a very extensive library of guitar music.

On June 12th the Society of the Class:c Guitar (New York) held its ·Jast meeting before the summer recess,. Ensemble playing for two or more guitars or for the guitar with other inst ruments , is being developed with great zest, to the benefit of the participants and the pleasure of the ia.udiences. The S.C.G. Ensemble was invited to broadcast on · June 17th on WNYC, the city's broadcasting station .

The S.C.G. Trio-Julio Pro!, V. Bobri and Mirkoe Markoe-played at Long Island University (Brook­lyn N.Y.) on June 9th. The ·pro­gramme included Sonata by 1an un­known rS:panish composer of the 19th century, Trio by Gragnani, Trio by Giuliani and some Hungar­ian. Latin-American and Spanish folk songs.

Venezuela .. Manuel E. P erez Diaz gave a recital in Caracas on May 8th which included compositions by Luis Mi~an, Sanz, Sor, Tarrega, Bach, Scar'latti (Sonata), Ponce, Alben :z, R. Sainz de la Maza, etc. He began a series of broadcasts in J une on Rad iodifusiona Nacional de Venezuela.

The guitar is held in high esteem in V ~nezuela and has been taught at the _Escue1a Superior de Musica ( Conservatoire) since 1932. A young Venezue~an g uitarist of great promise, Ilirio Diaz, is perfecting hi s studies in Spain under Professor R. ,Sainz de la Maza at the Madrid Conservatoire.

8 GUITAR ' NEWS August-September, , 1951

GUITAR MUS IC The -following music has been arranged and edited by Karl Scheit.

Method for the Guitar ( 5 parts). Schaller-Scheit. Ten Pieces (A. Uhl), Three Easy Pieces from lute works (J. S. Bach ),

Sonata op . 15 (Giuliani), Var i1ations-Suite (J. Lechthaler), Suite in D minor ( R. de Visee), Twelve Easy Studies op. 60 (Sor).

The above are published by Unh1ersal Edition, Vienna.

Sonata for guitar and violin or two guitars (Ch. G. Scheidler), Sonata for guitlar and piano, op. 68 (A. Diabelli ), Four easy pieces, op. 35 (Sor), Menuette op. 25 (.Sor).

l-'11'1/ish ed by Osterreichischer 811ndesverlaK, Vienna.

The Classic Guitar Association (An International non-profit-making Organisation)

President : L. T. Bridell , M.A.

Committee: Miss Maude Hamilton, Mr. C. E. Robins, Miss Joan Prior, Mrs. Kay Appleby (Hon. Treasurer) Miss Audrey Horse11 (Spianish Translator)

Hon. Organiser: Wilfrid M. Appleby, 47 Cl.arence Street, Cheltenham (Glos.), England

to whom all communications and subscriptions should be sent.

This organisation has been formed to make the ciassic ( Spanish) guitar better understood and appreciated, to prevent it from being confusecj and associated with its no,velty var:lants ( jazz, Hawaiian, electric, etc.), and to maintain the essential character and nature of the legitimate guitar and its mus ic. Those who agree \Yith these Rims are invited to join the C.G.A.

Membership fee: Five shillings (5 / -) a year, (U.S .A-. 75cents).

:\!embers recei"Ve "Guitar >Jews" without further payment.

"GUITAR NEWS" Bi-monthly. Copyright reserved. Non-members subscription to "Guitar N e·ws" Fi \·e Shillings ( 5 / - ) for

6 is sues (U.S.A . 75 cents.) London Agents: Messrs. Schott & Co., Ltd., 48 Great Marlborough_ Street,

London W . l., from whom single copies may be obtained - price 9d. (Postage l ½d,)

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