Gdmundo oft. Mavarete COLLEZIONE DI MUSICHE PER CHITARRA DIRETTA DA ANGELO GILARDINO JOHN W. DUARTE SUA COSA op. 52 for guitar Diteggiatura di ANGELO GILARDINO EDIZIONI MUSICALI (Berber ANCONA - MILANOFOREWORD ‘Wes Montgomery's death, four years ago whilst still in his early forties, deprived the world of one of the greatest guitarists of all time who, though entirely unschooled, created spontaneous music with a "jazz accent”, as fluently and eloquently as a good orator with something of value to say. He was admired and respected by guitarists, amongst others, in every sector of music and a list of prominent concert artists who regarded him highly (and even bought records of his music) would be a long one indeed. His knowledge of the classic guitar was negligible and his contact with serious music minimal ——_ he deliberately kept it so, believing that, if the were to absorb the influence of such music, it might hybridise that which came so naturally to him. When I was invited by Angelo Gilardino to write a memorial tribute to this kindly man and memorable musician, T felt that it must have a predominantly jazz character — though inevitably reflecting the drift of its author away from the music that gave him so much pleasure in his youth; an overly academic lamentation would have been out of keeping, I last heard Wes Montgomery play, in public, in the very early hours of the morning and this piece is in the spirit of the music typical of such an occasion +—+ quiet, leisurely and reflective. In one of his last recordings Wes Montgomery played a piece of his own which he called "Mi Cosa” ("My Thing”) (sic) and I have taken some phrases from this in building the central part (A major) of this piece; it also explains the title Thave given to it. In order to play this music as it is intended, it is necessary to adopt some of the usages of Jazz music. There have always been tacit conventions to bridge the gap between the written and the played notes of music e.g. the inégalités of the French Baroque; Jazz too has its inégalités, and they are not dissimilar. Where eighth-notes are grouped in pairs JJ the first is held longer than the second. The relationship is a more smooth one than that of the French Baroque and does not attain the imbalance of on IJ; itis in fact closer to JJ) and it is played smoothly and not crisply or jerkily. In the central section this convention is not to be observed but successive eighth-notes are to be played evenly (uguale). All syncopations are to be stressed, but by “leaning” on the notes rather than accenting them strongly, in the manner of an anticipation of the beat. In the opening and closing sections certain notes are marked J”. . These are played by depressing the string one fret lower than the pitch of the first requires and pushing it to one side (toward the bass) until the required pitch is attained. The action is timed so that, when the strings is played with the right hand, the pitch is still fractionally low and still rising; the string is then returned to its normal position by steady withdrawal of the sideways pressure, to give the second note, one semitone lower. This effect, which has long been a usage in jazz-guitar playing, has also been used by Maurice O'Hana in his "Tiento”. ‘The passages in which the melody is played in octaves, a typical Montgomery charac- teristic, have the “dual” nature of those in Flamenco in which the utterances of the singer are punctuated by the guitarist. The piece as a whole should sound smooth, relaxed, and without exaggerated accents; a quiet remembrance of a gifted man. JOHN W. DUARTETo the memory of Wes Montgomery and to Angelo Gilardino, whose idea this was . SUA COSA Bdinande Ml, Nevevate uy for guitar JOHN W. DUARTE Diteggiatura di ANGELO GILARDINO (1972) Mesto, con molto rubato 4 - 63s. 29 oe 2 st ones == ra, 0 O93 pase @ YT ral, poco ‘© See the foreword, 3rd par. Baisioni Musical BERBEN - Ancona (Ttaly). Mascall BERBEN ~ Ancons i lege. 2, 2048 B.@ tempo5 poco pitt mosso cis Ta ® a a ol Par F te_ig ¥ come prima e Tempo I z 7 E2048 B.E. 2048 B,¥ 3 quasi una cadenza @ ® > ® > ® : 2 g . a pesante pereussion # — i te 2 20 eo2s tare s r 23 © With the right hand fingers held straight and bounced off the strings, below the sound hole, with insufficient force to make them strike the frets alte E2048 B.