The Black Decameron II. Fleeing of the Lovers through the Valley of the Echoes
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Brad Rau performs the Black Decameron by Leo Brouwer for the Little Night Music Concert Series. bradraumusic.com
Brouwer (b. 1939) studied in the United States during the last half of the 1950s at the University of Hartford and at the Juilliard School of Music and studied composition with Stefan Wolpe and Vincent Persichetti. He held a number of important posts in Cuban musical life and beginning around 1962 he became a leader of avant-garde music in Cuba and was frequently heard at the Warsaw Autumn festivals, one of the leading venues for new music. He used serial (12-tone) and aleatory (chance) devices in his music of this period. The guitarist has written a notable body of works for that instrument, though he has much music for other instruments as well.
Around 1980, just before this piece was composed, he began to edge away from the avant-garde vocabulary of his earlier works. He succinctly described the course of the music of his time, as it affected his stylistic development, as follows: "The avant-garde put an end to a monotonous dialogue which existed in music and replaced it with very aggressive language, which became too aggressive and which lacked equilibrium. Human beings, today, need a more cordial form of expression, more warm, more tangible."
Composition of this suite stems from his hearing the playing of the Canadian guitar virtuoso Sharon Isbin in 1975, "I was possessed by the clarity and poetry in her playing, as well as by her technical accuracy and perfection -- her musicmaking was sheer pleasure." He added, "from the very first two notes I had found the interpreter: Sharon Isbin." Brouwer composed the music and dedicated to Isbin without telling her, "just imagining how it would sound in her hands." She premiered it in 1983.
The suite is neo-Romantic in style, Brouwer says, and is programmatic. It is based on love stories from Africa, collected from folk sources during the nineteenth century by the German anthropologist Leon Frobenius. It is in three movements, which may be played in any order. These notes follow the order recorded by Isbin.
Brad Rau has been performing music for over 20 years all over Boston, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, as a classical guitarist, rock guitarist, and rock drummer. Brad received a scholarship to attend New England Conservatory (NEC), and received a Master’s degree in 2015 with academic honors. At NEC, he studied classical guitar under Eliot Fisk who was the last pupil of Andres Segovia. Brad has performed in countless masterclasses with instructors including; Sharon Isbin, Andrew York and Jason Vieaux, all Grammy award winning guitarists. Brad’s personal learning methods have enabled him to surpass his competition memorizing over 8 hours of the most difficult repertoire for the classical guitar. Brad was a semi-finalist in the International Texas Guitar Competition of 2008.
In addition to his performing career, Brad has mentored hundreds of students of all ages, styles and levels. Many of Brad’s students have gone on to develop their own music careers and teaching studios.
Brad’s unique teaching style combines music, physics, philosophy and humor, making him a well-rounded instructor for a variety of students.
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