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The Russian Collection, Vol.2: Four Concert Etudes
Product Information
- Author: SYCHRA, Andrei
- Editor: OPHEE, Matanya
- Type: Book Only
- Language: English
- Instrumentation: Solo Guitar
- Skill Level: Intermediate / Advanced
- Pages: 64
- Availability: Available
- Stock Reference: PWYS13
Full Description
Andrei SYCHRA
Four Concert Etudes
The Four Concert Etudes, are large concert pieces on a scale never before seen in guitar music of the early 19th century, embodying a musical inventiveness far ahead of its time. In trying to understand the original title of the collection, one might wish to define the particular rules contained in it. The composer himself refrained from doing so and did not assign a didactical purpose to specific passages within the body of these works, restricting his verbal thesis to simple description of the notation and fingering. One is tempted to speculate that in his judgment it was not necessary to add any verbal descriptions of the various technical elements included in these exercises; the extremely detailed fingering notation provided ample explication of the didactical idea.
Andrei Sychra was born in Vilno (today Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1773. The family originated in Czechia, and already in the 17th century moved to the western provinces of the Russian Empire, which included Poland and Lithuania. His father was a teacher by profession and served in houses of the local nobility. He must have been a professional musician as well, since he provided the only musical education of his son. Sychra's first instrument was the harp on which he was reputed to have been a great virtuoso, appearing in public in Vilno and its environs. He is also reported to have played the six-string guitar, and eventually settled on the seven-string guitar as the instrument to which he dedicated his life as a composer and teacher. He became the dominant figure in the field and created for himself a huge following. Sychra arrived in Moscow at the beginning of 1801. In 1812, perhaps because of the chaos caused by Napoleon's campaign in Russia and the famous Moscow fire of that year, Sychra had moved to St. Petersburg, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. He died there in 1850 in abject poverty.
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