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Classical Guitarists: Conversations
This book fills a void in the special world of the classical guitar. The interviewees include Sharon Isbin, Eliot Fisk, Richard Rodney Bennett, David Tanenbaum and John Williams.
347 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
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January 24, 2024
A collection of conversations that took place in the 90s with some of the leading classical guitarists, composers, and one artist manager of that time: Sharon Isbin, Eliot Fisk, Richard Rodney Bennett, David Tanenbaum, David Starobin, Harold Shaw, and John Williams.
After reading Sharon Isbin's and Eliot Fisk's, which were both really engaging pieces, the rest of the book took me almost a year to finish because it became a little dry, right in the middle of Richard Rodney Bennett's interview. I imagine him to come off like the Andris Davis character played by Julian Glover in TÁR. Anyway. This was great, though, and I appreciate Jim Tosone's appendix at the end of 13 albums he has selected for a core collection of guitar recordings that one can check out. I'm glad I came upon this while browsing the music shelves at the Harold Washington Library.
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Jim Tosone: So what are the key social and cultural trends that are occurring?
John Williams: I think there's only one. And it's all embracing and inevitable. It is that the assumed superiority of the European classic music tradition is being questioned, and rightly so. The European classical tradition is only one of many wonderful musical cultures in the world. For our culture to accept that idea is quite a dramatic change because there has been a belief that yes, jazz is wonderful, South American music is very vibrant, Indian music is full of improvising fantasy—but when all is said and done, Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart are it. That assumption has got to go. It's ironic for us in the guitar world because much of our recent history has been to try and become a part of that European classical tradition. But this is such an exciting age for anyone that's interested in the world, culturally, to be associated with the guitar—because of its links to so many different cultures. The guitar is a fundamental instrument in jazz and it has strong links to all other plucked-string instruments, like the sitar. And it originally was a popular instrument, a social instrument, which can embrace a variety of styles. It has magic in its sound, probably the most magical sound of all instruments. For guitarists to be able to be a part of all those different cultures is a unique opportunity that other musicians don't have as much. It's an ongoing process of discovery and enjoyment. And that's why we love the instrument.
(March 1994)
After reading Sharon Isbin's and Eliot Fisk's, which were both really engaging pieces, the rest of the book took me almost a year to finish because it became a little dry, right in the middle of Richard Rodney Bennett's interview. I imagine him to come off like the Andris Davis character played by Julian Glover in TÁR. Anyway. This was great, though, and I appreciate Jim Tosone's appendix at the end of 13 albums he has selected for a core collection of guitar recordings that one can check out. I'm glad I came upon this while browsing the music shelves at the Harold Washington Library.
🎶
Jim Tosone: So what are the key social and cultural trends that are occurring?
John Williams: I think there's only one. And it's all embracing and inevitable. It is that the assumed superiority of the European classic music tradition is being questioned, and rightly so. The European classical tradition is only one of many wonderful musical cultures in the world. For our culture to accept that idea is quite a dramatic change because there has been a belief that yes, jazz is wonderful, South American music is very vibrant, Indian music is full of improvising fantasy—but when all is said and done, Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart are it. That assumption has got to go. It's ironic for us in the guitar world because much of our recent history has been to try and become a part of that European classical tradition. But this is such an exciting age for anyone that's interested in the world, culturally, to be associated with the guitar—because of its links to so many different cultures. The guitar is a fundamental instrument in jazz and it has strong links to all other plucked-string instruments, like the sitar. And it originally was a popular instrument, a social instrument, which can embrace a variety of styles. It has magic in its sound, probably the most magical sound of all instruments. For guitarists to be able to be a part of all those different cultures is a unique opportunity that other musicians don't have as much. It's an ongoing process of discovery and enjoyment. And that's why we love the instrument.
(March 1994)
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