by tateharmann » Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:30 pm
Dinga,
I love this piece...great job! I found a really cool Spanish doc online called "El guitarrista Julian Arcas y el flamenco"...it talks about why he was so influential on Andalusian culture and flamenco music. It also includes a biography and little pieces of information about many of his pieces. Here is what it says regarding this piece, Solea (this is my translation into English so it may not be 100%):
Another very important piece of Arcas' repertoire that got incorporated into the Sevilla Concerts in the spring of 1867 is the Solea, which, according to the chronicler "La Andalucia" was one of the most sweet and melancholic of our popular songs.
The document says a lot more about it like how it would work into a flamenco concert program easily even though it's not as "perfectly" composed and finished as Arcas' Rondeña.
I would love to tackle this one but the length of the piece turns me off...I fear I don't have the attention span to tackle 6 1/2 minutes of flamenco goodness. You play it well though...and it's true like you say it's a shame more guitarists don't play it. I'm checking out Arcas' boleras right now too. It looks like it has some cool rasqueados in it.
Keep up the good work!
Tate
"One must make of one's fingers well drilled soldiers."