Comments on: Francisco Guerrero’s Zayin

By: zeno

zeno — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:42:41 +0000

Thanks, Evan and Steve. Its certainly is a new music distribution era today, Steve, which you certainly have been much better at keeping up with than I have been. I’ve always believed that small labels have served new music fairly well in terms of recording and production; but that severe problems remained in terms of economics, central storage, information, dissemination, and curatorship. In my not particularly well-informed opinion, we appear to be at the ‘Betamax’ stage of solving these severe problems of the institutionalization of new music learning and enjoyment. Thank you both, again, for sharing your reviews and links.

By: Steve Layton

Steve Layton — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 03:29:29 +0000

And, for those online MP3 buyers, I noticed over at Emusic.com that they’ve just added a ton of Spanish-label classical; among them are AlmaViva discs with a lot of Guerrero in performances different from the Col Legno.

Props to Lovely Music, too, who’ve put their Ashley, Lucier, and Behrman out there as well!

By: Steve Layton

Steve Layton — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 02:52:03 +0000

The Col Legno disc is reviewed here: http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2003/Oct03/Guerrero.htm Stefano Russomanno's sketch of Guerrero is here: http://www.esz.it/esz_eng/autori/autori_guerrero.html

By: Evan Johnson

Evan Johnson — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 21:37:13 +0000

There is a disc of his orchestral music on col legno; I listened to one piece last year (I think it was “Coma Berenices”) on the iPod of a British new-music pianist in an outdoor cafe in the north of France. A rather picturesque association, although I can’t say I remember much about the piece.

Understandably, discs of his music can be hard to find via search engine; his Renaissance namesake isn’t hugely popular, but certainly much more thoroughly and variously recorded than the contemporary Guerrero…

By: zeno

zeno — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:24:45 +0000

Thanks for this excellent review, Evan. I have had this very interesting chamber music CD for six years, and your review will encourage me to find it and reaudition it. I recall spending alot of time in the 80s and 90s trying to track down Guerrero recordings.
I recall that my other two CDs by him are orchestral and chamber orchestral recordings, on Spanish labels (though I think that the actual performances took place in London or France). Thanks again.