Spanish Dances (Arr. Tadeu do Amaral for Guitar Quartet) Brazilian Guitar Quartet

• 1 No. 1. Aragonesa 03:08
• 2 No. 2. Cubana 03:41
• 3 No. 3. Montanesa 04:11
• 4 No. 4. Andaluza 04:42
• 5 Goyescas, Book 1: No. 3. El fandango de candil 05:42
• 6 3 Danzas andaluzas, Op. 8: No. 3. Zapateado 04:41
• 7 Sonada de adios 03:35
• 8 No. 1. Caleseras (Homenaje a Chueca) 02:00
• 9 No. 2. Fandango del ventorrillo 01:43
• 10 No. 3. Plegaria de la Infanta de Castilla 04:52
• 11 No. 4. Danza valenciana 02:53
• 12 No. 3. Modere 03:56
• 13 No. 6. Cantabile espressivo 03:54
• 14 No. 1. Quasi moderato 02:26
• 15 No. 8. Moderato cantabile con sentimento 03:07
• 16 La vida breve: Danse espagnole No. 2 04:10
• 17 Azulejos 09:08
• 18 El pelele, goyesca 04:47
• Total Runtime 01:12:36

Info for Spanish Dances (Arr. Tadeu do Amaral for Guitar Quartet)

In this, the 2011 Latin Grammy–winning Brazilian Guitar Quartet’s sixth album on Delos, the ensemble pays homage to its rich and varied heritage as exemplified by the music of Spain – which, in turn, gave rise to Latin American music. With roots going back more than a millennium, the nation’s wide–ranging regional musical styles are most idiomatically represented by the more than 1,000 dance–forms native to the Iberian peninsula.

The album’s eighteen bewitching selections – mostly dances – are derived primarily from piano works by six of the best–known 20th–century Spanish composers: Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Joaquin Rodrigo, Federico Mompou and Joaquin Turina.

The BGQ, while best known for its brilliant interpretations of Latin American music, shines brightly in this repertoire – having a special flair for the quintessential Spanish sound and spirit. They offer the richest sonic depth and range of any guitar quartet, thanks to the use of two eight–string guitars: sonorities that are thrillingly captured in Delos’ exceptional, audiophile–grade sound.

“The Brazilians played with one mind … and conveyed all the mystery, joy, passion and pride in this music… this was magical music making.” (Palm Beach Daily News)

'A world-class degree of precision, near-perfect balance and sensitive musicality…' (Los Angeles Times)

Everton Gloeden, eight-string guitars
Luiz Mantovani, eight-string guitars
Tadeu do Amaral, six-string guitars
Gustavo Costa, six-string guitars

Recorded at the Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall/Arthur Zankel Music Center (Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY) between July 18 and July 22, 2013

Brazilian Guitar Quartet
Winner of the 2011 Latin Grammy Award in the “best classical album” category, the Brazilian Guitar Quartet has established itself as one of world’s leading guitar ensembles. Praised by the Washington Post for its “seductive beauty” and “virtuosic gusto,” the group’s unique combination, of regular six-string and extended-range, eight-string guitars, allows for the exploration of an original and unusual repertoire. In their more than ten years of activity, the BGQ has performed over 250 concerts in the Americas, Europe and Asia, often receiving ecstatic audience responses, garnering rave reviews, and meeting sold-out halls.

Highlights of the BGQ’s past seasons include performances at the 92 Street ‘Y’ and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, Vancouver Playhouse, Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Dumbarton Concerts and National Gallery in Washington, D.C., Chamber Music Albuquerque, Beethovensaal in Hanover, Wortham Theather in Houston and Libby Gardner Hall in Salt Lake City, as well as at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Felicja Blumental Festival in Tel Aviv, Colorado Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Carmel Bach Festival and some of the major guitar festivals in the U.S., Brazil, Australia, Denmark, Scotland, Mexico, Portugal and Germany.

In 2004, the Brazilian Guitar Quartet were “headliners” at the inaugural World Guitar Congress in Baltimore where, together with the BaltimoreSymphony, they gave the world premiere of a specially-commissioned concerto by Brazil’s 2001 “Composer of the Year,” Ronaldo Miranda. In 2009, the Quartet performed the Suite Iberia by Isaac Albéniz in a Brazilian tour that included the major capitals of that country, sponsored by Instituto Cervantes in honor of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death.

The BGQ’s discography includes five CDs for Delos. Three of them are devoted to Brazilian Music: Essência do Brasil (1999), Encantamento (2001) and the quartet’s latest release, the Latin Grammy winner Brazilian Guitar Quartet plays Villa-Lobos (2011). The other two recordings present, in their entirety, two great works of Western classical music, Bach’s Four Orchestral Suites (2000) and Albéniz’s Suite Iberia (2006).

Booklet for Spanish Dances (Arr. Tadeu do Amaral for Guitar Quartet)