Overtures & Dances Mēla Guitar Quartet

• Mikhail Glinka (1804 - 1857): Ruslan and Lyudmila:
• 1 Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila: Overture 05:20
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Deux arabesques, L. 66:
• 2 Debussy: Deux arabesques, L. 66: No. 1, Andantino con moto 04:34
• 3 Debussy: Deux arabesques, L. 66: No. 2, Allegretto scherzando 03:47
• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): Samson et Delilah, Op. 47: Act III:
• 4 Saint-Saëns: Samson et Delilah, Op. 47: Act III: Bachhanale 07:31
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60:
• 5 Ravel: Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60: I. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant. Lent 01:42
• 6 Ravel: Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60: II. Petit Poucet. Très modéré 03:12
• 7 Ravel: Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60: III. Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes. Mouvement de marche 03:34
• 8 Ravel: Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60: IV. Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête. Mouvement de valse modéré 04:12
• 9 Ravel: Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60: V. Le jardin féerique. Lent et grave 03:25
• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943): Polka italienne, TN ii/21:
• 10 Rachmaninoff: Polka italienne, TN ii/21 03:58
• Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934): A Fugal Overture, Op. 40, No. 1:
• 11 Holst: A Fugal Overture, Op. 40, No. 1 04:56
• Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934): 3 Characteristic Pieces, Op. 10: No. 3, Contrasts:
• 12 Elgar: 3 Characteristic Pieces, Op. 10: No. 3, Contrasts: The Gavotte - A.D. 1700 and 1900 04:00
• Engelbert Humperdinck (b. 1936): Hänsel und Gretel:
• 13 Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel: Overture 07:51
• Joe Hisaishi (b. 1950): My Neighbor Totoro Suite:
• 14 Hisaishi: My Neighbor Totoro Suite 05:37
• Total Runtime 01:03:39

Info for Overtures & Dances

Overtures & Dances matured as a concept through years of touring and performing. Naturally, as we explored repertoire, we found pieces that resonated with audiences and had a special affinity with the quartet. These pieces tended to be ones that had a theatrical element in opera, ballet, or dance.

The possibilities of arrangement enabled by guitar quartet add another dimension, either using the spectrum of timbral colours of the guitar like “an orchestra in miniature” (as the great Andrés Segovia used to say), or to expand the music of one piano between four guitarists to make a rich, sustaining sonority, unobtainable with fewer guitars. We believe this collection of pieces pushes the boundaries of how guitar quartet can be used, but always in a way that best serves the storytelling, lyrical beauty, and often childlike wonder of these works.

Mēla Guitar Quartet

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Booklet for Overtures & Dances