Emmanuel Sowicz plays Quatre Pièces (pour la guitare) by Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989). This comes via Open Strings Berlin and their amazing Youtube Channel. Great playing by Sowicz, filled with expressive but clean and clear articulations and ideas. Keep listening for the beautiful performance of the 3rd movement Lento (Mouvment de Sarababde).
The piece is not so much unknown as it is underplayed. I suppose for many people the writing might seem a little less guitaristic compared to the Sonatina or Theme and Variations. That said, it is filled with great motivic writing and clear sense of melody throughout. Thanks to Sowicz who sent me this note regarding the piece: “It’s Lennox Berkeley’s still relatively unknown Quatre Pièces, which he wrote for Segovia while in Paris c.1927 (one of the first guitar pieces written by a non-guitarist composer, soon after De Falla’s 1920 Homenaje). As you may guess, seems Segovia didn’t play them. They were found in his archive in 2001 and published by Bèrben soon after…”
You can also read an article by Allan Jones on the work. The piece is readily available and edited by the great Angelo Gilardino via Bèrben.
