Michael Kolk Performs Allegro Moderato from Sonata para Guitarra by José

Canadian guitarist Michael Kolk performs Sonata para guitarra by Antonio José (1902-1936). This is the first movement, Allegro moderato of the four movement sonata. This comes via his excellent YouTube channel. Audio and video by Henderson.

This was José’s only work for guitar, composed in 1933. It is one of the most important sonata-form works for the guitar and Kolk does a wonderful job with the themes and overall form. Kolk is one of my favourite players for his balanced and mature musicality. The complete sonata can be heard on his fantastic album 20th Century Guitar Sonatas, available through his website or on streaming platforms. I also did a review of it back in 2020. He’ll also be recording the Rebay and Guastavino sonatas from the album so you can look forward to that.

Bradford Werner

Bradford Werner is a classical guitarist and music publisher from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He originally created this site for his students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music but now shares content worldwide. Curating guitar content helps students absorb the culture, musical ideas, and technique of the classical guitar. Bradford also has a YouTube channel with over 94,000 subscribers and 13 million views. He taught classical guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for 16 years and freelanced in Greater Victoria for 20 years and now dedicates much of his time curating content online and helping connect the classical guitar community. See more at his personal website.