William's newest CD "Sounds of the Scenic Route" was inspired by William’s memories and experiences while traveling through the Pacific Northwest, the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Hungary, Romania, and Austria and musically paints a portrait of these experiences.

Leyenda, The opening piece on the CD, was arranged by Andres Segovia and composed by Isaac Albeniz of Spain who was a concert pianist and composer who lived from 1860 to 1909. This piece was originally written for piano as the prelude to his larger work “Suite Espanola” but is now more often heard on the guitar. You can clearly hear the flamenco influences Albeniz picked up while spending time in South America as well as Spain.

William describes how performing Leyenda reminds him of his intense trip from Oradea to Bucharest, Romania. In spite of the beautiful view of the Transylvanian Alps and interesting landscapes of ancient architectural ruins, the overcrowded train ride during the trip led to an intensity that can be clearly portrayed in Leyenda.

The Catalonian Song arranged by Jack Marshall is a traditional Christmas folk song from Catalonia, Spain entitled El Noy de la Mare which translates to the Son of the Virgin. This beautiful melody reminds William of his memories traveling through the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.

Prelude #1 written by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos and the anonymous piece Mexican Folk Song, are William's colorful, descriptive narrations of the beautiful landscape of the Redwoods in Northern California.

Fernando Sor (1778-1839) was among the most important founding fathers of early guitar technique and repertoire along with Dionisio Aguado (1784-1825), Mateo Carcassi (1792-1853), Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841), and Mauro Giuliani (1780-1829). While each composed a set of etudes or studies for the guitar along with longer more complicated works, Fernando Sor was arguably the greatest composer of the group. While the etudes of Sor are very beautiful, they are often too short to play as single pieces. For this recording, William chose several of his favorite etudes and fused them together to create the “Sor Medley.” Because of the beautiful yet simple harmonies in the music of Sor, this music reminded William of a relaxing Sunday drive through the beautiful Columbia Gorge which is the location that inspired the "Sounds of the Scenic Route" album.

Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909) was a Spanish guitarist and composer who lived in the next era after Sor and his contemporaries. Tárrega’s music is very Romantic in nature often evoking a feeling or describing musically a particular character, place, or structure. An example would be his Recuerdos de la Alhambra tremolo etude written as a tribute to the famous Alhambra castle in Spain. William describes how Adelita and Lagrima remind him of his trip to the northern Mexico coastline which was short and sweet just like these two pieces.

The Adagio and Romance was written by the Hungarian composer Johann Kasper Mertz who lived between 1806 and 1858. Much like the composer Francisco Tárrega, Mertz also wrote music very romantic in nature. William describes his memories traveling through the picturesque architecture of Hungary including the Parliament building in downtown Budapest.

Many of Johnann Sebastian Bach's solo instrumental works have been transcribed for solo guitar and as for the Bach on the this CD, these solo works written for lute, cello and violin bring the listener right to the heartland of the composer including the Austrian and German Alps, Vienna, Salzburg, and Frankfurt which are all places William has visited.

The Canon in D, arranged by Jeff Ashton, was written by Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) an acclaimed Baroque, organist, composer, and teacher who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the choral prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque. After playing this piece at many weddings across the Northwest, William was reminded of the breathtaking view of the hills surrounding the Willamette Valley in wine country.

One of William's favorite hymns of all time is Fairest Lord Jesus and this beautiful arrangement by Ravenscroft is in honor of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Item #: Sounds of Sc
Price: $15.00