Powell lived in the city of Baden-Baden, Germany, about 10 years, after living in Paris for another 10 years. During this time in Europe he composed and played a lot, mostly his known afro-samba, jazz or bossa nova styles. To acknowledge and enjoy his more classical guitar, or romantic/european style of composition was my intention in making these videos.
a new arrangement of the final section of the "Ferahfeza Mevlevi Ayini", known as the "Sema Ceremony" or "Whirling Dervishes Ritual".
Composed by the great Sufi Dede Efendi (1778–1846), the Mevlevi Ayini in Ferahfeza maqam is more than a musical form. It accompanies a ritual which symbolizes the journey of the soul towards love and the evolution of the human spirit.
Arrangement inspired in the fusion of elements of original song and the Aria of the Bachianas n5. It’s an tribute to Bonfá and Villa, for having written 2 of the most known melodies of Brazilian music.
Video from a live Concert of Tuhu Trio at the Brazilian Embassy in Berlin. Soprano: Adriane Queiroz 6.12.24.
in an unpublished arrangement for 2 guitars and soprano, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, originally for cello orchestra and soprano. This work is composed of 2 movements, Aria (Cantinela) and Dança (Martelo), composed in 1938 and 1945, respectively.
“4 Songs from the Amazon Forest”, is an original symphonic poem for soprano and orchestra, with a reduction by the composer for piano. “Veleiros” was written by Villa-Lobos for 2 guitars and soprano, and in addition, in the third song “Canção do Amor”, the guitar is included in the final orchestration of the piece. All these elements indicate the composer’s own desire maybe to have his compositions performed on the guitar(s), and here is my arrangement of it
The Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 is part of a series blending Brazilian folk music with the style of Johann Sebastian Bach. This particular suite exists in versions for solo piano and for orchestra arranged by the composer himself, and now there is also a version for guitar and viola caipira, made by the Duo
The Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 is part of a series blending Brazilian folk music with the style of Johann Sebastian Bach. This particular suite exists in versions for solo piano and for orchestra arranged by the composer himself, and now there is also a version for guitar and viola caipira, made by the Duo
With this piece i most learned that it takes time to finish arranging a piece.. and it's fine, if you remember and make the time to come back to it.
Technically, for the the guitar part, this is one of the most challenging arrangements i have made until now.. because the composer really writes and thinks as a pianist.. (not like Villa-Lobos:)
The title of the piece, “Vocalise”, and the curiosity in one rehearsal to hear how would it sound to sing the melody, brought us decide to make it so in the recording.
The Aria of Bachianas n5 has a special place among the works of Heitor Villa-Lobos. It's his most worldwide known piece, written originally for 8 cellos and soprano. Lobos made himself an arrangement for guitar and voice, very well known and played, where he is making his own choices to keep and take out musical elements of the original version. While playing Villa-Lobos' arrangement for guitar and voice, i always missed to hear more voices that are present in the original. So, in this arrangement I came to the possibility where most of the musical material of the original could be preserved and played by one guitar and cello.
Originally for orchestra, has a reduction for piano and cello made by Lobos, and this was the source for this guitar and cello arrangement.
Thanks for the recording of the Album "Presença de Villa-Lobos" by the pianist Lucia Barrenechea, and the cellists Hugo Pilger, I came to know the piano/cello version and could imagine it working for guitar and cello.
Now the guitar repertoire has one more Aria of the Bachianas by Lobos that can be enjoyed played with cello.
Thanks to Siccas for giving the space to share it, to Lucia and Hugo for the piano/cello notes, and thanks to the cellist Emilia for her sensitivity.
This piece is original for solo piano, from the 1920. The duo Assad has 2 fantastic versions, one for guitar duo and another with cello. Inspired by the possibility to play it on the guitar, i started studying it and came to the idea of this version for one guitar and cello.
Choros n5 is an original for piano, composed by Villa-Lobos in Rio de Janeiro in 1925. I started a sketch of an arrangement for 2 guitars years ago, inspired by Duo Assad's version and looking forward to one day playing this piece too. I came back to the idea when Vitor Noah moved to Berlin, and we met again and started to live almost as neighbours. It's a beautiful continuation after our times together in so many festivals and competitions in Brazil.
This piece is original for piano and cello, and from the first moment I heard this piece i dreamed of playing it. The piano is doing appergios throughout the piece, and we like to do appergios on the guitar. To make it in the speed required i found a unusual fingering for the right hand, that works for me (and hopefully for more others:)
The prelude of this Bachianas always fascinated me. The orchestral version is supreme. And the piano version, which is the original, encouraged me to try to play it on the guitar. This arrangement is based on both versions, and condensed in to the guitar possibilities. This video was an invitation from the luthier Kris Bernett to record on his fantastic guitar, in the studio of the with also luthier and sound producer Michael Battle.
Many thanks to have created it together.
That's a short piece originally for solo piano. When i got to know this piece, was around the time of my mother's birthday, so i used this moment as a good circumstance to arrange it for solo guitar and play to her in a video call. Weeks later came the invitation from Kris Bernett and Michael Batell to record pieces with their guitars, and for Michael's beautiful traditional guitar i thought of recording this piece by Lobos.
My dear ex-professor Daniel Göritz is a big reference for me in the world of arrangements. While I was studying with him, i was playing with my friend and singer Melissa Domingues in chamber music, and part of our program was the 4 songs of "Floresta do Amazonas". Daniel was interested in these pieces, and ended up arranging them to solo guitar. He gently ceded me the "Canção do Amor", and when i was visiting Brazil (after being 4 long years away) i could record it at the beautiful National Theater.
Abertura Baden is a combination of 5 pieces: Oxala, Pai, Consolação, Canto de Ossanha e Berimbau. In order to go from one to another, there is a bit of composition. It's the first piece i dared to compose a bit while arranging it. In 2019/2020 i was very much into Baden's music, rediscovering his importance for the brazilian music and for the brazilian guitar.
The video was recorded in Volta Studios, in Berlin and released in Siccas guitar YouTube channel.
This piece shows a Baden Powell as the great guitarist and composer for the instrument that he was. His background in classical guitar and his rhythmical imagination are very present and represented in this piece.
There is a new part added, which is a transcription of another piece of Baden called (O Afro-Samba). I fall in love when heard for the first time, and because of its rhythm and length i thought it would go very well together with the Choro pra Metronomo
The video is very nicely made by my good friend Emiliano to his channel Guitstar.
I got to know Kris Bernett through Instagram, with the beauty of his guitars always calling my attention. We wrote to each other, and then came the invitation to record a video with one of his guitars. The audio was recorded in Volta Studio and the video by Kris himself. It was the first time a video of mine was released on Siccas Guitars.
Thank you everyone involved in that production
That's my last concert in Brazil before leaving to Germany. 2 months before the concert happened my grandfather died, who was a great supporter of me with music.
I was born in Brasilia, and since i started my music degree in 2009 I was going regularly to the concerts of the Symphony Orchestra of Brasilia, dreaming about one day playing with them. In 2015 the invitation came from the conductor Claudio Cohen, i accepted the challenge and enjoyed it immensely. It was an unforgettable moment, recorded here to be always revisited.
That's a performance part of my final master exams in the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler-Berlin, where I studied with the Prof.Dr. Daniel Göritz for 2 years.
The piece is arranged by Fernando Morais and Daniel Göritz, performed with the soprano Melissa Domingues. To play Lobo's songs on the guitar, that where actually orchestrated, is always a good lesson. Actually, the guitar is scored on the orchestral version. And much of the arrangement is coming from an original part written.