Michael MacManus

Masters Recital
July 4, 2017
Melba Hall
2:00pm

Michael MacManus Guitar

Ben Dix Guitar (Guest)
Dan McKay Guitar (Guest)
Jeremy Tottenham Guitar (Guest)

Special thanks to Dan McKay for his teaching and guidance during the
final year of my Masters. Toni Field for hir support, encouragement
and guidance throughout my course. Melbourne Guitar Quartet for
accompanying me today. Also to my wife Amy and my parents for
always believing in me.
PROGRAM

Mallorca Op. 202 Albniz, arr. Andrs Segovia

Vals Op. 8, No. 3 & 4 Barrios, ed. Richard Stover

Ophelia Houghton
Fearand the angel
Suffering and madnessam I but a dream of a shadow?
Chantof the flower-moon
Watermemories halls of ghosts wash away
Deathwith moons in your hair

INTERVAL 10mins

Baio de Dois Dozza

Guitar Dances Ross Edwards

News from Nowhere Houghton

Flux
Drift
Rocks
ISAAC ALBNIZ (1860-1909)
Mallorca Op. 202 (1888) arr. Andrs Segovia

Although Albeniz originally wrote this piece for piano, many of Albenizs works are more
commonly played on guitar than in their original piano form. The title reflects one of Spains
Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, Majorca. It is the largest island in the Balearic
Archipelago, and is heavily influenced by Moorish tradition as the Balearic Islands were
conquered by the Moors in 900AD. Written in the style of a Barcarolle, a gentle swaying
feeling is established in the opening bars and underpins the entirety of the piece.

AUGUSTIN BARRIOS (1885-1944)

Vals Op. 8, No. 3 & 4 (1979 & 1952) ed. Richard Stover

Augustin Barrios was a colourful virtuosic performer and composer from Paraguay. Credited
with being the first classical guitarist to ever make recordings in 1909. Later in Augustins
career, he adopted the persona of Nitsugua Mangor (Nitsugua is Augustin spelt backwards,
Mangor is the name of an Indigenous tribal leader) to reflect his traditional Paraguayan
heritage. In performance he would often dress in full Paraguayan tribal outfits, including
skirts and makeup. Vals 3 & 4 are typical examples of his virtuosic writing, and ability to
seamlessly connect various moods and characters within a piece. Vals 3 is light and running,
with Vals 4 expanding to include at times more lyrical and romantic melodies. Interestingly,
Vals 4 was originally published earlier than Vals 3, nearly 30 years apart.

PHILLIP HOUGHTON (b. 1954)

Ophelia (2004)

Phillip also calls this piece the Haunted Sonata. Inspired by the literature of Shakespeare
and the mythic stereotype of a lonely, beautiful maiden who goes mad and kills herself. This
piece is dark and otherworldly, with eerie melodies. It is a journey of pain, suffering, and the
surrender and stillness that comes with death. Phillip describes an 1852 painting Ophelia
by John Millais which shows Ophelia drowning in a river, surrounded by wildflowers, as A
strangely calm, otherworldly scene which was another powerful influence for this sonata.
Houghton uses descriptive and emotive language on the score, with directions including
savage, brutal, ugly, waves of fire, like shattering diamonds, dim into total silence into the
cold palm of the unknown.
CHRYSTIAN DOZZA (1983)
Baio de Dois (2016)

Only recently published, Michael received the first Australian copy of this work and gave the
Australian premiere performance in 2016. Michael developed a relationship with the
composer, and invited Chrystian to perform at the 2016 Melbourne International Guitar
Festival. Baio de Dois represents a dance rhythm from the Northeast of Brazil called a
Baio, and is a play on words between that rhythm and a popular food in Brazil called Baio
de Dois. We can interpret this to mean Dance for two, and in the culinary sense, it is a
dance between the two main ingredients, rice and beans.

ROSS EDWARDS (1943)

Guitar Dances (1982) arr. Adrian Walter

Originally written for Marimba as Marimba Dances, this three movement work has been
arranged for guitar by the Australian guitarist Adrian Walter. The first and third dances are
light-hearted in nature, and are typical of the radiant, buoyant, and rhythmically complex
writing of Ross Edwards. Interchanging time signatures, and short melodic motifs are
interspersed throughout in an almost chant-like fashion, typical of his Maninya series.
Edwards uses Maninya to describe many of his works which include lively tempi and
rhythms, angular melodies and drone-like harmonies. The second movement is an
introspective and recitative-like interlude.

PHILLIP HOUGHTON (b. 1954)

News From Nowhere (1991)

This piece was inspired by a book and a journey. The book, a socio-political fantasy by
William Morris published in 1891 titled News From Nowhere. The journey, a trek Houghton
undertook in the far North-East rainforest regions of Australia. Houghton describes this
piece as being a journey itself with elemental musical content (earth, air, fire, water). This
piece is written for the Guitar Family (Treble, Standard, Baritone, Bass) and incorporates
many extended techniques, such as the use of a New Zealand two dollar coin and tuning
forks. This work was commissioned by Tim Kain for Guitar Trek with assistance from the
Performing Arts Board.

Author of Program Notes: Michael MacManus