Francis-Paul Demillac (1917):Petite Suite Médiévale

The special atmosphere created in this Petite Suite Médiévale (1939)
is due to both the use of church modes that were common in the Middle
Ages and  quotations from French Renaissance composers. The
melancholic third part is subtitled À une jeune morte, after a poem by
Pierre de Ronsard, the poet who made French equal with Latin or Greek
as a literary language. Although this piece is written for flute, the
sound of the oboe turns out to be highly suitable for the evocation of
a medieval atmosphere.

Carlo Domeniconi (1947):Sonatina Mexicana

At an early stage, Italian composer and guitarist Domeniconi was
internationally known, especially for his compositions for
guitar. From 1977 to 1980 he was a teacher at the conservatory of
Istanbul. Inspired by Turkish, Arabian, Indian and other music based
on different tone systems, and at  the same time using the particular
qualities of the modern classical guitar, his compositions have a
highly recognizable personal style. The Sonatina Mexicana (1985) uses
a Mexican folksong as a continuous theme.

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937):Pièce en Forme de Habanera

Ravel was born at a village in France close to the Spanish
border. During his formative years he was influenced by Debussy,
Satie, Chabrier, and his master in composition Fauré, but his own
personality showed from the first. The Pièce en Forme de Habanera is
one of the pieces in which he combines alluring Spanish dance rhythms
with French color and sensuousness. Ravel wrote this nostalgic
habanera in 1896 for piano solo, but later authorized arrangements for
violin, cello, flute, voice, etc. and piano. This arrangement is made
by Janet Ketchum and Peter Segal.

Napoléon Coste (1806-1883): Consolazione, Romance sans paroles
Les Regrets, Cantilène

In his compositions Coste, leading French guitar virtuoso of his time,
widened the expressive possibilities of the guitar. He showed a
special interest in the oboe. He wrote both these lyrical works
originally for oboe and piano (for oboist Charles Triébert), although
one of the manuscripts mentions the guitar as an option. In later
editions the piano part is replaced by a guitar part, since it is
particularly suitable for the guitar.

Francesco Geminiani (1680-1762): Sonata in E Minor

Violin virtuoso and composer Geminiani promoted the Italianate style
and technique of his teachers, Corelli and A. Scarlatti, in his own
original and expressive way. Among his numerous sonatas is a
collection of six for wind instruments. The Sonata in E Minor is the
most beautiful of the collection and particularly suitable for the
oboe. The guitar part was arranged from the figured bass by Siegfried
Behrend.

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959):Bachianas Brasileiras no.5

In the Bachianas Brasileiras cycle Villa-Lobos brought together his
two great loves: Bach and Brazil. They echo both his admiration for
Bach's skill in polyphony and counterpoint and his love of Brazilian
folk music, which he studied and collected from an early stage. The
Aria from Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 was originally written for
soprano and eight celli. Duo Volante uses the arrangement for soprano
and guitar, made by Villa-Lobos himself in 1938.

Celso Machado (1953): Paçoca (Choro)
Piazza Vittorio (Choro Maxixe)

Born in Brazil to a family of musicians and now based in Vancouver,
Canada, guitar virtuoso Celso Machado is one of the leading musicians
on the Vancouver scene. Loving the diverse forms of Brazilian popular
music, he has infused his work with the percussive rhythms, harmonies,
and dances of Brazil. He uses typical Brazilian song forms such as the
samba, choro, and baiao on guitar. The two pieces on this CD are
written in 1988 as parts of the collection Brazilian Popular Music for
flute and guitar.

Tom Eastwood (1922):Uirapurú (1983)

In this composition Eastwood evocates the uirapurú, a little bird in
the Amazon jungle. The bird is hunted, since an embalmed uirapurú is
supposed to give the owner magical and aphrodisiac powers. The piece
opens with the call of the uirapurú, which makes the hunters set off
in pursuit. First the bird escapes and sings its song while the entire
jungle is listening, but soon the hunters regain its track and try to
shoot it down. Just when the tension reaches its climax, the story
breaks off to make place for an ode to the aphrodisiac powers of the
uirapurú. The idyll however is soon disturbed by the hunters chasing
the bird again and this time catching and killing it.