Cervantes Suite

for solo classical guitar

I.Cervantes y Don Quijote contemplan los molinos de viento (Allemande)
Cervantes and Don Quijote Contemplate the Windmills

Mike Roberts, guitar

II. Cervantes monta a Rocinante por sus sueños (Arch form)
Cervantes Rides Rocinante Through His Dreams

Guy Powell, guitar: live at SF Conservatory, 1/25/08

III. Cervantes y Dulcinea bailan en los campos por la noche (Minuet and Trio)
Cervantes and Dulcinea Dance in the Fields at Night

Mike Roberts, guitar

IV. Cervantes estudia la brujería del sabio Frestón (Rondo)
Cervantes Studies the Sorcery of the Clever Frestón

Elliot Simpson, guitar: live at SF Conservatory, 1/25/08

V. Cervantes da la espada a los cueros de vino (Jácaras)
Cervantes Puts the Wineskins to the Sword

Mike Roberts, guitar: live at SF Conservatory, 1/25/08

VI. Cervantes oye los suspiros de los amantes (Sarabande)
Cervantes Hears the Sighs of the Lovers

Mike Roberts, guitar

VII. Cervantes y Sancho discuten el arte de gobernar una ínsula (Fugue)
Cervantes and Sancho Discuss the Art of Governing an Island

Zac Selissen, guitar: live at SF Conservatory, 1/25/08

Notes

The Cervantes Suite was inspired by a remarkable series of events: in the same year I received a new translation of Don Quijote (by Cervantes), purchased a Cervantes classical guitar, and moved to a new apartment on Cervantes Blvd. It was obvious to me that this cosmic convergence must somehow be celebrated in musical fashion, and I got my chance when I began studying with David Garner in 2004. He suggested a series of short pieces on my native instrument to gain experience working with some traditional musical forms. Short? Maybe not: the complete piece clocks in at around 30 minutes and took me over three years to complete. Didactic and altogether satisfying? Indeed!

I imagined Cervantes interacting with the characters of el Quijote, which are so vivid and colorfully depicted in the novel, in his imagination. With Quijote weighing in at 1,000 pages or so, I figure he must have done that a lot (and enjoyed it). The music endeavors to express the variously powerful emotions he might have felt—hope, excitement, passion, wonder, fury, envy, affection—while in the presence of his creations.

Musically, my intent was to craft a series of movements that together tell an engaging story, but separately stand alone as satisfying individual pieces of music. Each movement is written in a different mode, so that all seven are represented in the suite. If the fifth movement Jácaras is removed, the key centers progress through the circle of fifths, starting with G Lydian in the Allemande and ending with F# Ionian in the Canarios-Fugue. (The Jácaras was meant to fit the pattern as well, but it was the last movement composed and by then I had decided I needed something peppy between the Rondo and the Sarabande!)

The Cervantes Suite was premiered in its complete form on January 25, 2008 at the San Francisco Conservatory, with a different guitarist performing each movement. (You may note that some of the recordings here are from that concert, while others are taken from my studio recordings.)