Live Lesson: Ocho Valses Poeticos by Enrique Granados

Hi everyone! I'm very excited to finally be honoring a request that has been made months ago. It is time to talk about Granados' Ocho Valses Poeticos, one of my all-time favorite pieces to perform in concerts! 

People often think that this work is quite difficult, but that's not true - or at least, it's only partly true! The waltzes were made to be mixed and matched, and some of them are actually surprisingly straightforward.

See below and join to find out what these are, and what we'll be concentrating on in this livestream, more specifically.

In the 121 years since the publication of Enrique Granados' most famous cycle of waltzes, the Ocho Valses Poeticos became a staple of the traditional guitar repertoire. Despite having been written for the piano, they are now deeply associated with the guitar, following influential versions recorded by John Williams, David Russell, and many more.

Although simple to perform on the piano and often unfairly discarded due to their simplicity, they are often thought of as a very advanced work when performed on the guitar. This perception is, however, erroneous - or at least only partly true: the waltzes were designed to be mixed and matched, and certain movements are exquisite precisely because of their simplicity.

This is the especially the case with Waltz no. 1, "Tempo de vals noble", which acts as a main theme for the cycle but also as a great (and quite approachable!) standalone work. In this livestream, we will discuss performance tips as well as how to choose the best arrangement and tweak it to suit your own needs.

We are going to be using this thread to gather suggestions and questions!

• What questions do you have on this topic?
• Any particular area you would like me to focus on?

(Barney and Derek will hopefully find this quite exciting too, since they've requested this livestream multiple times.)