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.)
-
Thank you for scheduling this live stream, Mircea! This is such a great piece, and wondering if with the 8 movements there will be enough time to get into sufficient detail in one session...
I guess you'll see if there is a need to break it down into a few separate livestreams, perhaps covering groups of the Valses.
I really look forward to this one!!
-
Barney Hi Barney, thank you for your questions! I'm probably not going to cover everything measure by measure, but rather just do an overview of some of the most important moments. I'll spend some time on the first waltz, dive into some highlights from other waltzes, and then spend the rest of the time answering questions.
-
-
Just a few questions to start (Measure references are from your Clerch edition);
Introduction:
1. Beginning measures 1 & 2, etc--played at 2nd fret. Your thoughts about playing it high up on 14th fret, like the Pegoraro edition (played by many including Marcin Dylla, Gohar Vardanyan, etc...)
2. Measure 12: How to best handle jump to high "E" (2nd string) and high "A: (1st string).
Waltz II: Measure 16 - Slurs on "E" string-- G-A-G, while holding "F" on low E string (1st fret). How to handle this stretch.
Waltz IV: Measures 1, 2, &5--Do you use "P" to play both bass notes together & "i" for top note; then, A-M on high E string for this figure?
Waltz VI: Measure 23: How do you play the ornament F#-G#-A# with the Chord?
Thanks!!!
-
I was really looking forward to this but unfortunately my family have decided I have to be elsewhere. The UK have an annual 'bonfire night' on November 5th with lots of firework displays to celebrate the memory of Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 - where is he today when we could do with him :-). I'll catch up on the livestream tomorrow.
-
I have 4 different arrangements and each one has some good parts/fingerings to use. What is best way to piece it all together? Would you photocopy lines or sections and reference them, or would you try to write the changes directly onto the score of the best version for you?
Guess the other method would be to just memorize it; however the piece is too big with the Introduction and then 8 Waltzes, so may forget it later on.
