Francisco Tarrega Collected GuitarWorks: The Early Spanish Editions
Review by Donald D. on 3 Jun 2020 review stating Francisco Tarrega Collected GuitarWorks: The Early Spanish Editions This book consists of the early Spanish editions published of Sr. Tarrega's work and transcriptions. I have seen another collection but it is published in several volumes and is only slightly more comprehensive in nature while if bought in it's entirety is at least twice as expensive.
This collection is almost completely comprehensive but does not claim to be an exhaustive collection of Sr. Tarrega's work. It is published by Allegra Musikverlag and while published in Germany in 2017, it consists of early editions of Spanish editions from around the late 19th and early 20th Century publications. There is contemporary commentary and notes in English, German and of course in Spanish. The early 20th Century type face fonts are reasonably clear and readable and include musical notation with fingering suggestions. While the selections, commentary and notes are clear and easy to read, they are from over a century ago. There are now more modern fonts that are more readable. This is only a minor criticism as the printing and editing of this collection has been very well done. The music is in standard notation with suggested fingering and if my eyes weren't almost 80 years old I would have no difficulty reading the text and music. As it stands I can easily read the printing, but these old eyes tire easily. I don't think this is a major shortcoming and I like the book very much. If I were not a person who has read music since 1945, and didn't know about tablature until sometime in the 60's though, the standard notation would be daunting. Unless one is willing learn thoroughly the guitar fretboard and the musical notes in every position, standard notation could be problematic. My musical. My reading skills come from the '40's to the present, but I had come to depend on tablature somewhat so it took a little bit lf time spent in recovery that I found mildly challenging. This is not a criticism, but a warning to those who have learned the guitar fretboard with tablature. The fingering is clear, easy to read but from time to time I wish I had tablature to suggest which position I should choose for a particular passage. usually I experiment with different positions anyway so this is only a minor problem. I recommend this collection of Sr. Tarrega's work with only the cautions I have made about the reading of musical notation. My eyes quickly adapted to the old fonts and printing styles and I am very happy with this book, it's price is attractive and I recommend this edition without reservation
On Tarrega | Complete Early Spanish Editions for solo guitar
