Bach in the Americas – HEAR NOW
The music of Paraguay, Brazil, and the U.S., with a splash of Bach
The making of Bach in the Americas
We found the takes for this album in a collection of recorded and edited works, stored in a forgotten studio closet. To our delight, these recordings had never been released. We recorded at various churches and at different times, probably here in North Carolina and often late at night! Heitor Villa Lobos, Agustin Barrios Mangore, Robert J. Powell and Gordon Kreplin – the composers on this album – all have been deeply influenced by the music of Bach. Microphones by Microtech Geffel and Neumann; pre-amps by Michael Grace and John Hardy.
These beautiful recorded performances by guitarist Gordon Kreplin have been released as a celebration of music from the Americas, while paying homage to the timeless beauty and genius of J. S. Bach.
The Repertoire on Bach in the Americas
Suite for Violoncello BWV 1007 by J. S. Bach, transcribed by Gordon Kreplin
Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750, was a prolific composer of both sacred and secular music. He freely transcribed derivative works from one instrument to another. Bach most certainly would have utilized the modern classical guitar, if it had been available.
A Shaker Suite by Gordon Kreplin (1952-)
While traveling in Pennsylvania on a brief concert tour, my wife and I came upon a facsimile edition of the 1908 Shaker Hymnal, published by the Canterbury Shakers of New Hampshire. We were struck by its inspirational poetry and hymnody that embraced American folk traditions. Several of the hymns became the basis of this composition. The Lord’s Prayer was my own original composition, which was taken from a twelve tone sketch I made while attending American University.
Choros No. 1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
The music of Villa-Lobos was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and European stylistic traditions. He traveled extensively in Brazil and developed a deep interest in Brazilian indigenous music. The choros presented here was inspired by Brazilian vagabond street musicians called “choroes.”
La Catedral by Agustin Barrios Mangore (1885-1944)
Paraguayan composer, performer and recording artist Agustin Barrios was renowned throughout South America. Perhaps as great a guitarist as Segovia in his time, Barrios did not receive the international attention that Segovia did. While Segovia was on tour in Argentina in 1921, he met with Barrios and heard him play “La Catedral.” Segovia called it a “magnificent concert piece,” but never presented it in concert. Barrios might have found greater international acclaim had Segovia championed his work. The waltzes here are representative of the folkloric music that influenced Barrios as a child.
Mass for Solo Guitar by Robert Powell (1991-)
Robert Powell, born in 1932, is well known as an organist, a composer of sacred music and as a choir director. I met Bob in 1991 while performing at Christ Church in Greenville SC. I was soon to do a tour for The United States Information Service and I needed a work by an American composer to represent the US abroad. I asked Bob for a sacred work that embraced plainsong and jazz- the old and the new. A five movement mass, presented here in one continuous track, is the result.
About the Artist – Guitarist Gordon Kreplin
Bio
Gordon Kreplin has performed throughout the US, Spain, Portugal and South America. Critics and audiences alike have experienced his performances as having an easy warmth. His concerts in Spain and South America were sponsored by the United States Information Service (USIS). Kreplin received an A+ rating from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and USIS for touring abroad.
Kreplin’s teachers include Jose Tomas at the Oscar Espla Conservatory (where he studied for two years), Andres Segovia at Musica de Compostela, and John Marlow at American University. Kreplin served for four years in the North Carolina Visiting Artist program. He has taught at various universities in the U.S. Kreplin also taught at El Conservatorio de Horta on the island of Faial in Portugal. He is also Co-Founder and Co-Director of Ascencion Music Academy on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Artist Statement
So how does one photograph music?
For so long the question of artistic relevance has eluded me. My first career included giving concerts and teaching throughout the United States, South America and Europe. We released a few successful recordings on our label Ascencion Recordings, begun in 1995. It certainly seemed enough… and then a camera came into my life- a really good camera, a Hasselblad. I had always enjoyed photography but it was to become more than a minor passion! I loved photographing clients in environmental settings. And in that work I discovered a strong sense of composition and color – not yet realizing that this developing artistry was coming from a musical soul. One that spoke of clarity, design and intuition.
Concerts, judging and photography seminars?
So, after twenty years of performing in both concert and educational settings, a second career of photography took hold. I earned many awards, nationally and internationally for art photography and began giving seminars to state photographic conventions. The seminars called upon my experience as a performer and public speaker- again that musical soul was gently reminding me of its continuing relevance. I was approved as an international judge for the Professional Photographers Association and served on annual panels for photographic competitions. Rewarding… but that muse of melody and harmony still called.
How one endeavor goes to sleep, but not really …
In 2016 my wife Cathy and I put the portrait business to sleep. It was time to get back to music full time. We re-awakened our record label, Ascencion Recordings, after the discovery of several recordings that had been edited and initially mastered, found in a forgotten studio closet- recording sessions completed just as the photography business blossomed. We began to produce and then release several recordings. During the Co-vid lockdown, I also discovered poems and writings that I had written since my 20s–those were in another closet! So I set about editing and creating a work of poems that related to my best photographs. I discovered from that quixotic muse, quite governed by music, that the thematic content of those poems was reflected in my photography in a variance of rhythm, composition, color and form. All integral aspects of interpretation from musical phrasing to color to harmonic rhythm.
What critics have said – Performance Reviews
“In his recital at the Phillips Gallery, Gordon Kreplin played with an easy warmth … he gave himself time to follow the sensuous turns that abound in Spanish guitar music, imparting a languorous sense of space as the lines unfolded.”
Joanne Sheehy Hoover, The Washington Post
” … Kreplin made magic … classical technique that was almost transcendent … the audience roared its approval.”
Morgan Wilde, Tallahassee Democrat”
… spirited and dynamic.”
Raleigh News and Observer, Raleigh NC
