Memories of Compostela – HEAR NOW
Dedication to Jose Tomas
This album is dedicated to maestro Jose Tomas – guitarist, teacher and musical interpreter of enormous influence worldwide.
A Note from the Artist
My passion for Spain, its language, music and culture, has deeply influenced this recording. Memories of Compostela is a remembrance of my studies with Maestro Tomas at the Oscar Espla Conservatory in Alicante, Spain and of my studies at “Musica en Compostela,” with both Maestro Tomas and Andres Segovia. My memories of those years flow through the repertoire of this cd, which is dedicated to Jose Tomas. His unparalleled passion for music and the guitar inspired a generation of guitarists worldwide.
The Repertoire
“Suite Compostelana” by Federico Mompou
The cd opens with Federico Mompou’s “Suite Compostelana,” a programmatic work that evokes images of the great cathedral and the arrival of pilgrims, as sojourners have done since the ninth century.
The Preludio recalls the great bells of the Cathedral calling all to worship while great swinging urns, called thuribles, spread incense throughout. The Coral reminds me of the song “Canto de Ultreia,” that we as students sang upon our arrival and initiation to the master class “Musica en Compostela.” We came from all over the world, to be embraced by the study of Spanish music. The Cuna, a cradle song, calls to mind a mother comforting a weary child. The Recitative, perhaps reminiscent of a parent- child conversation in a question answer format, follows. With the Cancion is a song of pathos, perhaps reminiscent of the long arduous journey the pilgrims have taken. The suite ends with the Muneira, a typical bagpipe dance of Galicia called a Muneira Chantada.
“Mallorca” and “Zambra Granadina” About Enrique Granados
Granados (1867-1916) born in Lleida, Spain, is well known for his nationalistic style of composing. He was a notable concert pianist who composed for not only piano, but for orchestra and chamber ensembles as well His “Spanish Dances” are markedly folkloric in tone and are often based on folk melodies. Mallorca and Zambra Granadina, written for piano solo, were transcribed by Jose Tomas.
“Suite Mistica”
Vicente Ascencio (1908-1979) was born in Valencia, Spain, not far from Alicante. “Suite Mistica” is a programmatic work depicting the passion of Christ. Dipso is Greek for “I thirst,” the seventh word Christ spoke on the cross. It was first published in 1975 and is one of Ascencio’s best known works. Following this movement, published in 1978, came Getsemani, the garden where Christ was arrested and Pentecostes, a depiction of the forty days after Easter.
“Suite for Lute BWV 996”
Bach freely transcribed his music from one instrument to another. In this spirit, Maestro Tomas has done a wonderful transcription for tof this Suite. Bach’s music is both spiritually centered and compassionate;
it encourages us to empty ourselves into a profound silence of listening. Suite BWV 996 comprises highly stylized dance forms that evolved throughout the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
The Making of this Recording
The original sessions for the 1996 Ascencion Recordings release “Cathedral” took place over time between 1994 and 1997, on location at several churches in Washington DC and in northeastern NC. Recording engineer Cathy Pescevich (Kreplin) chose Microtech Geffel m295 and m296 microphones for the project. Her goal was to capture the sound of Gordon’s instrument with unrivaled naturalness and clarity.
Re-mastered for today’s audiophile listener, these beautiful recorded performances by guitarist Gordon Kreplin have been re-packaged and released as “Memories of Compostela,” a dedication to guitarist and teacher Jose Tomas.
About Guitarist, Gordon Kreplin
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 .
Bio and Artist Statement
Photographing 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 Covid 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.
