Shand: Guitar Music Alberto La Rocca

• Ernest Shand (1868 - 1924):
• 1 Shand: Tsigane (Gipsy Dance), Op. 66 03:28
• 2 Shand: Songe d'amour, Op. 57 03:43
• 3 Shand: 6 Pièces: IV. Prélude et impromptu 02:58
• 4 Shand: Légende, Op. 201 02:52
• 5 Shand: 6 Pièces: VI. Il pensieroso 02:40
• 6 Shand: Andante expressivo, Op. 60 02:34
• 7 Shand: The Gnomes, Op. 77 01:46
• 8 Shand: Chanson 01:41
• 9 Shand: Vain Regrets in A Major, Op. 112 03:38
• 10 Shand: Andante caprice, Op. 65 03:29
• 11 Shand: Varsovie mazurka in E Major, Op. 204 02:41
• 12 Shand: Andante religioso, Op. 87 02:25
• 13 Shand: Phyllis-Gavotte, Op. 200 02:28
• 14 Shand: Songes d'été in A Major, Op. 95 03:17
• 15 Shand: Funeral March, Op. 89 04:06
• 16 Shand: Scène de Ballet in D Major, Op. 72 02:52
• 17 Shand: Calme du soir et berceuse, Op. 58: I. Calme du soir 01:51
• 18 Shand: Calme du soir et berceuse, Op. 58: II. Berceuse 02:46
• 19 Shand: Gavotte rococo 01:51
• 20 Shand: Auf Wiedersehn, Op. 117 02:41
• 21 Shand: Morceau lyrique No. 1, Op. 97 02:56
• 22 Shand: Morceau lyrique No. 2, Op. 104 02:50
• 23 Shand: Morceau lyrique No. 3, Op. 111 05:07
• 24 Shand: Hungarian Dance, Op. 96 02:25
• 25 Shand: Au coin de feu, Op. 202 03:48
• 26 Shand: Fantaisie Irlandaise in E Minor, Op. 59 07:21
• 27 Shand: March of the Pixies, Op. 16 02:50
• 28 Shand: 3 Pièces faciles, Op. 56: I. Inquiétude 01:46
• 29 Shand: 3 Pièces faciles, Op. 56: II. Espérance 01:58
• 30 Shand: 3 Pièces faciles, Op. 56: III. Joie 01:23
• 31 Shand: An Evening Reverie, Op. 54 03:22
• 32 Shand: Study for the R. H. From, Op. 41 00:47
• 33 Shand: Study from, Op. 2 01:05
• 34 Shand: Study from, Op. 19 01:06
• 35 Shand: Study on Repeated Notes from, Op. 43 01:02
• 36 Shand: Melodie - Nocturne in A Minor, Op. 51 03:13
• 37 Shand: Dance antique, Op. 88 02:22
• 38 Shand: Sorrow and Song, Op. 70 03:14
• 39 Shand: A Nymph's Dance in D Major, Op. 205 03:17
• 40 Shand: Farewell in E Minor, Op. 10 02:55
• 41 Shand: Impromptu, Op. 108 04:42
• 42 Shand: A Forgotten Strain, Op. 116 03:19
• 43 Shand: A Fragment from Improved Method, Op. 100 02:31
• 44 Shand: Introduction et chanson, Op. 220 03:08
• 45 Shand: Mazurka russe in A Major, Op. 21 02:37
• 46 Shand: Cradle Song, Op. 99 03:36
• 47 Shand: Valse legère 02:13
• 48 Shand: Souvenir in G Major, Op. 53 03:08
• 49 Shand: Gavotte et meditation, Op. 69: I. Gavotte 02:13
• 50 Shand: Gavotte et meditation, Op. 69: II. Méditation 01:36
• 51 Shand: March in E Minor, Op. 91 01:08
• 52 Shand: Divertimento in A Major, Op. 6 02:52
• 53 Shand: Mazurka in E Minor, Op. 36 02:40
• 54 Shand: Autumn Leaves, Op. 129 02:07
• 55 Shand: Dance capriccio, Op. 28 03:25
• 56 Shand: Andante in E Major, Op. 86 01:52
• 57 Shand: Marche triumphale in A Major, Op. 109 02:49
• 58 Shand: Chant du soir 03:57
• 59 Shand: Graceful Dance, Op. 29 No. 2 02:33
• 60 Shand: Forever 02:27
• Total Runtime 02:45:27

Info for Shand: Guitar Music

The first ever album dedicated to the music of Ernest Shand, including several first recordings.

According to the guitarist Alberto La Rocca, Ernest Shand can be considered ‘one of the greatest composers for the guitar of all time’. Born into a musical family in Hull in 1868, Shand firstly learnt the rudiments of the instrument from his father before coming under the instruction of Catharina Pratten, a German guitarist who had performed as a child with Regondi and later with Gounod and Tárrega. She later married the English flautist Robert Sidney Pratten, settled in the UK and became known as ‘Madame Sidney Pratten’, and as one of the most celebrated guitar virtuosos of her day.

Shand quickly proved himself to be her most talented pupil, and Pratten declared that his compositions far surpassed her own. During his lifetime Shand was widely recognized as the greatest English classical guitarist and composer, but his music fell into obscurity soon after his death in 1924. His surviving output of 220 works reveals a guitar composer of great originality and charm who had a gift for spinning infectious melodies.

Many of these pieces were originally composed for Shand to perform himself on tours which took him afar as Australia. He retired from performance in 1897, however, after being assualted at a concert in Nottingham by a Russian audience-member who had taken exception to a patriotic song. Thereafter he concentrated on composition, and his later music inflects his essentially Romantic style with bold modulations, modal writing and hints of the Impressionism that would become hallmarks of the revolution in guitar music wrought some decades later by Villa-Lobos above all.

The sentimental melodies and colourful harmonies of Shand's music impart a unique Victorian flavour which often seems to echo the sing-along anthems and nostalgia of English music halls. There is an instant, repeatable charm to the gently swaying rhythm of the Prélude et Impromptu; a teasing and memorable melancholy to the melody of the Morceau lyrique No 2; and a no less catchy wistfulness to the Légende which has survived on the fringes of the repertoire as probably his best known work.

In 2016 Brilliant Classics issued Alberto Rocca’s collection of music (95369) by the most celebrated guitar virtuoso of the last century, Andres Segovia. ‘La Rocca’s technical facility cannot be faulted… We are fortunate to live in an era when these miniature master pieces have emerged from obscurity and when guitarists with the capabilities of Alberto La Rocca have embraced them, and found a place for them in recorded history for all to enjoy.’ (MusicWeb International)

Alberto la Rocca, 10-string guitar

Alberto La Rocca
was born in Thiene in 1967. He graduated in guitar from the "F. E. Dall'Abaco" Conservatory in Verona under the direction of Giancarlo Rado. He attended courses held by Angelo Gilardino, Stefano Grondona, Michele Calgaro, Ruggero Chiesa and Leo Brouwer. As regards the creative approach to music he has attended courses with Meredith Monk, John Paynter and Roberto Dani. In 1994 he graduated with the highest honours in Disciplines of Art, Music and Performing Arts (DAMS) at the University of Bologna with a degree dissertation on guitar creative teaching.

He won several international competitions as for interpretation.

He gives concerts in Italy and abroad (in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Croatia, Hungary), both as a soloist and in various ensembles, including the Miroirs duo and Tampalini/La Rocca (two guitars) , The Musicaedro (eight guitars), the duos Dal Bianco /La Rocca and Guglielmi / La Rocca (flute and guitar), the trio Le temps retrouvé (flute, viola and guitar), the Breganze Plectrum Orchestra, the guitar quartets Concordia and Harmonious Blacksmiths.

He has composed the music for some collective performances, choreography and openings of artistic events, collaborating among others with Patricia Zanco and Mauro Lazzaretti (actors), Giuliano Francesconi (photographer), Massimo Ballardin and Oreste Sabadin (painters), Chiara Bortoli e Lucy Briaschi (dancers), Igor Brunello (writer) e La Zonta (acting company). 

He has recorded for record labels Velut Luna, Blowoutstudio and GuitArt.

He concerns himself with music education and has composed several pieces of educational character for teaching guitar and piano, including the method “CON LA CHITARRA" and “L’ALTRA CHITARRA" (Ed. Santabarbara). He has collaborated with the Musical Education Italian Society (S.I.E.M.) and has published some articles on music teaching in the magazines "Il Fronimo" (n. 90) and "Musica Domani" (n. 97).

He has taught guitar in various Music Schools, the "G. Tartini" Conservatory in Trieste and the "G. P. Palestrina“ Conservatory in Cagliari.

Booklet for Shand: Guitar Music