In a conversation I recall with Guy
Bacon (Joesph’s son), he mentioned
heavy editing was needed of his grandfather’s guitar music?
Guy’s correct, of course, realizing this
repertoire was a large and, at times, daunting task. As Bacon aged, he fell into blindness. Understandably, as this happened his
handwriting deteriorated. And, as many
of the guitar works are from his later years,
they tend to be difficult documents. Additionally, many of the guitar works were
left unpolished in regard to editing and
notation: There are whited-out measures, missing details and many notes and
chords that are difficult to decipher. Another issues in realizing the manuscripts is
that Bacon was not a guitarist and didn’t
have a complete understanding of the instrument. Several works contain passages
that, as written, simply didn’t work on the
guitar.
In many ways, my task in this project
has been to come to understand Bacon’s
style, inclinations and voice as a composer
and use that understanding to decode,
reconstruct and adjust his manuscripts
wherever they are ambiguous or lack detail.
I took this responsibility very seriously. Throughout the process, my selfimposed directive was always to leave as
small a footprint as possible so that the
resulting, fully-realized scores were completely Bacon’s.
Please take us through the recording process? Regarding microphone
placement, equipment, hall/venue?
Sure thing. I’m no expert on mics and
recording equipment. Despite having a
fair amount of experience recording music, I actually know quite little about the
tech end of things. What I do know is that
Azica likes to capture as life-like a sound
as possible. Their goal, as I understand
it, is to capture the artist’s sound – unenhanced, pure, and simple.
To that end, there were a bunch
(maybe four or five ?) of microphones in
the hall where I recorded. This all took
place in Cleveland, Ohio at Cleveland
State University’s Waetjen Auditorium. We
took a considerable amount of time doing sound-checks and then, when were all
satisfied, we were off. The whole disc took
three days to complete.
Who is the maker of your guitar?
Daryl Perry, a wonderful luthier and
friend in Winnipeg, Canada.
How do you feel about the current
state of the guitar in the classical music
world?
Well, to be frank, it’s a mixed bag. In
some ways the guitar has grown and matured – with its repertoire, with the attention it now receives from larger audiences
and from non-guitarist composers. And,
without doubt, the level of playing – at
least in regard to technique – is historically
high. In other ways the guitar is faring less
well, though. Even though the guitar can
enjoy a much larger, more varied repertoire, often performers and presenters stick
to a relatively few and well-worn pieces. In
my opinion, unimaginative concerts and
How helpful was the Ernst Bacon
Society in regards to this project?
Extremely helpful. Ellen Bacon, the
composer’s widow and president of the EB
Society www.ernstbacon.org , has been remarkably supportive and helpful with my
research and investigation. Rather early
on, the Society granted me funds to complete my CD of this repertoire. More recently, they have been active in publicizing
my findings, CD and concerts, which is
greatly appreciated!
Please tell us about the positive experience it had been working with the
classical music record label Azica?
Azica is a lovely and smallish outfit.
Bruce Eger, the president, is the engineer.
He’s a laid back guy and easy to work
with. Alan Bise is the producer. In addition to truly remarkable ears, Alan is intuitive, sensitive and engaged.
While the entire process of recording is somewhat artificial and inherently
difficult, Azica made the process not only
tolerable, but fun.
TEMPO 26
programs abound. We’re often still stuck
with the comfortable, well-known and
‘safe’ works. My hope is that it will evolve,
grow and change for the better.
Bradley Colton on the publication:
In short, the publisher is DobbermanYppan, an excellent publisher of guitar
repertoire. The publication will include all
of the Bacon guitar repertoire and will be
a critical edition, meaning it will contain
all my notes regarding the editing process.
To learn about Bradley Colton and to
purchase his Ernst Bacon Project CD contact www.bradleycolton.com or http://azica.
com/product/bradley-coltenernst-baconthecomplete-works-for-solo-guitar/ The guitar
repertoire has been enriched thanks to the
efforts of Bradley Colton.
On February 19, 2016, Colton gave
a lecture/recital on the topic of Ernst Bacon
at