Russian Guitar - Authentic Handmade Folk Guitar for Traditional Russian Music - Perfect for Performances, Practice & Cultural Enthusiasts

Revival of Russian seven-string guitar. About 7 hours of beautiful, relaxing music. I'm enjoying this album, even though I was unfamiliar with the composers.About 70 of the tracks are solo guitar works. 17 tracks are two guitars. 7 tracks are guitar and violin. 3 tracks are guitar and piano.11 tracks are songs with soprano Anne Harley, accompanied by guitar; and in a few tracks she is further accompanied by piano or violin.The mp3 version does not come with "liner notes", nor a PDF file. I think the publisher, Brilliant Classics, should add more text to the product description here at Amazon, and better yet, provide a downloadable PDF file. I was able to find some information on the publisher's web site. In the following, I am including selected quotes from there."The seven-string guitar appeared in Russia in the 1790s and experienced its Golden Age during the first half of the 19th century."About the composers:"The 7 CD’s of this set follow chronologically the development of the guitar in Russia: from the very first works by the 'Patriarch of the Russian guitar' Andrey Sichra, through the Muscovite School of Aksionov, Vysotsky and Vetrov, the St. Petersburg School with works by Morkov and others, to the Romantics Alexandrov, Zimmerman and Sarenko." In the music, I hear some Spanish influence."The release starts with one of the masters of the instrument, Andrey Sychra [composer], whose numerous pupils form many of the composers on this album. Sychra was an accomplished harpist, and several of his works seem to imitate the delicacy of the harp. His fine Études are among the first for Russian guitar, and this style would be elaborated on by many of Sychra’s followers, whether they were meant for study or the concert hall. Sychra was also adept at programmatic music, with his compositions after poems able to depict atmospheric scenes, particularly apparent in his works based on Russian folk songs. Other composers, such as Mikhail Vysotsky, preferred to extemporise on themes by well-known composers; Vysotsky chose Cramer’s Études as a basis for his free-flowing Fantasia...""... Though many of these composers have now fallen into obscurity, their works live on – discovered by renowned guitarist Oleg Timofeyev, an expert on the music of this time. Mr Timofeyev is known for reviving the seven-string Russian guitar, and it is on this instrument that he performs these works, many of which have never been recorded before.""The final CD of this album sees the Russian guitar paired with other instruments – unusual, as Russian guitarists, often in the military or part of land-owning nobility, rarely had an opportunity to play alongside other musicians. We have Piotr Naimanowsky’s Variations for guitar and fortepiano, a sympathetic working of the popular French air Que le jour me dure, and a Sonata for violin and guitar by Antoine de L’Hoyer, a Frenchman who spent 10 years in Russia and frequently wrote for the Russian guitar."The artists:Oleg Timofeyev, Russian seven-string guitar;John Schneiderman, Russian seven-string guitar;Dan Caraway, Russian seven-string guitar;Anne Harley, soprano;Etienne Abelin, classical violin;Kenneth Slowik, fortepiano."Recorded in Virginia, USA, between 2008 and 2013", but the release date shown is August 2016. I don't know if this is a re-release, or simply a great compilation of previous recordings.Additional guitar music recommendations, most of them are bargains:Big Guitar Box ,South American Guitar ,The History of Guitar (100 Famous Songs),and Guitarist which may still be free.Russian classical music bargains:30 Must-Have Russian Concertos ,100 Must-Have Russian Masterpieces ,The History of Russian Music (100 Famous Songs).Post Script: A recent bargain in Russian classical music:Big Russian Music Box