Original Repertoire for the Modern 10-String Guitar
Compiled, contributed, and with notes by Viktor van Niekerk
(vivanni@hotmail.com – comments, queries, additions, and corrections welcome)
Key to terms:
Modern (‘Yepes’) string configuration - Standard tuning:
[e’-b-g-d-A-E-C-A#-G#-F#]
[NB: Re-entry tuning of (8), (9) and (10)]
Modern ‘Alternative’ string configuration - Standard tuning:
e’-b-g-d-A-E-C-A#1-G#-F#
[NB: (8) is an octave lower than the Standard Modern/Yepes configuration]
Romantic (‘Baroque’) string configuration - Standard tuning:
e’-b-g-d-A-E-D-C-B1-A1
[No re-entry]
Marlow string configuration:
standard tuning: e’-b-g-d-a-e-B-F#-C#-G#
[NB: re-entry tuning from (7) to (10).]
Different ‘string configurations’: When a work requires that at least one string be replaced by another with a thinner or thicker diameter (in order to be tuned as required), or when the standard order of the strings is necessarily altered, this constitutes a different ‘string configuration’.
Scordatura: Non-standard tuning, within the context of the specified string configuration
Other configurations’ tunings are indicated in the list, in conjunction with the work.
NB: All 6-string guitar music can be played on the 10-string guitar. This repertoire list is merely aimed at creating awareness of original compositions for the modern 10-string guitar.
***
SOLOS:
Maurice Ohana (1914-1992)
Tiento (1955; rev. mid ‘60s)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ Originally for 6-string guitar, later revised for 10-string. Performance on a modern 10-string guitar was preferred by the composer.
§ Publisher: www.billaudot.com
§ Composer: www.mauriceohana.com
Maurice Ohana (1914-1992)
Si le jour paraît... (1963)
I. Temple
II. Enueg
III. Maya-Marsya
IV. 20 avril (Planh)
V. La chevelure de Bérénice
VI. Jeu des quatre vents
VII. Aube (Alba)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ Movements 4, 6, and 7 have alternatives (reductions) for performance on 6-string guitar, but the composer preferred the use of a modern 10-string guitar.
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Narciso Yepes; Alberto Ponce, Ramón Montoya, Ivo Malec, Manuel Ruiz Pipó
§ Publisher: www.billaudot.com (NB The seven movements are published individually.)
§ Composer: www.mauriceohana.com
alcidez lanza (*1929)
modulos I (1965)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ All notes fall within the 6-string guitar tessitura, but this work, which makes use of sustained sounds, was intended for the Modern 10-string tuning and configuration, enabling sustained resonance for all 12 tones.
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Narciso Yepes
§ Published by Shelan: (see composer’s home page)
§ Composer: www.music.mcgill.ca/~alcides/
Antonio Ruiz-Pipó (1934-1997)
Cinqo Movimientos (1965)
I. [Moderato]
II. Allegretto
III. Muy lento
IV. Vivo
V. Cantabile
§ String configuration: Modern
§ Scordatura may be required – unspecified in the manuscript
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Narciso Yepes, « parra la guitarra de diez cuerdas de Narciso Yepes »
§ Unpublished
§ Association des Amis d’Antonio Ruiz-Pipó – 4, Rue du Parc-Royal, Paris, 75003
Leonardo Balada (*1933)
Analogías (1967)
I. Propulsiones
II. Oscillaciones
III. Contornos
IV. Abismos
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Narciso Yepes
§ Published by Beteca Music, c/o Music Associates of America: www.musicassociatesofamerica.com
§ Composer: www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/balada/index.htm
Vicente Asencio (1908-1979)
Collectici íntim (1970)
I. La serenor
II. La joia
III. La calma
IV. La gaubança
V. La frisança
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard, aside from scordatura of (7) to B1
§ Other configurations possible – also for 6-string guitar
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Narciso Yepes
§ Publisher: www.schott-music.com
Bruno Maderna (1920-1973)
Y después (1971)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard, aside from scordatura of (7) to B1
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Narciso Yepes
§ The original manuscript facsimile is published by Ricordi Italy: www.ricordi.it
§ NB: 10-string guitarists should specify the original 10-string version (132051) when ordering, as Ricordi also publishes [in my opinion] a very questionable reduction of this piece for 6-string guitar (138177), not authorised by the composer.
§ Composer: www.bibiesse.org/maderna/
Narciso Yepes (1927-1997)
Catarina d’Alió (ca. 1972)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ Published by Schott in Two Catalan Folk Songs: www.schott-music.com
Philippe Drogoz (*1937)
Prélude à la Mise à Mort (1973)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Unspecified [Modern] – Unspecified
§ The instrument is prepared with knitting needles and treated as percussion.
§ Also for 6-string in an abbreviated version
§ Published by Éditions Musicales Transatlantiques – 2, Passage Crimée, Paris, 75019
Jorge Labrouve (*1948)
Nueva op. 8 (1974)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Jorge Fresno
§ Unpublished
§ Composer: www.jorgelabrouve.com
Jorge Labrouve (*1948)
Enigma op. 9 (1974)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Narciso Yepes
§ Published by Editions Max Eschig: www.salabert.fr
§ Composer: www.jorgelabrouve.com
Luigi Donorà (*1935)
Rito (1975)
I. Omaggio a Takeo Noro [variazioni sul I T. da “MEET” di T. Noro]
II.
III. Molto calmo (ma libero) [Canto popolare Giapponese]
IV. Allegro
§ String configuration & Tuning: Romantic – Scordatura
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Narciso Yepes* (the work as a whole), Hirotsugu Kakinuma (3rd movement)
*[This work, dedicated to Narciso Yepes, was erroneously written for a string configuration that Yepes did not use or endorse. I have no evidence to suggest that Yepes did or did not perform it, but it is very unlikely that he did.]
§ Publisher: www.pizzicato.ch
§ Composer: www.istrians.com/istria/illustri/donora/
José Ramón Encinar (*1954)
El aire de saber cerrar los ojos (1975)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Jorge Fresno
§ Published by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni. www.esz.it
§ Composer: www.havanacity.com/sgae/autor/19/contenido.asp
Michèle Reverdy (*1943)
Number One (1977)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Pierre Laniau
§ The published Salabert edition is a reduction for 6-string.
§ The original manuscript for 10-string guitar is unpublished – available from composer.
§ Composer: www.reverdymichele.com
Lewis Spratlan (*1940)
Chiasmata (1979)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern (Alternative) – Scordatura
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Janet Marlow
§ The manuscript facsimile is published by Margun Music Inc.
§ Available through Shawnee Press: www.shawneepress.com
§ Composer: lewisspratlan.com
Maurice Ohana (1914-1992)
Cadran Lunaire* (1981-82)
I. Saturnal
II. Jondo
III. Sylva
IV. Candil
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern – Standard
§ All movements have alternatives (reductions) for performance on 6-string guitar, but the composer is known to have preferred the use of a modern 10-string guitar.
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Martín Luís Diego
§ Publisher: www.billaudot.com
§ Composer: www.mauriceohana.com
Amaury du Closel (*1956)
Cadence (1982)
§ String configuration: Modern
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Pierre Laniau
§ Unpublished/Published by composer
§ Composer: members.aol.com/amduclosel/homepage.html
Wilfried Satke (*1955)
Holometabolie 1 (1982-83)
I. Ei
II. Larve
III. Puppe
IV. Imago
§ String configuration & Tuning: Romantic – Scordatura
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Astrid Stempnik
§ Published by the composer
§ Composer: www.satke.ws/satke.htm
Hans-Ola Eriksson (*1958)
Melody to the memory of a lost friend I (1982-83)
§ For amplified guitar and tape recording of 10-string guitar
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Magnus Andersson
§ Publisher: Swedish Music Information Centre: www.mic.stim.se
Vincenzo Saldarelli (*1946)
...il limpido orizzonte (1988)
§ [No further information is currently available.]
Richard Barrett (*1959)
colloid (1988-92)
§ Non-standard string configuration tuned: e’-b-g-d-A-E-C-A#1-G#1-F#1
NB: this is not the standard Modern string configuration and tuning. The re-entry tuning is absent and thus strings (8), (9), and (10) are an octave too low, affecting the tessitura of sympathetic resonance and therefore its balance and efficacy. [It seems that this string configuration and tuning may at some point have resulted from an individual guitarist’s confusion between the Modern (‘Yepes’) tuning and the Romantic string configuration, while being effectively neither one nor the other.]
§ This work may be performed as “colloid-E”. The E-suffix denotes an ensemble version.
§ Written for, or dedicated to: Magnus Andersson; Elision Ensemble
§ Publisher: www.ump.co.uk
§ Composer: composers21.com/compdocs/barrettr.htm
Boudewijn Cox (*1965)
Memento (1990)
§ All notes fall within the 6-string guitar tessitura.
§ Performance on a modern 10-string guitar is preferred by the composer.
§ Published by CeBeDeM: www.cebedem.be
§ Composer: www.boudewijncox.tk
David Hönigsberg (*1959)
African Sonata (1990)
I. “A Basutu tune...”
II. “A quiet summer evening...”
III. (Fast... – Meno mosso – Tempo I)
IV. (Energetically)
§ String configuration & Tuning: Modern (Alternative) – Scordatura
§ Alternative possibilities for other string configurations/tunings or 6-string guitar
§ Originally written as “Suite on African Themes” for David Hewitt (unperformed)
§ Revised as “African Sonata” in 2004 and dedicated to Viktor van Niekerk
§ Edited and fingered playing score in preparation
§ Composer: sacomposers.up.ac.za/hoenigsberg,_david.htm
Eric Pénicaud (*1952)
Parabole Créole (Variations sur un thème de Leo Brouwer) (1992)
I. Parabole 1
II. Parabole 2
§ String configuration & Tuning: Romantic – Standard, aside from scordatura (9) to B-flat
§ Published by Max Eschig: www.salabert.fr
Gerhard Wolfstieg (*1953)
Nein! (1992)
§
