Sonata for Guitar, The Best of Vincea McClelland - "Great playing" CLASSICAL GUITAR CANADA Recently featured on Dayton Public Radio's long-running program "The Intimate Guitar" CD booklet in English / Livret du CD en français - Compilation, remastered 2015 This album, dedicated to the memory of Colin Cooper (Classical Guitar Magazine), features the rarely recorded Sonata for Guitar by the distinguished Canadian composer Harry Somers. The Sonata was the first work to be commissioned, in 1959, by the Guitar Society of Toronto. Its four short movements possess considerable variety and are composed "within the technical and stylistic framework of the traditional guitar repertoire", to quote Somers' own words. Throughout, the performer is asked to display virtuosity, rhythmic drive, brilliance and a sense of improvisation. The classical guitar has a quality which is as unique as it is difficult to define. It possesses a curiously intimate voice, at once delicate and strong, poetic and passionate and capable of a wide range of moods. Its complexity has baffled more than one composer, including the French genius Maurice Ravel who apparently said, "La guitare me fait peur" ("I am afraid of the guitar")! The Spanish luthier Antonio de Torres (1817-1892) is universally recognized as the inventor of the modern instrument, thanks to the revolutionary alterations he made to the shape and proportions of the 19th century romantic guitar. All of the pieces performed on this recording were composed for 20th century guitar, a selection based in part on a personal desire to remain faithful to the instrument Torres conceived. Playing original repertoire is perhaps the best way of doing the guitar the justice it so richly deserves. Album Notes by VINCEA McCLELLAND © CODA Productions