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Wolfgang Muthspiel — Etudes / Quietudes
(Bandcamp Clap Your Hands CYH00012, 2024, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-09-12

Etudes / Quietudes Cover art

Guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel turns his attention to the influence of Classical music on his life with Etudes / Quietudes. Within the framework of solo pieces for acoustic guitar, he applies aspects of jazz improvisation to the seventeen brief compositions, which are mostly his own but include interpretations of two pieces by J.S. Bach and Paul Motian. An etude is traditionally a composition that is used to study and develop technique on an instrument, and the eleven etudes here were written with exactly that in mind. “I wrote my own etudes to practise certain technical aspects,” he writes, and like many of the etudes in the Classical repertoire, they are also pieces worthy of performance and quite enjoyable to hear as a listener. His take on the Sarabande from Bach’s lute suite is beautiful and meditative, and he composed “Between Two Sarabandes” as a partially improvised reaction to it. “Abacus,” the Motian piece, brings in elements of the blues, with string bending and chromatic runs, though it’s interpreted in a similar manner to the Classical pieces. He finishes off with “For Bill Evans,” which is of course an homage to the influential pianist and features a rich harmonic texture. This kind of cross-genre piece could come off flat in the hands of a lesser player, but Muthspiel’s background in jazz shows in the genuine nature of the playing, not like an outsider appropriating elements of jazz, however sincere it may be. Etudes / Quietudes is a lovely album of acoustic guitar music that should find fans from both sides of the jazz vs Classical divide.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Wolfgang Muthspiel

More info
http://clapyourhands.bandcamp.com/album/etudes-quietudes

 

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