Lochbaum, Stephen.An Overview and Performance Guide to the 10 Etudes for Guitar by Giulio Regondi, dissertation, May 2019; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1505178/ University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .
The 10 Etudes for Guitar by Giulio Regondi represent the pinnacle of technical achievement for nineteenth century guitar performance. Dense textures, large stretches, fast scales and arpeggios, and obscure modulations are used in combinations that were unrivalled among his contemporaries. The etudes were not published until the late twentieth century and have not had generations of guitarists solving their challenges and teaching them to younger generations of students. Right-hand fingerings are virtually non-existent in published versions, but a thorough study of period sources yields several strategies; examples from each etude are provided. Modern right-hand scale philosophy, such as playing scales with “a,” “m,” and “i” in the right-hand are addressed and further example provided to give players several solutions to choose from.Right-hand fingering implies articulation and several interpretations are analyzed for each etude where they exist. Left-hand fingerings are sporadically present in modern editions but are often lacking in the most difficult passages.
Stretching techniques from other string instruments can be applied to the guitar and one technique in particular can be applied to the most difficult stretches in Regondi in numerous instances. For some of the most challenging textures several solutions are given. The etudes of Regondi can prepare the guitarist for challenges found in playing music that is not written for the guitar or even by guitarists which consists of a substantial portion of the modern concert guitarist’s repertoire. His music pushes what is possible on the guitar and borderlines what many would call idiomatic. This paper establishes a small number of techniques that will allow players to solve any challenge presented in the etudes from multiple technical viewpoints.
An Overview and Performance Guide to the 10 Etudes for Guitar by Giulio Regondi
