Perspectives on the musical lives and works of Mauro Giuliani, Manuel De Falla, Manuel Ponce, and Frank Martin

Chapter One of this recital document highlights the life and career of virtuoso guitarist Mauro Giuliani through a discussion of different first-hand accounts of Giuliani's performances and published works. Chapter Two traces the evolution of the Spanish Nationalist movement in music from its origin as an outgrowth of Exoticism until its fruition as embodied in the career of Manuel de Falla. Particular attention is paid to Manuel De Falla's Spanish nationalist compositional style in his work for solo guitar, Homenaje pour le Tombeau de Claude Debussy. Chapter Three examines the career and works of Mexican composer Manuel Maria Ponce through a discussion of his relationship with the Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia and their effort to grow the guitar repertoire during the early 20th century. Particular attention is paid to Manuel Ponce's musical pastiches, and in particular, the Suite in A Minor. Chapter Four explores the compositional style of Frank Martin's Prelude from Quatre pièces brèves and highlights Martin's skillful incorporation of Schoenberg-inspired chromatic language into his own particularly tonal style.