Book Summary: Recording the Classical Guitar - Recordings as a way of telling history

Marrington is a classical guitarist, senior lecturer of Music Production, and musicologist with particular interest in recording technologies. His book “Recording the Classical Guitar” traces the history of classical guitar through the lens of the field of phonomusicology (the study of recorded music as an object). The book identifies how the ideals of the classical guitar repertoire have changed throughout the twentieth century.

Andres Segovia is discussed extensively due to his long-lasting influence on the classical guitar as a concert instrument and on the repertoire we play today. Segovia commissioned many new works, including the large sonatas for guitar by Manuel Maria Ponce. Segovia prioritised the music of his home country, Spain. His recordings came at the early stages of recording technology before developments allowed for a richer sound that fully captured the sound of the guitar.

Julian Bream and John Williams are the other big names in the book. Both Bream and Williams found their niche in challenging Segovia’s earlier work. Bream’s career followed the commissioning path of Segovia’s but with the focus on building a repertoire that moved with the rest of the classical music scene of the time. Twentieth century music was moving away from a traditional sound and the classical guitar (which was already lagging behind other instruments). Bream’s “20th Century Guitar” album is one everyone should check out. Bream often used close-mic techniques to capture the details of his dynamic playing, and his recordings were known for their clarity and precision.

John Williams is not much younger than Bream (and they did have their duo too!), but his recordings were characterised by their control and clean sound. Editing technology was much more advanced at this stage which allowed for what we can consider “perfect” recordings. Williams also rebelled against the classical guitar norm and experimented with other genres in the band Sky.

Phonomusicology is an interesting area of research and hearing the careers of my favourite classical guitarists in terms of their extensive recording catalogues is unique. We often read through biographies that discuss life events so this achieves this through a different lens. Not only this, but we get the history of recording and how this applies to the classical guitar.

The book is very scholarly and is not a light read (at least not a reading I’d recommend before bedtime), and there is a lot more to unpack than I have summarised here. I recommend doing a quick glance through each of the sections and identifying any interests before delving into reading. It is still worth the read - especially for those recording experts out there!

All the best for now - see you in the next blog!