Dublin Guitar Week

The final concert of Dublin Guitar Week (on Saturday in the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre) was given by Juan Carlos de Mulder (vihuela and baroque guitar) and Lambert Climent (tenor). They presented a selection of songs and instrumental pieces from the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain's Golden Age. The refined and gentle tones of the vihuela (a predecessor of the guitar which sounds like a lute) were perfectly adapted to what Mulder called the "pure music" of the 16th century, and Climent's low tenor voice, free of undue emphases and operatic mannerisms, made words and melodic lines perfectly clear.

The romance (ballad) Paseabase el rey moro (the Moorish King was passing by) commemorates the capture of Alhama by the Christians in 1482. Fragments of the ballad may still be heard in rural Spain, but the setting, by Narvaez, dates from 1538. Moorish ballads were a favourite literary genre of the period, and like all the 16th-century pieces never far from traditional roots, no matter how contrapuntal the composers' treatment of the melodies. One of the happiest meetings of the traditional and the cultured was the lively setting of De los alamos vengo, madre (I come from the poplar groves, mother) by Vasques/ Fuenllana (1554), much more interesting than Rodrigo's setting, made in 1947.

The move from vihuela to baroque guitar coincided with a change to more courtly lyrics, full of Petrarchan conceits. The music became simpler, and the rasgueado, or strumming style, familiar from Flamenco, made its appearance. The Fo- lias y jacaras by Sanz/Sta Cruz, played with unobtrusive mastery by Mulder on the baroque guitar, bridged the two styles, the old and the new.

"Pure Music" was also to be found in Bach's Sonata in A minor, BWV 1003, originally for solo violin. This was played by the Swiss guitarist Christoph Borter in a recital which included, as well as some characteristic Spanish works, two contemporary Swiss works by Heinz Marti and Hans Ulrich Lehmann. The first of these, Pluie de la peur (rain of fear), was a meditation, though a note of menace crept in at the end with an insistent rhythm. Lehmann's Etwas Klang von meiner Oberflache (some sound from my surface) was experimental in its exploration of the sonic possibilities of the instrument.

In a programme devoted entirely to contemporary music, the duo of Benedicte Maillard and Alexandre Gerard took experiments for granted. A work for solo guitar by N'guyen Tien Dao from Hanoi made remarkable use of percussive effects and rivalled in its exoticism the sounds of an oriental orchestra. This was played by Gerard, who also played Violin Phase by Steve Reich, accompanied by tape. The more the music sounded different the more it sounded the same.

There are no landmarks in this music. Blues Variations by Marius Constant from Bucharest was for classical guitar and electric guitar, which had an accompanying role. Maillard played the classic guitar, supported by a little amplification, and the blues moved into areas of great complexity, seemingly ready to topple but structurally sound. Hommage by Philippe Leroux for two guitars made a most inventive use of the possible sound combinations.

Andrea Vettoretti played Scarlatti, Giuliani, Pipo, M.M. Ponce, Castelnuovo Tedesco and Tarrega. The arrangements of Scarlatti were a delight, Pipo's simplicity most refreshing and Castelnuovo Tedesco's Tarantella very accomplished.

With the recovery of old music and the discovery of new, the guitar repertoire is widening, but for intimacy and purity the vihuela stands apart.