Life > September 13, 2007

By Lauren O’Keefe | Staff writer

The music of Jason Vieaux that floated over the audience Sept. 6 in Brendle Recital Hall was truly incredible. This guitarist provided the audience with an experience to remember.

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Jason Vieaux awes the crowd with his passionate playing of the classical guitar. Vieaux’s technical skill combined with original music has contributed to his growing popularity. (Alison Cox/Old Gold & Black)

Vieaux has broadened the traditional definition of a classical guitarist and continues to get recognition for his unique style and impressive technical abilities. At the pre-performance talk, lecturer of music Pat Dixon said of Vieaux, “he represents the new age of classical guitarist.”

Vieaux’s accomplishments of include eight recordings, many concert dates both domestic and international, winning countless awards and a featured solo in orchestras across the country. Clearly the university community was in for a treat at the first Secrest Series performance of the season.

The program featured a variety of remarkable music, from classical Bach to Vieaux’s own arrangements of jazz pieces, to a Mexican piece.

The first piece of the evening was Sonatina Meridional composed by Manuel Ponce. Ponce was a native Mexican and mixed ethnic tunes with classical pieces. This piece was his last and features three movements.

When Vieaux began the first piece it became clear to the audience just how incredible the night would be. He played the slow, melodic tune of the first movement with both passion and technical skill. As the piece continued, the tempo sped up at points and Vieaux’s fingers moved faster and faster to provide a tremendous sound.

El Decameron Negro by Leo Brouwer, the second piece of the night, told the story of a warrior and his exile from his tribe in his attempt to become musician. In the end, he returns to the tribe because they needed his help in battle and they let him play music and be with his love.

This piece was brilliant because it truly told a story, and the varying musical themes each represented the different parts of the journey of the warrior. Parts of the piece featured Vieaux playing the guitar to sound like a harp, which sounded magnificent.

The final piece of the first half was by Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro BMV 998. This piece was in fact written for the lute, but could be easily translated so as to be performed with a guitar.

The piece is based on three central notes that are prevalent throughout. These notes unify the piece and Vieaux mastered this unification making each one sound better than the rest.

After intermission Vieaux performed two songs that illustrated not only his ability to play the guitar magnificently but also to arrange music. Vieaux has taken the music of Pat Metheny, a famous jazz composer, and changed the rhythm to be like Baroque dance suites.

The first of these pieces, Five Songs in Baroque Style, truly portray the full range of the guitar as well as the full range of Vieaux’s abilities. The piece begins as a lyrical composition and the tempo increases at the end.

The second of these pieces, The Bat, is a combination of two different recordings of Methney. One is more traditional in sound and the other is much more contemporary.

In addition, Vieaux wrote a “solo” that plays over the chord changes and reflects the original version of the piece.

The music of this piece floated over the audience and the enjoyment of these two different sounds coming together was quite evident.

The final piece of the evening was “Cuba” by Isaac Albeniz, a Spanish native. He wrote this at a time when Cuba was still an important part of the Spanish empire. The piece is written about The Torre Bermeja, towers in Cuba that are the remains of a medieval fort.

The speed and agility of Vieaux’s fingers were even more incredible than they had been in the rest. It was a piece of many different tunes that Vieaux played fantastically.

At the end of the performance Vieaux received a well-deserved standing ovation. The audience’s appreciation of this remarkable artist was apparent and it is quite clear why this man is gaining so much attention.