Guitar confessions: Canadian classical guitarists reveal their 1st musical loves

The alluring curves of the guitar’s body and its resonant speaking voice make it an irresistible entry point for anyone wanting to explore classical music. With its Spanish ancestry descending from the ancient oud-playing Moors, the modern classical guitar has an evocative story with centuries of rich traditions behind it. Put simply, the guitar is easy to love.

“The thing that I've loved the most in life over anything else, really, has been the guitar.” — Liona Boyd from a 2009 CBC Television interview

CBC Music approached four notable Canadian classical guitarists to find out what music first made them fall for the guitar. The music of Spanish composer Francisco Tárrega proved to be a favorite. His Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Memories of the Alhambra) was chosen by three of four respondents. Read on to see what other selections they identified.

Eli Kassner

First love:Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega
Another fascination:Romanza (anonymous)

Eli Kassner is the dean of Canadian classical guitarists and has taught many of this country’s most prominent players. In Vienna, where he grew up, he only had access to unreliable gut strings. It wasn’t until he immigrated to Canada in 1951 that he found better equipment and truly discovered the possibilities of the modern guitar, through the playing of the legendary Andrés Segovia. “We had Segovia perform for the Guitar Society of Toronto many times and he told us about all the great young guitarists coming up like John Williams and Julian Bream before anyone else knew about them,” says Kassner.

Commenting on Tárrega’s Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Kassner says that, ”It’s simple. When you hear it you want to play it.”

Liona Boyd

First love:Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega
Another fascination:Asturias by Isaac Albéniz

Liona Boyd is known as the “First Lady of the Guitar.” She is a multiple Juno Award winner with a sizable catalogue of recordings on CBS Masterworks, A&M and her own label, Moston Records. Boyd's collaborations have ranged from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to guitar heroes Chet Atkins and Eric Clapton.

Her career aspirations were crystallized after attending a recital by Julian Bream at the Eaton Auditorium in Toronto in 1963. She wrote in her autobiography, In My Own Key: My Life in Love and Music, that “[Bream playing Tárrega] changed my life when I was 14."

Boyd's other early fascination was with a piece by Tárrega’s friend, Isaac Albéniz. He composed Asturias to evoke the traditional sound of Andalusian flamenco guitar playing. Boyd explained to CBC Music that the work inspired her to set pen to paper: “I’ve recorded Asturias and composed my own work called Asturiana, which is about a woman from the Asturias region of Spain.”

Daniel Bolshoy

First love:Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega
Another fascination:La Catedral by Agustín Barrios

“There were a few pieces that made me fall in love with the classical guitar,” says UBC School of Music Guitar division head, Daniel Bolshoy. “One of the earliest was Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega."

"I first heard a recording of Segovia playing it and it was pure magic. I had never heard such a sound before,” Bolshoy continues. “I also heard John Williams play La Catedral by Agustín Barrios, on a Barrios and Ponce CD, and I loved each track on that album.”

Norbert Kraft

First love:Anji by Davey Graham, as performed by Paul Simon
Another fascination:Bourée from the Lute Suites by J.S Bach

Guitarist and producer Norbert Kraft has recorded prolifically for the Naxos label. He explains how he discovered the classical guitar from a unique perspective: “I was interested in rock and pop music as a teenager and played in bands, so I came to the classical guitar from a different direction than others.”

“One of the first pieces that opened up the possibilities of the guitar for me was an instrumental called Anji as performed by Paul Simon," he continues. "He must have spent a lot of time practising because his fingerstyle guitar technique was impressive and made me want to take the next step, which was to explore the classical guitar.”