Guitar quartet performs — and writes

The Georgia Guitar Quartet loves classical music, but its boundaries don't stop there. As followers of the somewhat new tradition of four-guitar ensemble, the players have found that they are, themselves, helping to forge the tradition.

"Three of the four of us are very active composers," explained quartet member Jason Solomon, adding that the fourth does much of the arranging.

Classical performers who write their own music are fairly unusual; most focus solely on interpreting works written by others. The Georgia Guitar Quartet, on the other hand, plays works by others but augments that with its own material.

"The fact that three of us are composing and pretty regularly contributing new works for the group sets us apart," Solomon said. "And part of the reason I think that's helpful is that the guitar quartet is a relatively new type of ensemble in the music world."

The phenomenon of the guitar quartet, he said, began in the mid-1950s. "What has been written has obviously been written since the latter half of the 20th century. There are quite a few modern compositions that are out there, but if we want to play anything prior to the 20th century, we have to arrange it. And some things just simply won't work for four guitars. I would hate to hear Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' on four guitars."

And when they compose and arrange, Solomon said that the writer customizes the music to highlight the technical and musical strengths of each of the four members.

Sometimes, music that works for a four-guitar arrangement is a little off the beaten classical path. "We do jazz, we do pop, we do Irish folk tunes, we've done arrangements of Paul Simon songs, and even a Guns N' Roses song, we do a bluegrass tune. We try to kind of mix it up and blur the distinction between the different categories and styles of music.

"That's one of the things that I think the four of us kind of stand for. I don't know if we really like all the barriers that kind of get imposed on music in general."

The Georgia Guitar Quartet will be performing twice with the Deer Valley Music Festival. On one program, Solomon said that members will perform Rodrigo's "Concerto Andaluz." "It's really the only concerto that's been written for guitar quartet and orchestra. Luckily, it's a good one. We don't have much to choose from, but it's a really fine piece of work."