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The Nutcracker
Suite
Released:
1999
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now: MaraHaley
Music
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The Nutcracker Suite - Liner notes by John
Renbourn
As far as I know, this is Tim Sparks'
first solo album. I say that because had
there been other recordings out there,
however obscure, I'm certain I would have
heard about them as his playing is simply
world class. Debut or not, this collection
is comprised of two outstanding works - a
complete transcription of Tchaikovsky's
"Nutcracker" Suite and Tim's own settings
of Eastern European dance tunes
collectively titled "Balkan Dreams" - both
of which are, in my opinion, major
contributions to the guitar
repertoire.
Although pieces of
this standard can only be the result of
years of application, I did not become
aware of Tim's work until comparatively
recently. I can clearly remember listening
to Duck Baker as he played tantalizing
snatches of ideas he had picked up from
"Sparks", a fellow American based in
Minneapolis, an established stomping
ground for a generation of innovative
players. Next to emerge was a tape of the
initial working of the "Nutcracker" and it
was literally astounding. By that time the
word was out, and I finally got the chance
to meet him all too briefly at the Summer
School of the Foundation for Guitar
Studies, Milwaukee, where he was
discussing the project.
As he explained,
"I approached this piece with the idea in
mind that I wanted to do something that
was both technically daunting and at the
same time pleasing to a non-guitarist. I
found in the "Nutcracker" these two
qualities - lots of tricky fingerpicking
dimensions with a theme of universal
appeal. I worked by listening to the
recording of the piece for a long time to
really get it in my head, then I used a
piano score and reduced that to a guitar
score. As I went along I made changes that
were guitaristic but preserved the
essential spirit and architecture of the
piece.
In the interim I
began studying the work of Paraguayan
virtuoso Augustin Barrios. Under his
influence and by changing to a
nylon-string I revised many of the
sections that were complex for
complexities sake. This is what I've
arrived at by re-editing and re-thinking
the pieces, and on reflection I think it's
good that I waited to record because the
arrangements are now more musical."
"Balkan Dreams"
was originally conceived as an independent
project which I find in some ways to be
even more impressive than the
"Nutcracker". In places the sheer control
and execution in the playing are
breathtaking, but underlying that is the
conception of the music as a whole. While
the main characteristics of the music of
the Balkan countries (Hungary, Rumania,
Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece), the time
patterns, particular scales and, not
least, the total implications have
certainly intrigued Western players coming
from a background of folk related musics,
it is a territory that few guitarists have
actually ventured into. Those that come to
mind actually are the ever exploratory
Davey Graham, Paul Brady together with
Andy Irvine, and Ljubo Majstorovic who has
something of an unfair advantage. But Tim
somehow seems to have thoroughly absorbed
the various idioms, his work is right in
there and will become surely a milestone
for those that may wish to follow.
"I got turned on
to Balkan music while traveling with my
wife Chryll through Hungary and Yugoslavia
about five years ago. When we got back to
the States I started picking things off
recordings that I thought would lay nice
on the guitar. I also started playing with
Mark Stillman, a great accordionist with a
large repertoire of Greek, Hungarian,
Serbian and Jewish music. This was
invaluable in getting a handle on the
style.
The things that
most intrigued me and were quite hard to
digest were the so-called "asymmetrical"
meters. For example, "Melek N'ty Ubana" is
in 7/8 which is subdivided as ||| || ||,
"Oniro" which is in 9/8 ||| || || || and
so on. From a fingerpicker's standpoint
these rhythms generate some interesting
right-hand patterns.
Some Balkan songs
seem to have a "flamenco" quality owing,
no doubt, to the large communities of
refugees from the Spanish Inquisition that
resettled in the Balkans in the sixteenth
century. It therefore seems natural to
sometimes utilize Spanish and Latin
American chordal devices. "Balkan Dreams"
was arranged for a Mexican requinto
normally tuned a fourth higher than a
regular guitar. I follow Duck Baker's lead
and tune the top string to G# instead of
A. That half step seems to add a lot in
warmth and playability."
Although the two
works are in themselves complete and
self-contained they both draw on
traditional dance forms and sit remarkably
well together in this collection. It seems
fitting that Tim's music should have found
an outlet through Peter Finger's Acoustic
Music label, which is fast becoming the
home of the best in new and innovative
guitar playing. I can only add that if
this really is Tim Sparks' first record
may there be many, many more.
- John Renbourn
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