When I approached Julian Arcas’ works, several years ago, I pretty quickly discarded the idea of including them in my repertoire. I thought they weren’t enough “classical”, nor enough “irreverent” to catch my attention. Nonetheless I was strongly impressed by his writing and his very personal technique, both of them clearly revealing what a remarkable performer he must have been. Arcas is a composer which must be placed in that “no one’s land” between two well defined musical eras, though no longer belonging to one neither yet to the other. Years later, and after several “enlightening” trips to Spain (morcilla being the best clue), I managed to let him in! This is MY OWN way of enjoying and performing (never split the two issues!!!) Mr. Arcas’ works, keeping well in mind where this music comes from and what it was meant for.
About Jaime Bosch… I was interested in the change of his name, at first, rather than in his works. Once I have found answers to my onomastics curiosity and to his Spain to France cultural migration, I eventually started to give a look at his music. Well, he definitely is NOT a “pillar of the guitar repertoire” (who is, by the way?), but after all if we were to live only the “perfect days” of our life, a couple of weeks’ time would be just enough, wouldn’t it? Bosch is one of those serene, soft, reassuring days, with just a little dash of safe unpredictability here and there. What I appreciated most, is that his music is “honest” and “sincere”, unlike most of the Spanish music compositions of the post-war period, often associated with Andrés Segovia.
- Carlo Ambrosio
