The term synthesis, which appears in the English language as late as in the 17th century, has its roots in the Greek word syntithenai, meaning to combine, to arrange parts into a whole – to place (tithenai) together (syn). In its essence, synthesis has been an integral part of art from the time immemorial, and its extent is directly proportional to the ever-expanding global nature of our existence. Since its emergence, guitar music has connected various cultural spheres, not limited solely to the European continent. This moment has become a key element of 20th-century and contemporary guitar music. The debut album of Filip Babić offers music by contemporary composers for whom synthesis has become a key component of their musical language.
Serbian guitarist, improviser, and composer Dušan Bogdanović is one of the significant figures in present guitar art. Bogdanović draws inspiration from a wide range of areas, genres, and periods of music. He connects them almost inherently with the element of improvisation, finding models in classical, ethnic, and jazz improvisation. His sources also include Renaissance and Baroque music, and the result often leads to a dialogue with the music of the Balkans, African or Asian cultures. Bogdanović’s Suite Brève – Hommage à J. S. Bach (2017) fully utilizes the key elements of his language. In a short setting, in the form of a Baroque suite, the composer deals with diverse musical parameters. The suite is defined by chromaticism, which not only becomes part of the fictitious improvisations in the style of organ virtuoso figures in Toccate, but is also a thematic building element in the Chaconne. The organic nature of the suite is ensured by the thematic unity introduced in the main theme of the three-part Fugue. Typical Baroque rhythmical patterns stand in contrast with the unconventional presentation of Baroque dances. While in the Sarabande, the second beat is only occasionally emphasized, the concluding Gigue is described more as an African than a traditional form of the originally European dance by the composer himself. The five-movement Bogdanović’s suite can be seen as a mini-portrait of a Balkan composer, reflecting the organic complex of several musical parameters dear to him.
Synthesis is a fundamental compositional attribute of the work of perhaps the most prominent Cuban composer of our time, Leo Brouwer (*1939). However, in his case, it is elevated to a level of combining elements from various arts or scientific disciplines. Besides musical parameters of European, African, or Asian music, Brouwer draws inspiration from themes, patterns, and models from visual art, literature, architecture, and mathematics. It is the latter field that became the ideological basis of his Sonata No. 5 – Ars Combinatoria for solo guitar (2013), commissioned by Julian Bream. In the piece Brouwer demonstrates that “not only the mathematics enjoy the privilege of the most unusual combinations, but also all arts take advantage of the multiplicity of spaces, equations, sounds, etc.” Through his music, he highlights the art of combinations, a subject of study for several thinkers, particularly Ramon Llull, Giordano Bruno, and Gottfried Leibniz. Their work focused on discovering universal principles that could be defined by combinations of basic terms, numbers and patterns. The Sonata follows a three-movement concept (similar to his Sonata No. 1) and balances various contradictory musical parameters. In the opening Toccata, ostinato rhythmic patterns alternate with rhythmically intricate structures. The nobility of the 16th-century vihuela tradition, to which the author refers in the Fantasía que contrahaze la harpa movement, contrasts with the almost rural syncopated dance-like character of the closing Finale. The whole piece developed on the principle of Fibonacci’s sequence, as in the each following musical gesture it takes on more and more material.
Quique Sinesi (*1960) is one of the leading Latin American guitarists of today. In 2005, he won a Latin Grammy Award in the Best Tango Album category for his album Bajo Cero (Pablo Ziegler, Quique Sinesi and Walter Castro). Sinesi’s discography includes more than 50 titles, and his musical language oscillates between the classical and jazz spheres with a strong influence of Argentinian folk music. Cielo Abierto (Open Sky), originally the opening track of his 2001 album Microtangos, is a rhythmical candombe, a musical form that emerged from African traditions in several Latin American countries. The genre, which originated in Uruguay, gradually became part of the music in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. In Argentinian music, it is grouped into a triad with tango and milonga, which share African roots but differ in their subsequent musical development. In addition to the rhythmic patterns typical for Afro-Cuban music, various guitar effects (harmonics, percussions and diverse legato nuances) appear in Sinesi’s music, making it one of the most popular compositions of contemporary guitarists.
