Barrios: Collected by Chris Erwich and Frederick Sheppard: edited by Chris Erwich
Les Produc tions D’Oz: 154 pages (ring bound)
I almost fell over with delight at receiving this (and Book 8, see separate review), because ( unless you didn’t realise) I spent 3 years from 1980 – 1983 firstly discovering Barrios, via the Rico Stover books, and then getting hold of cassette ( yes , I did say cassette) copies of what then purported to be his entire recordings ( It wasn’t , but more of that later) Then I began comparing the same piece in the Stover, to the recording , and realizing that they were utterly different, I decided to write them all down , especially as there were dozens of pieces on the recordings that weren’t in Stover’s books. Three years later I finished them and I got the entire set published in what was named The Barrios Anniversary Edition (Not in print now). So I was the first person to actually do that, and get them published. Jump forward 40 years, and there are numerous recordings that have been found now, that weren’t knowingly around in 1980, and also a huge pile of music, that Stover either never had access to, or simply didn’t know existed. So this is what has been published here in eight massive volumes. The cover of the two I have seen and the presentation is absolutely wonderful with beautiful colour covers.
The table of contents would take up this entire review by itself, so suffice it to say that there is a 6 page introduction with fascinating details before the 19 original works, the 12 arrangements transcribed from the recordings, and finally the 6 pieces either completed or arranged by Chris Erwich.
Now I do not intend to go through the entire set of pieces and match my version to Chris Erwich; that is far beyond the basis of this review, and anyway, what is the chance that the person who reviews his books is actually a Barrios aficionado?
All I can say is that great care has been taken in everything I see here. There are quite a handful of pieces I have never seen before, which is fascinating to find. It makes one wonder what would happen in another few decades. How much more is still out there waiting to be discovered?
So to summarise, anyone who loves the music of Barrios will adore this set of books., but be aware, they are huge tomes, and so if you are going to buy all eight, they are not cheap, but then again you wouldn’t expect such an important set of books to be very cheap would you? Wonderful!
Chris Dumigan
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