This week's edition of CLASSICAL GUITAR ALIVE! is a celebration of music by American composers, and features an interview with Giovanni De Chiaro, who has arranged and recorded the complete piano works of Scott Joplin.

The program begins with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet performing the Black Horse Troop March by John Phillip Sousa.

Rag-time music is a precursor to jazz, and a singularly American invention originating in the South by African-American composers. Three piano rags are performed by the Versailles Quartet (the only non-American performers on this edition): Scott Joplin's Rag-Time Dance, Zez Confrey's Kitten On The Keys, and William H. Crell's Mississippi Rag.

In this interview with guitarist Giovanni De Chiaro, he discusses African-American composer Scott Joplin (1867-1917), his first "hit", "The Maple Leaf Rag", and a piece titled "the Great Crush Collision March", which was commissioned by George Crush, to promote his upcoming publicity stunt in which two trains were to intentionally collide head-on at a combined speed of 120 miles per hour before a picnicking crowd of spectators. The event took place near Waco, Texas in the late 1800's. However the event turned tragic as the boiler of one of the trains exploded, killing 2 spectators and injuring dozens.

Christopher Teves performs Howard Vance's solo guitar arrangement of "Old Joe Clark".

Yale university guitar professor Benjamin Verdery began composing pieces for his work titled "Some Towns and Cities" in honor of places in America he had visited. These pieces are not necessarily musical depictions of these places as much as they are an expression of the impact they made. "Seattle", "Ellis Island", and "Miami", feature Verdery performing with his ensemble UFOnia. The second piece, "Mobile", is a duet with Verdery and steel-string slide guitar legend Leo Kottke.

The program continues with Robert Honstein’s (b. 1980) Barton’s Blues, which was inspired by Barton Springs in Austin, TX, performed by Kim Perlak.

Public Radio Satellite System uplink:
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 1300 Eastern Time digital stereo channel: A68.1

Program ID# 16-26
Title: American Composers

In Cue: MUSIC IN “Hello and welcome to..”
Out Cue: MUSIC IN “...another edition of Classical Guitar Alive!”
Program Length: 58:57

INTRODUCTION:

Bizet: Carmen Suite: Prelude
Los Romeros (Philips 412-609)

PROGRAM BEGINS:  

Sousa: Black Horse Troop March
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
(Delos 3163)

Confrey: Kitten on the Keys
Versailles Guitar Quartet

Crell: Mississippi Rag

Joplin: Rag-time Dance
(Quantum 6948)

Interview: Giovanni De Chiaro “In 1990 is when he really made it big... ...he had that reputation until he died.”

Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag
Giovanni De Chiaro, guitar
(Centaur 2163)

Interview: Giovanni De Chiaro: “The story about the titles of pieces is interesting... ...he actually wrote the piece, I think, before the event happened, and was used as music for the publicity stunt.”

Joplin: The Great Crush
Collision March
Giovanni De Chiaro, guitar
(Centaur 2408)

Traditional, arr. Vance: "Old Joe Clark"
Christopher Teves, guitar
(TP 1010)

Verdery: Towns & Cities: Seattle, WA UFOnia (Mushkatweek 1)
Ellis Island UFOnia (Mushkatweek 1)
Mobile, AL Kottke & Verdery, guitars
Miami, FL UFOnia (Mushkatweek 1)

Robert Honstein: "Barton's Blues"
Kim Perlak, guitar
(Kim Perlak 7-50532-04342)