Reviews of recordings by Gordon Ferries

Goldberg, 2006 - Five Stars

The musical and social world evoked by the guitar compositions of Gaspar Sanz (c.1640-c.1710) is certainly a vivid one that includes folk dances, taverns and sexual desire. This particular sound-world's stylistic elements are also interwoven with oral traditions. Sanz was born in Calanda and was a graduate of theology at Salamanca. He moved to Italy where he was able to cultivate useful connections in Naples, particularly with Cristoforo Caresana and Lelio Colista. He was certainly no reprobate: his broad-ranging musical concepts raised the baroque guitar, still in some need of, to the highest possible status. Using the works of this Aragonese composer, Gordon Ferries exploits the instrument's capacity for timbre and expression with inspired and impeccable technique. The clarity of the musical lines results in a wonderful openness (for example in Fuga por lo primer tono al ayre español), and the most lively dances, such as the Zarabanda, or Canarios I, are engaging but never coarse.

Rivers of ink have been spilled in the musical literature on baroque guitar performance techniques. One even debates whether the playing was to be performed with, or without, the nails, this latter choice is the one followed by Ferries. On the whole the guitarist confirms not only his philological rigour (developed at Napier University) but also his artistic sensibility. In this particular sector a certain teasing of the general public is not unusual. The cover for La Preciosa, for example is an extremely elegant female nude. But this seductive packaging was probably not necessary: the content is interesting per se. A CD not to be missed. 5 Stars. Giampaolo Mele

Early Music America, Spring 2006

By the late 16th century, a large body of sophisticated sacred and secular polyphonic works had been composed for the lute family, including the vihuela. The guitar, on the other hand, was associated during this time with popular music and accompanying unsavory acts, including strumming, drinking, singing irreverent songs, and, especially, dancing. It was left to composers such as Gaspar Sanz (1640-1710) to take the instrument seriously enough to write a body of music that brought it out of the taverns and village squares and, eventually, into the various royal courts of Europe.

Sanz, a Spaniard, studied guitar and lute in Naples and Rome. Troubled that there were no books available in Spanish to instruct guitar players, he wrote Instrucción de Música, which sets out just about everything a guitar player would need to know, including stringing, fretting, reading tablature, strumming, plucking and ornamentation. It also includes many pieces of music, most based on popular dance forms. Gordon Ferries plays 22 of these short tunes on a five-course (four sets of double strings, and a single top string), Baroque guitar. He achieves an astonishing array of moods and emotions, from the knotty complexity of the "Chacona" to the tenderness of the "Preludio o Caprichio arpeado". His lively strumming, especially on the "Zarabanda" and "Canarios", really does make the listener feel like dancing. Ferries's playing is at once crisp, stylish, and fun. He moves easily from one mood to the next, keeping the texture of this program interesting and varied. Technically the music has been very well recorded, with a close, intimate feel. This is a disc to listen to again and again. Beth Adelman

MusicinScotland.com, April 2006

Superb music, but not in the least "precious". It may sound quaint and sweet to us, but don't forget that this was the contemporaneous equivalent of punk - immoral, lewd, and proud of it! 17th century Spanish guitar music played with panache and flair. Warning; this album contains two Zarabandas, public performance of which was punished by flogging, and a term in the galleys!

Lute News, no.76.

Although Sanz is perhaps the best known and most popular of all 17th century composers for the baroque guitar, few people actually play his music as he probably played it himself, as solo music in an intimate setting, using the method of stringing he recommends - n low octave strings on the fourth and fifth courses, and no high octave string on the third course either! Full marks then for Gordon Ferries for doing just that and demonstrating brilliantly that this 'minimalist' approach is the one that suits the music best. The seperate strands of music occasionally disappear into thin air, but this is an endearing characteristic of the instrument and part of its charm. During his sojourn in Italy Sanz absorbed what he calls the 'modern way of composing' featuring campanellas and other rapid passagework together with all manner of trills, slurs and other left-hand ornaments, and his music is a dazzling display of virtuosity, a quality which is lost if it is buried beneath an elaborate accompaniment with batteries of percussion.

The disc includes a broad section of pieces illustrating every aspect of Sanz's work. Sets of variations on Spanish dance formulae predominate, but also included is the suite in E minor in the French style, with its lengthy prelude and the allemande 'La preciosa' which gives its title to the disc; one of the contrapuntal 'Fugas' and two of the short 'canciones muy curiosas'. Many of the pieces are on the short side and it requires some ingenuity to spin them out so that they last more than a minute or two. Ferries resists the temptation to introduce alien elements into the music, combining simple, and not so simple strummed versions of the dances with the more elaborate variations on the same themes and relying on subtly altered repetition to waeve a golden web of sound so that the music unfolds like an Indian raga.

Deceptively simple on paper, even the 'easy' pieces call for great skill on the part of the performer. Ferries is in every way equal to the demands of the music, both its virtuoso elements and the haunting introspective quality of its melodic lines. It seems invidious to single out one piece rather than another for special mention, but I thought the 'Pavanas', so well known that it is hackneyed, sounded as fresh as if it had never been played before. The Alemanda 'La preciosa' was exquisite, and the Zarabanda, played fast and furious, would have had all the clergy of the diocese of Zaragoza wringing their hands in despair. Ferries' guitar, by Martin Haycock, and strung with nylgut (I'm told) has a brilliant tone with a metalic edge to it. Every note is clearly defined throughout the compass, and this is enhanced by the resonant acoustic of the venue where the music was recorded. It seems almost incredible that on an instrument apparently limited in resources, the music sounds so satisfying. An object lesson to everyone, past and present, whh has regarded the guitar with its re-entrant tuning as a poor relation of the lute. Definitely my disc of the year for 2005. Monica Hall.

The Herald Saturday 22 October 2005
La Preciosa: Music of Gaspar Sanz Gordon Ferries Delphian Records ****

Guitar music with a difference from Napier and RSAMD-trained Gordon Ferries, a notable and stylish exponent of the baroque guitar. The music of Spanish baroque composer Gaspar Sanz is virtually unknown outside specialist circles. Or, rather, it has been until now. Gordon Ferries's brilliant disc on the Scottish Delphian label should win at least a few converts. Don't be put off, if you're not particularly a fan of baroque music, by the typical titles of the period that pepper this collection: Passacaglias, Sarabandes, Chaconnes, and so on. There is an unmistakable Mediterranean feel to the music, whether stately or solemn pieces; and the livelier numbers positively sizzle. In a riotous Zarabanda (Track six), the extrovert, exuberant dance is punctuated by gentle knocking on the body of the guitar; only the castanets and clicking heels are missing. Recorded with all the ambience of a live Performance. Michael Tumelty

Early Music Forum of Scotland News:

La Preciosa : The Guitar Music of Gaspar Sanz Gordon Ferries Delphian DCD34036 Scottish guitarist Gordon Ferries' playing of this sun-drenched music from 17th-century Spain is as saucy as the CD's very saucy cover, hinting at the relative social unacceptability of the guitar and guitar music at this time, when it was traditionally associated with dancing and immorality. Sanz's music exudes Spanish fire from every pore, and it is this exotic but nebulous quality that Ferries captures to perfection. It is interesting to read that Sanz regarded it as essential to travel to Italy to further his compositional and guitar playing skills and that it was there that his most important works were published. Perhaps the guitar had a better social profile in Italy than in his native Spain! The guitar Ferries plays is based on a number of Venetian originals and he tunes it to the pattern recommended by Sanz. Best wishes, D James Ross

Early Music Forum of Scotland News, 2002 This inaugural disc from the new Edinburgh-based label Delphian is a high-octane tour of instrumental and vocal music from 15th- and 16th-century Spain. The four performers of Fires of Love have a fine instinct for this repertoire, and a degree of versatility permits a gratifying range of textures, while some particularly fine and well-blended singing from Frances Cooper and Jonathan Hugh-Jones, and expressive and rhythmical guitar, vihuela and percussion playing form Gordon Ferries and Marcus Claridge leads to some engaging interpretations of even the most familiar of this repertoire. Jonathan Hugh-Jones' informative programme note clearly shows the amount of input required from performers to bring cold written lines to life, and the present performers certainly achieve this - a gold star for ingenuity.

MusicWeb(UK), January 2004 Have you ever wondered why the guitarists in so many of Watteau's (1684-1721) pictures are playing so enthusiastically compared with say, Vermeer's (1632-1675) lutenists who appear to be tuning up? The reason is that this instrument is always associated with amorous involvement which once one has looked more deeply into the picture become quite explicit. If male, the guitarists in Watteau are often accompanied by kneeling, attractive girls in low cut dresses, who, as in the deliciously entitled 'La Gamme d'Amour' (The scale of love - note the musical illusion) are often to be seen holding the music and gazing up into the musician's eyes. The same can be said of 'La Recréation Gallante' (1717). In 'Mezzetin' the guitarist is singing to his own playing to some off-stage lover, and in 'L'Ensigne de Gersaint' the singing guitarist's company seems distinctly shady. In Vermeer's 'The Love Letter' the lady guitarist is holding the letter. But in 'Woman playing the Lute' she is obviously tuning it whilst gazing with a fixed stare out of a window, for … well one must decide for oneself But perhaps when you look at Watteau's 'Recréation Galante' you are actually seeing Remy Medard or even more possibly Henri Grenerin both featured on this CD. According to Gordon Ferries' own fascinating booklet essay the guitar's lack of immediate popularity in the early 17th Century can be put down to the fact that it was associated with loose women, seductive dances much hated by the church throughout history, and illicit sex. By contrast the lute had a more genteel background, it played largely contrapuntal music, even motet transcriptions, or accompanied spiritual songs or played solo, virtuoso toccatas. The lute took and still takes a chronic amount of time to tune whereas the plain six-string guitar takes only moments. The lute takes a lifetime to master whereas, as many a teenager will tell you, the guitar is more easily tackled and can be made to be convincing after only a short time. Even worse, the guitar player can and does strum basic and crude rhythms (as in Corbetta's Chicaccona in C) while the lute concentrates on melodies. To popularize the guitar it needed a man of genius, diplomacy and influence. By the middle of the 17th century it had found one: Francesco Corbetta. He is not a composer of the first division; in fact I could only put him into the 'conference league' but he was certainly popular in his day. The quote from Samuel Pepys' diary, given in the booklet indicates as much: August 5th 1667 "… I spied Signior Francisco tuning his guitar and Monsieur de Puy with him, who did make him play to me, which he did most admirably…" Corbetta and his contemporaries gave the guitar suites of dances to play. These were for the entertainment of the court and upper classes as well as for lesser folk. This was music everyone might relate to played on an inexpensive instrument many could afford. These suites consist of an opening Prelude along with a courante, a sarabande and probably a gigue as well as a mixture of other popular dances of the time. Whether French or English this pattern in the Suite varied little and each movement was also in one unifying key. These pieces were not meant to be danced to but only listened to. On the other side was the more serious influence of Lully and the French opera of the court of Louis XIV, the 'Sun King'. This music represented the height of aristocratic fashion and could to a certain extent be emulated. This is reflected not only in the Sarabande (with its emphasis on beat 2, 1, 2, 3) of which Carre's suite has not less than three, and the 'Passacile', but also in a group of six transcriptions for guitar from a manuscript found in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The latter represents composers like Lully and Marais whose 'Air' is from his opera 'Alcione' of 1706 as well as a transcription of a harpsichord piece by Couperin. All of these are an attempt to give the instrument even more respectability. Gordon Ferries is quite definitely a master of this repertoire and plays delightfully. I must however take issue with the recording. Not for the first time with guitar or lute recordings the microphone has been placed too close. What one hears is too much hand and string movement, sometimes even rhythmically piercing the dances on the same beat of each bar as in the Gigue of Medard's Suite. Two guitars are used for this recording, one by Sutherland after a Voboam instrument of 1760 and an actual French instrument of the same date. I'm ashamed to say that I am unable to recognize a difference between them. But a word of warning; the sound is not entirely like a modern instrument. My eldest son, a guitarist himself, described the sound produced in non-technical language as 'twangy'. I'm sorry to say that I canot be sure whether or not to recommend this disc for the general listener. My interest in early music was not particularly roused and the music did not hold my attention. It does however represent its period perfectly. I have nothing but praise for Gordon Ferries' musicianship, care and determination to present this music, mostly for the first time for two hundred and fifty years, to a modern audience.

Gary Higginson Lute News, October 2003 From being something of a poor relation amongst plucked stringed instruments, spurned by lutenists and classical guitarists alike, the baroque guitar has recently come into its own with several talented players beginning to take an interest in the instrument and its extensive repertoire. Gordon Ferries' programme of late-17th century music by composers associated with the court of Louis XIV is a well judged mixture of familiar names-Corbetta, de Visée-and their less well known but by no means inferior contemporaries, Henri Grénerin, Rémy Médard and Antoine Carré. Each is represented by a substantial group of dance movements. As one would expect the suites by Corbetta, in A minor from La guitarre royale (1671) and de Visée, in C major from the book of 1682 (not 1686 as stated in the notes, although the final minuet is from the 1686 book) are musically the most substantial and rewarding. Grénerin however runs them a close second. His D major suite is charming, and Ferries makes the most of it with delicate notes inegales in the passcaille and imaginative use of golpeado to highlight the dance rhythm of the minuet. Carré was deeply indebted to Corbetta to the extent of plagiarizing some of his ideas and shares many of Corbetta's intensely introspective qualities, especially when writing in a minor key. Médard is perhaps the least talented of the four, covering his deficiencies with his claim in the preface that although he has imitated Corbetta he has endowed his pieces with a simplicity which Corbetta did not take the pains to seek. His chromatic prelude is interesting but the other movements rather more pedestrian. Unlike much of the baroque guitar repertoire, however, none of the pieces are trivial. All require repeated and attentive listening and justify the care which Ferries has taken in presenting them. Also included are two contrasting chaconnes by Corbetta, the first from his 1648 book and the second from La guitarre royale The latter in particular is a virtuoso showpiece incorporating the famous 'repicco' variation and it gives Ferries an opportunity to show off his formidable technique. There is also a selection of arrangements for guitar of movements from the theatre works of Marais, Campraand Lully and of a keyboard piece by Couperin from the huge manuscript of guitar music, Bibliothèque Nationale de France Rés. F. 844. Arrangements of this kind were enormously popular and those played here work surprisingly well in a reduced medium. Ferries uses two different instruments, a modern instrument after Jean Voboam (Paris, 1690) by D. Sutherland for most of the music, and a French instrument from c.1760 in Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments for all but one of the pieces from Ms. Mus. Rés. F 884. Although there is surprisingly little to choose between the two, the older instrument does sound more mellow and resonant; the modern instrument is focussed and has a slightly metallic quality especially in strummed chords. This is the most satisfying recording of baroque guitar music to have come my way in the last tear of so, one which demands to be sat down and listened to, rather than used as musical wallpaper. It is to be hoped that Ferries soon has further opportunities to present us with more of this repertoire. Monica Hall

The Scotsman, August 2003 Delphian's newest release will appeal to guitar aficionados. It's another example of the Edinburgh-based label's adventurous approach to repertoire in an industry where the big guns are playing it safe, or going to the wall. You probably won't have heard of many of the French Baroque composers on a track list that runs to 41 - Francesco Corbetta, Robert de Visee, Henri Grenerin or Remy Medard. Better known are Lully and Francois Couperin, whose music is markedly more interesting than that of the unknowns', although even Couperin's delicately flavoured Soeur Monique takes a minute or two to get into gear and then just peters out at the end. Scots guitarist Gordon Ferries, however, is an expert in his field, and picks his way stylishly on period instruments through the selection of suites, chiaconas and other sundry numbers. As a whole there's too much of the same, though, too little contrast. It's a venture worth doing for the sake of establishing an aural record of the music. But it can be wearing on the uninitiated ears. Kenneth Walton

http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2003 From its earliest beginnings, the five course Baroque guitar was associated - for better or worse - with dance music, and in his interesting notes Gordon Ferries traces the history of his often reviled instrument which threatened to replace the lute and vihuela. Ferries researched his field under an Arts Council grant, studying 17 C manuscripts in France, with fruitful results gathered here. Several of the composers are little known (Grénerin was not to be found in New Grove!) and all are sound craftsmen. The music is pleasant to listen to, probably best not straight through though, and would be very acceptable as background to an intimate, elegant supper - that is not meant to be a disparaging comment, just help to characterise the genre. Samples can be listened to on the Delphian website. Clearly Ferries is an expert player, and the recording is sympathetic. Recommended for 17th C specialists and people who would like to hear extensive solo performances on this instrument, which is more often heard in early music ensembles. Peter Grahame Woolf

Classical Guitar, March 2004 Based in Edinburgh and an erstwhile student at Chris Kilvington and Roger Niven's fondly-remembered Tulloch Castle gatherings, Gordon Ferries has carved out a specialist niche as a baroque guitar soloist and director of the ensemble Symphonie des Plaisirs. In this impressive and largely unfamiliar inventory of material drawn from French sources, he emerges as a strong and rhythmic player with a fully-fledged command of the period language. Particularly striking is his command of rasgueado, which culminates in a splendid continuous roll in the conclusion to Corbetta's Chiacona in C. Elsewhere, most notably in the works of De Visée, he shows admirable restraint, allowing the transparency of the textures to speak for themselves. A further plus point with this tastefully-packaged release is Ferries' own programme notes, complete with period quotes either condemning or celebrating the popular and 'lascivious' nature of the instrument. Finest of all is from one Robert Laneham who, in a letter written c.1548 claims that when 'caroll I up a song', accompanied on either gittern or cittern, the fairer sex 'cum flocking about my lyke beez too hunny'. The parallels with the guitar as a popular accompanying instrument in the late 20th century are obvious, as Ferries goes on to note. One minor shortcoming is the level of audible string noise. I can only guess that the bright and focused sound quality was achieved by close miking, maybe a little too close for an instrument that creates above average quantities of extraneous noise. Not a serious problem, but worth addressing next time. Stylish and accessible baroque from an exponent whose star is in the ascendant. Paul Fowles

Early music today, August/September 2004 From the early 17th century, the lute lost ground to the baroque guitar, to the horror of both lutenists and moralists, and Gordon Ferries' Les Plaisirs les plus charmants shows off its rival seducations, from the delicacy of suites by de Visée and the less well-known Grénerin and Médard, and charming arrangements of works by Marais, Campra, Lully and Couperin, to the show-stopping virtuoso strummed chaconnes by the great Francesco Corbetta. Very good playing, and an excellent booklet essay. Christopher Goodwin

frutosdeltiempo.com, 2003 From its earliest beginnings, the five course Baroque guitar was associated - for better or worse - with dance music, and in his interesting notes Gordon Ferries traces the history of his often reviled instrument which threatened to replace the lute and vihuela. Ferries researched his field under an Arts Council grant, studying 17 C manuscripts in France, with fruitful results gathered here. Several of the composers are little known (Grénerin was not to be found in New Grove!) and all are sound craftsmen. The music is pleasant to listen to, probably best not straight through though, and would be very acceptable as background to an intimate, elegant supper - that is not meant to be a disparaging comment, just help to characterise the genre. Samples can be listened to on the Delphian website. Clearly Ferries is an expert player, and the recording is sympathetic. Recommended for 17th C specialists and people who would like to hear extensive solo performances on this instrument, which is more often heard in early music ensembles. Peter Grahame Woolf (This review also appears on musicweb.uk)

The Herald, Saturday 22 October, 2005 **** Guitar music with a difference from Napier and RSAMD-trained Gordon Ferries, a notable and stylish exponent of the baroque guitar. The music of Spanish baroque composer Gaspar Sanz is virtually unknown outside specialist circles. Or, rather, it has been until now. Gordon Ferries's brilliant disc on the Scottish Delphian label should win at least a few converts. Don't be put off, if you're not particularly a fan of baroque music, by the typical titles of the period that pepper this collection: Passacaglias, Sarabandes, Chaconnes, and so on. There is an unmistakable Mediterranean feel to the music, whether stately or solemn pieces; and the livelier numbers positively sizzle. In a riotous Zarabanda (Track six), the extrovert, exuberant dance is punctuated by gentle knocking on the body of the guitar; only the castanets and clicking heels are missing. Recorded with all the ambience of a live Performance. Michael Tumelty

Early Music Review, December 2005 Scottish guitarist Gordon Ferries' playing of this sun-drenched music from 17th-century Spain is as saucy as the CD's very saucy cover, hinting at the relative social unacceptability of the guitar and guitar music at this time, when it was traditionally associated with dancing and immorality. Sanz's music exudes Spanish fire from every pore, and it is this exotic but nebulous quality that Ferries captures to perfection. It is interesting to read that Sanz regarded it as essential to travel to Italy to further his compositional and guitar playing skills and that it was there that his most important works were published. Perhaps the guitar had a better social profile in Italy than in his native Spain! The guitar Ferries plays is based on a number of Venetian originals and he tunes it to the pattern recommended by Sanz. D James Ross Inverness Courier, 2 December 2005

With four double strings, a single top string and a fretwork rose instead of a soundhole, the baroque guitar is the "missing link" between the lute and the Spanish guitar. The instrument has a distinctive timbre and Ferries, from Edinburgh, is a persuasive advocate on yet another offbeat issue from Inverness-born Paul Baxter's enterprising label. Using his nails to produce a ringing tone, Ferries has a clean sound and a nimble style, playing this late 17th century music with a flourish and the occasional percussive rap on the body of his guitar. Sanz was a Spanish cleric who wrote dance music that his church regarded as sinful. It has rhythmic and dynamic variety, revealing occasional flashes of flamenco fire which still has the power to excite. Jim Love

The Gramophone, February 2006 When the guitar shocked polite society, this man's music came to the rescue The guitar, through its association with dance and other forms of lewdness, considered an instrument of the Devil? Sound familiar? Only this is Espagna, not Elvis. 17th century Spain, when the courtly vihuela, that prince of lucked instruments, lit the way to the intimate discourses of the heart in an acceptably genteel fashion and the guitar was unspeakably vulgar. Gaspar Sanz was a guitarist and composer of genius who managed to bridge the gap between popular culture and art music; his technical innovations extended the polyphonic capabilities of the Baroque guitar while not for a moment forsaking its sensual side. Thus Gordon Ferries in his recital festoons a central suite of more courtly dances with the ecstatic clamouring of Jácaras, Canarios, Zarabanda, Marionas, Pasacalles and Villano - largely sets of variations wherein he carefully manages the tension through the skilful deployment of strumming, ornament and variety of tone. The percussive effects of the rasguedo technique combined with the harp-like campanella are particularly convincing. There's really no need to enhance Sanz's brilliant music by adding other instruments as the brilliant José Miguel Moreno and others have done previously. Ferries' richly detailed booklet-notes echo his recital by being a perfect blend of facts, intellectual speculation and gentle humour; indeed the package give you an insight into a cultural milieu where things weren't so different from ours after all. William Yeoman Lute News, December 2005 Although Sanz is perhaps the best known and most popular of all 17th century composers for the baroque guitar, few people actually play his music as he probably played it himself, as solo music in an intimate setting, using the method of stringing he recommends - no low octave strings on the fourth and fifth courses, and no high octave string on the third course either! Full marks then for Gordon Ferries for doing just that and demonstrating brilliantly that this 'minimalist' approach is the one that suits the music best. The separate strands of music occasionally disappear into thin air, but this is an endearing characteristic of the instrument and part of its charm. During his sojourn in Italy Sanz absorbed what he calls the 'modern way of composing' featuring campanelas and other rapid passage work together with all manner of trills, slurs and other left-hand ornaments, and his music is a dazzling display of virtuosity, a quality which is lost if it is buried beneath an elaborate accompaniment with batteries of percussion. The disc includes a broad selection of pieces illustrating every aspect of Sanz's work. Sets of variations on Spanish dance formulae predominate, but also included is the suite in E minor in the French style, with its lengthy prelude and the allemande 'La preciosa' which gives its title to the disc; one of the contrapuntal 'Fugas' and two of the short 'canciones muy curiosas'. Many of the pieces are on the short side and it requires some ingenuity to spin them out so that they last more than a minute or two. Ferries resists the temptation to introduce alien elements into the music, combining simple, and not so simple strummed versions of the dances with the more elaborate variations on the same themes and relying on subtly altered repetition to weave a golden web of sound so that the music unfolds like an Indian raga. Deceptively simple on paper, even the 'easy' pieces call for great skill on the part of the performer. Ferries is in every way equal to the demands of the music, both its virtuoso elements and the haunting introspective quality of its melodic lines. It seems invidious to single out one piece rather than another for special mention, but I thought the 'Pavanas', so well known that it is hackneyed, sounded as fresh as if it had never been played before. The Alemanda 'La preciosa' was exquisite, and the Zarabanda, played fast and furious, would have had all the clergy of the diocese of Zaragoza wringing their hands in despair. Ferries' guitar, by Martin Haycock, and strung with nylgut (I'm told) has a brilliant tone with a metallic edge to it. Every note is clearly defined throughout the compass, and this is enhanced by the resonant acoustic of the venue where the music was recorded. It seems almost incredible that on an instrument apparently limited in resources, the music sounds so satisfying. An object lesson to everyone, past and present, who has regarded the guitar with its re-entrant tuning as a poor relation of the lute. Definitely my disc of the year for 2005. Monica Hall

Early Music Review, December, 2005 It has been a pleasure to review this excellent CD of guitar music by Gaspar Sanz (c.1640-c.1710). Ferries plays cleanly and expressively, and brings out the considerable variety of textures in Sanz's music. There are tender moments with rolled chords in the first section of Pavanas por la D, followed by a section consisting entirely of campanellas (scales where each successive note is played on a different course, allowing the notes to ring on like little bells). There are exciting strums and taps on the soundboard in Zarabande, and exotic discords reminiscent of flamenco in the first Jacaras. By the way, Pavanas por la D is in A minor, but it is 'por la D' because D is the letter for A minor in the guitar alfabeto notation. Ferries opts for the tuning described by Sanz, where both strings of the 4th and 5th courses are tuned an octave higher than on the modern classical guitar. He eschews a high octave on the third course (favoured by William Carter in his recent recording of music by Corbetta). The result is a high, tinkly sound, where there is much duplication of notes at the same pitch. For example, an imitative passage may look on the page as if two voices are an octave apart, but with Ferries' tuning they sound at the same pitch. Yet, although the overall range of the instrument is reduced by a seventh, the ear quickly adjusts. The notes on the 4th and 5th course may be at the same pitch as those on higher strings, but they have a different tone colour, which helps pick out the imitation, for example in Marionas. One advantage of this tuning is the clarity of campanella passages. If the lower courses were both tuned in octaves, the music would sound very strange, with some notes of a scalic passage doubled an octave lower, and other notes not. The disadvantage is that there is a distinct lack of bass, most noticeable in slow, sustained chordal passages, something that Ferries overcomes (to some extent) by rolling chords. Stuart McCoy