Henri Tomasi
Concerto for guitar – In memory of an assassinated poet, Federico Garcia-Lorca

 

This concerto was played divinely – there’s no other word for it – by Alexandre Lagoya. The composition itself is very beautiful: the guitar sings with a kind of permanent improvisation that is admirably rich in melody, in contrast to an orchestra that punctuates the chant with the dark shades and violent rhythms of tragedy. We easily imagine that the guitar, with its song of insight, represents the poet Lorca, while the orchestra translates the hostile universe that was, finally, the end of him.

Antoine Golea, Musica, November 1969

 

Henri Tomasi: I can only admire the power and lyricism of his music. His Concerto for Guitar, particularly, seems to me to be a remarkably sophisticated opus, destined for a more general public. In years to come, I expect that it will belong to the repertoires of ever more orchestras and soloists.

Maurice Fleuret, Director of Music and Dance, November 1982

 

Tomasi is one of the last composers to have made music sing.

Alexandre Lagoya, 1985

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