Hao Yang Plays Music of Memory by Nicholas Maw

Hao Yang performs Music of Memory by Nicholas Maw (1935-2009). This comes via Guitars International via their YouTube channel (go subscribe). Video and audio recording by Drew Henderson. Absolutely amazing performance by Hao Yang who continues to impress with a shocking combination of technique virtuosity and beautiful musical phrasing. This level of technique mastery along with expressive musicality feels like something very new in the guitar world. You can check out the other videos of Yang on the site where she is equally at home with contrasting repertoire.

You can get the score via Faber where they give this description of the work:

The work’s title, ‘Music of Memory’, refers to the long-term memory of a golden age (and the corresponding hope that it can continue to nourish our own art) represented by the Mendelssohn; the short-term ‘memory’ of an original that lies behind the variation form; and the use of the different kinds of memory-related techniques and materials during the work – ‘guitar sounds’ typical of the instrument and its repertoire, and the ‘memory recalls’ of the coda.

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Bradford Werner
Bradford Werner

Bradford Werner is a classical guitarist and publisher from Victoria, BC, Canada. He originally created this site for his students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music but now shares content with guitarists worldwide. Curating guitar content helps students absorb the culture, ideas, and technique of the classical guitar. Bradford also has a YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers and 14 million views. He taught classical guitar at the Victoria Conservatory for 16 years and has freelanced in Greater Victoria for 25 years. See more at his personal website.

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