Etude 14 in D (Op. 60)
Matteo Carcassi
Matteo Carcassi (1792 - 1853) was a skilled concert guitarist in the first place, he composed about 100 works for guitar at an older age, after he finished his concert career.
Matteo Carcassi was born in Florence, in the year, the French Revolution broke out. As a child, he started playing the piano, but then turned to the guitar and soon became a virtuoso. After a stay in Germany, he moved to Paris, where he started his guitar practice, more or less overshadowed by his fellow-Italian Fernando Carulli.
Regarding his compositions, Carcassi is a little bit in the shade of the great composers like Sor en Giuliani. Nevertheless his Methode and the well known 25 Etudes Melodiques et Progressives are played even today.
Long ago I have played through the complete Op. 60. Now after 25 years it became time for a revival.
Study Nr. 24 is one of the challenging bits from this Opus. The key of E Major gives rise to some stretches anyway. The piece offers a mix of scale and chord passages which fits nicely in my alternating stroke exercises.
The piece has a warm sound. If you play it with a bit of drama in the bass lines of the middle section, it makes a nice performance piece.