The Music of Mikhail Glinka: The Czar's Guitars

The Czar's Guitars The Russian seven-string guitar, an instrument that differs significantly from the Spanish guitar in construction, tuning, and technique, became popular in Russia late in the eighteenth century. The members of the famous 'Mighty Handful' -- Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, etc. --were not even born yet, the West was completely unaware of Russian classical music, Glinka's two operas were not written yet-but Russian guitarists were already writing virtuosic and original music for the Russian guitar. That music for a long time seemed to have been doomed never to be heard outside of Russia. By the end of the 20th century, the fascinating and rich art of the Russian guitar tradition was neglected even in Russia. After the rise in popularity of the Spanish guitar, following the 1926 Russian tour of the famous guitarist Andres Segovia, fewer and fewer people in Russia still played the national variety of the instrument. Starting in the 1990s, Iowa-City-based guitarist