2004: 30 very easy exercises for the guitar, composed and dedicated to beginners on this instrument by Anton Diabelli, op. 39, edited by Brian Jeffery, has just appeared here in Hebe.  It is a completely new definitive re-engraved edition, newly edited from the original sources.  It is now available here in Hebe, and later it will be published in paper form in Tecla. 

Anton Diabelli lived in Vienna at the same time as Beethoven, Schubert and many other musicians as well as the guitarist Giuliani. He was very active in musical life there as a pianist, composer, and publisher. It was he who arranged all three of Giuliani’s concertos for guitar and orchestra for guitar and piano, something which he didn’t do slavishly but with some musical interest. (All three of these arrangements by Diabelli are published by Tecla.) He provided Beethoven with the theme of the work known as the Diabelli Variations op. 120. Some of his piano pieces are still played today, especially some easy ones for students.

The 30 very easy exercises for the guitar are simple but quite musical, on a small scale but with their own charm. In particular I like nos. 9, 14, 17, 21, 23, and 24. They are built in five groups of six pieces each.  For more details please see the page for op. 39.

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