MP3 Martha Giles and Robert Wadsworth - Inventio: Transcriptions for Two Hammered Dulcimers

Contrapuntal Baroque music played in the classical style on a pair of folk instruments

23 MP3 Songs
CLASSICAL: Bach, CLASSICAL: Baroque

Details:
A long-time acoustic guitar player who has also had classical training on piano, cello, and organ, Robert Wadsworth discovered the hammered dulcimer in the late 1990s and has become an avid performer and teacher. His diverse repertoire includes traditional dance tunes and instrumental arrangements of folk and pop songs as well as Baroque music. In addition to performing as a solo act, he continues to play in old-time string bands and jam sessions. Bob has composed several dozen instrumental pieces for hammered dulcimer and for acoustic finger-picking style guitar.

Martha Giles grew up playing piano and French horn, discovering the hammered dulcimer on Christmas Day 2003 (a complete surprise!). Since that day, she has allowed the dulcimer to lead her in unexpected directions, including traditional jam sessions and frequent performances at weddings and receptions. She also maintains a full-time teaching studio in her home, where children joyfully learn to play the piano, the hammered dulcimer, and the many world instruments in her collection.

Martha and Bob met at the Williamsburg (Virginia) Quarterly Gathering of Hammered Dulcimer Players, where their mutual interest in "classical" music, and a special appreciation of Bach, stood out among players of mostly traditional tunes. Living one hundred miles apart, they decided to separately learn a duet (Bach's Two-Part Invention No. 8) to be performed together at the next Williamsburg Gathering. Encouraged by friends and colleagues, they continued to transcribe, learn, and record their favorite Baroque and Romantic pieces.

"Four hands, four hammers and one hundred fifty-six strings bring warmth and brilliant resonance to exquisite musical gems from the Baroque Era, highlighted by the remarkable Fifteen Two-Part Inventions of Johann Sebastian Bach. Musical pictures are painted by the hammered dulcimers in two final, lovely Romantic offerings." - Inventio, 2008

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