ABOUT THE MUSIC

     Hi, my name is Richard F. Sayage.  I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and some of my thoughts on music for the guitar, and some background material on why I began these myriad bodies of work for classical guitar over the last 20 years. 

     These transcriptions, and all others that I have done over the decades, had a few distinct purposes.

     First, being a musician & player for over 30 years, I was tired of opening up a "new" classical guitar music book or collection and finding the same pieces over and over again.  I am certain that you have felt the same way on many occasions.  Like yourself, I was becoming bored.  It was time for new material.  It seemed that the only way I was going to get my hand on new, quality material of the older baroque and classical masters was to do it myself!!!  :-)

     Worse yet, I was exhausted with the incorrectness of some of the pieces that I sometimes came across or the awkward fingering.  I have a huge library of written classical music and scores as done by the great artists.  The majority of this library was bought new from one of the largest and most respected music publishing houses in the world, which offers and supplies scores to the major symphonies.  This goes to the accuracy of the original music.  I started searching through the myriad books & scores, selecting pieces that were suitable to the guitar while faithfully maintaining their musical integrity and the message of the composer. 

     Third, they had to represent the sound and beauty of the classical guitar with its own unique personality given to these faithfully transcribed pieces of music that were originally written for the piano, lute, harpsichord, violin, viola, cello, flute, etc.

Presently we offer the following books, of which some are available in Tab form also:

Bach Collections

• Book of Bach's Two Part Inventions for Solo Classical Guitar (also Tab)

• Book of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier I - Prelude & Fugue 1-8 for Solo Classical Guitar

• Book of Bach's Cello Suites #1 and #2 for Solo Classical Guitar (also Tab)

• Book of Bach's Cello Suite Preludes for Solo Classical Guitar (also Tab)

• Bach's Violin Concertos in A Minor and E Major for Solo Classical Guitar and Cello/Bass

• Miscellaneous Bach Transcriptions - these are assorted other J S Bach solos for Classical Guitar from myriad keyboard and orchestral sources.  Check out our Bach Photo Gallery.

• NEW!   Bach's Three Part Inventions (or Sinfonia) for Classical Guitar Trio has been released as of 5/16/2005

• Coming soon - Bach's Three Part Inventions, sometimes referred to as Sinfonia, for Classical Guitar Duet

• Coming Soon - Bach's Book of Little Preludes for Solo Classical Guitar

Weiss Collections

• Silvius L. Weiss Lute Sonata IV in G Major from the London MS for Classical Guitar - Drop D tuning.  See our New Weiss Photo Gallery

• Silvius L. Weiss Lute Sonata II in D Major from the London MS for Classical Guitar.  Only available in Drop D tuning at this time.

• Silvius L. Weiss Lute Sonata XVII in A Major from the Dresden MS for Classical Guitar.

• Silvius L. Weiss Lute Sonata IX in C Major from the Dresden MS for Classical Guitar.

• NEW! Silvius L. Weiss Lute Sonata XXIII in A Minor from the London MS - also known as L'Infidele has been released as of 3/31/2005

• NEW! Silvius L. Weiss Lute Sonata V in D Minor from the Dresden MS has been released as of 5/23/2005

• Coming Soon - Lute Sonata XX from the Dresden MS

   

     The pieces of music that I transcribe represent this rarity and are not likely to be found in most, if any, music books for the Classical Guitar.  The 15 Two Part Inventions are the first of many focused collections to come.  All of the music that I transcribe is done for Solo work, though, as an addendum, in the official publications, I will also try to include duet pieces.  There will also be full performance notes, histories of Bach, history and analysis of the musical forms that are touched upon, original notes by myself and Bach, where applicable, and so on. They will be very complete, high quality collections, historically and most importantly, musically accurate.  Each book that I publish in the coming years will be definitive collections that I trust will become necessary additions to any serious player's library.

     Over my years of study and research in the field of music, I have found Bach's music to transpose beautifully to the Guitar.  Subsequently, I have specialized in this very pleasurable area for over 20 years, having done well over 250 official classical guitar transcriptions and then numerous "unofficial" ones.  I might add that I continue to do so at a feverish pace, this while I am working on formally rewriting my old written notes for formal publication.  At the time, I had done these myriad transcriptions for my personal use, never having given thought to making them available to the general public.  I am now working diligently on printing and publishing them for public consumption.  This is due in large part to a very good friend of mine, a classical pianist and composer,  who urged me to publish them when he realized the volume of my work and the quality of the transcriptions.  He reprimanded me for keeping them private, then laughed at me, and helped to start this music company of very high standards.  I owe him a great many thanks for having the energy to push me headlong into this very satisfying endeavor.  It gives me great pleasure to open up a new world of playing material to classical guitarists all over the world.

     All of my original transcriptions and books, including the Two Part Inventions, are being presented to Music Houses across the world for Repertoire/Recital Books.  We offer you the opportunity to purchase original copies of these pieces before they are made available in retail outlets throughout the world. 

     Our catalogue of books are now being offered in stores throughout the Tri-State Metropolitan Area and around the country.  International distribution logistics are presently being worked out as of May 2005!  You can help us to get the books to more music stores by asking for Savage Classical GT Publications at your local music shop.  Thank you!

Sincerely,

Richard F. Sayage

Savage Classical GT, SCGT

Bay Shore, NY 11706

                                                          That's Samantha on the above right and below.  She's a real cutie.  Dhiana is simply an angel of a little girl.

Personal Notes

     I studied classical music, composition, orchestration & conducting for over 10 years in various universities, specializing in classical guitar studies. I spent many years studying numerous standard and then some unorthodox musical disciplines with Sy Schaffer, a student of Bela Bartok, Tibor Serly and Pierre Montieux.  Sy was the author of many of the great advertising jingles that you might remember, if you are old enough, besides lead Trombone for the Arthur Godfrey Band.

     In the early 1980's I turned my attention to the transcription of classical music for the guitar and have been going at it with energy for over two decades. I have dedicated my musical career to composition and to the transcription of rare music for the guitar.  Officially, I am not a performer except for the most private of audiences. My playing centers on the music of Bach, Vivaldi, Weiss, Sor, Aguado, Carulli, etc. as in most of the lute & guitar greats (even if they didn't originate in guitar music). I also specialize in Ragtime & Blues solo work and transcriptions (you have to love Joplin).  Sometimes you just need to play the blues, I suppose.  I've also done extensive work with some of my good friend, El McMeen's Celtic Music and Transcriptions, many of which you can hear on our site, by clicking Here. 

     As good a player as I may be, I believe my real gift is to give you and everyone else unique and original transcriptions for our most beloved instrument.  Anyway, there are pictures of my girls somewhere around here. I figured you would think that they are way more interesting. :-)  They are.  I love them so much.

Favorite Links

www.savageclassical.com

(our official website - Shipping is still FREE via Media Mail when ordering from our site)

Pogo.com (games to waste your life by)
The Sayage Family page (pictures of my girls)
Our family page (still working this one)

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