Guitar Masters in concert – Victor Monge “Serranito”

Scores booklet in notation and Tablature of Víctor Monge “Serranito” transcriptions by Jorge Berges.

Serranito comments:

POR LA VERA EL GENIL ( tangos)
Por La Vera de Genil is a characteristic tango from Granada, that charming city so full of ART: art which navigates the Genil until it unites with the Guadalquivir, the moment for which this theme has been composed.
Opening with a continuous rasgueo from the second guitar and the strikes of the hands-on the ‘drum’, an atmosphere of mystery is created so that the first guitar, with an introduction, gives a sensation of ‘fusion’ between two rivers, this introduction ends with a faster scale giving way to the main theme. ( Víctor Monge “Serranito”)

ROMANCE PARA UN POETA
This theme is dedicated to the great poet FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA. It is not a true flamenco style, nevertheless, its character is. The guitar is tuned to the tonality we know from the rondeña, that is with the sixth in D and the third in F#, a tuning created for this particular style by D. RAMÓN MONTOYA, many years ago.
This tuning allows a deep sonority with the open strings which I use to develop a seguiriya first, and then a little of Lorca’s popular tune Romance Del Pastor, and finally the same seguiriyas theme but this time por bulerías, brusquely interrupted just as this great poet’s life was interrupted. ( Víctor Monge “Serranito”)

CAZORLA ( taranta)
Cazorla is a taranta inspired by the source of the Guadalquivir river. At first, any flamenco aficionado will miss this style, so unique and beautiful as is the taranta but it’s because in my inspiration I wanted to begin this theme with the mystery of life, which I achieve with the basses and the sound of water as the river is born, in arpeggios.
Now, with these elements, little by little I begin developing the sound of this profound style, creating the right atmosphere for it, achieving a sound of water with the flavor of the mines.
At the end, I improvise a tangos rhythm, the happiness which the river undoubtedly creates in practically the whole of our beloved Andalucía. ( Víctor Monge “Serranito”)

CALLE DE LA SANGRE ( bulerías)
Calle De La Sangre is a bulería and to speak of the bulería is to speak of Jerez. I believe Jerez is a bulería, it’s a way of walking, of greeting one another from pavement to pavement, of laughing at a joke almost always with a few claps and an olé as a reward. When the enjoyment goes on a little, the claps also go on and almost certainly end up being the ‘compás’ por ‘bulerías’. Since I was a small child I have been an admirer of the art and artists of this region. I think that the least good, at some point, is as good as the best. When I learned to play this style I did so by watching and listening above all to the MORAOS DE JEREZ who for me, have been great players and proponents of that ‘air’ which is so characteristic. Thank you.
I also want to thank the great master of Jerez, RAFAEL ‘EL AGUILA’ who was the teacher of many of today’s guitarists and who would use me as an example: “that guitarist from Madrid”. For all these reasons this bulería which I’ve recorded here with my son Victor is titled: “CALLE DE SANGRE” which is the street in Jerez where many artists have lived and still do, and to whom I offer my thanks for everything they taught me. ( Víctor Monge “Serranito”)

LLORA LA FARRUCA ( farruca)
It has been nearly 40 years since I composed this farruca which, as its title indicates, and taking into account what I have read in certain books, is a flamenco style originating in Galicia.
LLORA LA FARRUCA could be translated as the upset which the “farruca’ felt for her “farruco” who had emigrated to another land, via Andalucía, leaving behind his character and way of expressing himself musically. The flamencos picked it up and turned it into a different creation, most of all in the dance. I recall, for example, LOS PELAOS who performed a great version and also in the guitar by the maestro Sabicas, from which I have taken my inspiration in order to create my personality within this form. ( Víctor Monge “Serranito”)

PASEANDO POR TRIANA ( soleá)
You will no doubt ask yourselves the reason for the title of this soleá, well: many years ago I was walking with my friend EL PERLO DE TRIANA through this beautiful neighborhood for the first time, with the mark of Great Cante as he himself said in a poem dedicated to his mother LA PERLA DE CÁDIZ.
It is well known that most of the great styles of flamenco artists of all time came from here. For this reason, it was with great pride that I heard, during that walk, the sound of a soleá on guitar strings, coming from a balcony. Imagine how this made me feel when I discovered that the sound was of my first recording, made when I was just a boy. That filled me with happiness and gave wings to my ambition to one day become an important guitarist.
For all of this, I wanted to dedicate this soleá to that flamenco neighborhood and to that walk which did me so much good and still does whenever I repeat it. (Víctor Monge “Serranito”)