Reviews

'As always, it was sheer pleasure to observe Robin Hill's remarkable fluent technique: everything looks easy when he plays it.' Colin Cooper- Classical Guitar Magazine ----- 'Wonderful for their (Hill & Wiltschinsky) precision, touch and clarity of sound... refined virtuosity, the achievement of a long interpretive process.' Il Giornale D'Italia (Rome) ----- 'I loved your CD and thought your technique and performance were fabulous...' Rick Wakeman

Monday, February 18, 2008

'Fiesta de Xabia' by Robin Hill - Guitar

Robin is enjoying some very pleasant weather, as he approaches Costa Rica on board Crystal Symphony, and I think he felt sorry for me back here in the frozen North of England.
So he sent me an audio file, of a piece of music he composed during a family holiday in the sun, to remind me of warmer times.
He recorded this piece just before Christmas, and wanted to share it with you as a taste of things to come, when he is home long enough to record the rest of the album!

The piece is called, 'Fiesta de Xabia'.

It was inspired by the bull running festival in Xabia which we witnessed whilst on holiday in Spain.
It's an incredible sight, the narrow streets are lined with cages, bulls are released into the street, and the men of the town literally run ahead of the bulls, diving into the protective cages at the last minute.
The piece reflects the mood of the whole town.

Ominous trills at the beginning signal the tension and excitement prior to the release of the first animal.
Then the exuberant theme announces the appearance of the first bull.
The increasing virtuosic variations depict the local young (and not so young) men who exhibit an amazing agility in avoiding the horns.
The slowing of the tempo towards the end shows the bull majestic as the final victor and the piece finshes with an ebullient restatement of the main theme.

Hope you enjoy it.

'Fiesta de Xabia' - composed and performed by Robin Hill

For now, you can hear 'Fiesta de Xabia' from the player in the sidebar.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous piece and fabulous playing. Great sound, too.

Anna said...

Glad you enjoyed it and many thanks for the comment.

Anonymous said...

Wow. So very beautiful, both the piece and the playing. And the recording as well. It's really great to see Robin doing so well. And many thanks to you Anna for doing a stirling job with the blog. Best regards, Viv Rivett.

Anna said...

Thanks Viv for the lovely comments. Robin has been very pleased with the response to his piece, both on and off the blog!