INSIDE THE BUSINESS: Guitarist Gregg Nestor
June 18th, 2009 (12:00 am)
Guitarist Gregg Nestor recently released a compilation album of various Miklós Rózsa pieces which he performed on the guitar. "Big deal", you say while moving onto the next limited edition CD. But Gregg has a special connection to this music as he worked closely with Rózsa in the latter part of the composer's life. In the following exclusive interview, Gregg will speak about his friendship with Dr. Rózsa, the "Sonata for Guitar" which bears a dedication to him and the underbelly of Hollywood when a composer voulanteers to write scores under Rózsa's name in case he was tired of all the work...
During my early studies of the guitar, I had a teacher who was a collector of 16mm films which were excerpts of feature films - Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Al Jolson etc... I used to love to run these on a home Bell & Howell 16mm projector and, thru them, first became aware of music and the movies. From 1976 thru 1982 I continued my studies of the guitar privately in England and at that time first became aware of the great Charles Gerhardt film score excerpts re-recordings for RCA. I was also able to spend time at MGM and Warner Brothers studios and allowed to make photocopies of excerpts of film scores that I admired. My first recording of music for two guitars by Max Steiner and Franz Waxman, "You Must Remember This" (Cambria Records CD1030) was the result of these forays. Composer Henry Mancini heard the Steiner/Waxman recording, called me up and said "I have some stuff too..". He allowed me access to his original manuscripts and, from that, "Classic Mancini" (Cambria Records CD1069) was created, under his approval.
How did you first meet Miklós Rózsa?
I was in a coffee shop one day by Universal Studios, Los Angeles and I noticed a man reading a book on violin technique. It turned out to be Manuel Compinsky - a long time friend of Miklós Rózsa's. Manuel was a violinist who was first shown the violin concerto of Dr. Rózsa to make sure it was feasible before presenting it for consideration to Jascha Heifetz, who had commissioned it. I introduced myself to Manuel. It turned out he had made an arrangement of a "Fantasy on Fiddler On the Roof" for violin and piano and needed to have the music engraved. After working on this project with him, he mentioned that a close friend of his was preparing a solo Violin Sonata and had asked him if he knew of someone to engrave it out. That close friend of his turned out to be Míklos Rózsa. Manuel took me up to meet Miklós Rózsa. Dr. Rózsa and I immediately felt comfortable with each other. We began a month - 1 1/2 month period of revising the solo violin sonata until it was finished to his satisfaction.
You worked quite a lot with the composer during his autumn years. In what ways did you help his work?
During the last years of Dr. Rózsa's life I prepared the manuscripts for him of the various Sonatas for solo instruments, beginning with the solo violin sonata. Because his eyesight was poor, larger manuscript paper had been prepared for him, and he notated the works on this. I then cleaned up the scores, and he added the necessary dynamics and articulations. The final handwritten scores were then used for publication purposes.
"Sonata for Guitar" bears a dedication to you. I understand you took part in the creation of this piece?
During my work on the solo violin sonata with Dr. Rózsa, he mentioned that his friend, orchestrator Christopher Palmer, was interested in having him write a Harp Sonata. Seizing upon this "opening" I casually mentioned about the wonderful works that his dear friend, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco had written for Segovia over the years, in particular a "Sonata, Omaggio a Boccherini". Dr. Rózsa asked how long about was the Sonata and I said about 16 minutes.
Three weeks later I received a telephone called with that distinctive commanding voice at the other end..." Well,... I've finished the first movement.... I don't know how gooooood it isss.....". And so began this great experience of developing the Guitar Sonata. I initially notated the music in black and then wrote out additions or technical alterations in red. Together we also shortened the 1st mvmt by some 90 measures into a very compact tight thing - every measure was important and nothing was "padded".
(The end result was that Christopher Palmer adapted two movements from "Bagatelles" and 2 mvmts from "Kaleidoscope" for a Harp "Sonata"). While I am sorry that the Harp did not receive the gift of a Sonata, I was glad that I altered the rudder of the ship in this case.
I still remember the day I finally played the guitar sonata for Dr. Rózsa and his intensity to details. At the end of the last movement, which is a sort of virtuosic tour de force with rhythmic chords and harplike arpeggiations, he took in such a notable gasp of surprise and delight and then, said ...verrrrry gooood..!
So the chance meeting in a coffee shop and the chance talking to a musician who happened to be reading a book on violin technique led to the creation of one of the great masterworks in guitar literature and my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with one of the greatest composers of the century.
Do you think Dr. Rózsa had a different attitude towards his film and concert music?
I think that his styles often overlapped between the film and concert world - after all, they were like different and demanding children, but both came essentially from the same father. I think that he held his respect for his concert works at a higher level but felt that his claim to immortality lay within the realms of both. As time passes, it is apparent that he was correct - there is a new and exciting interest and demand for his concert works - new recordings coming out all the time - and his cinematic contributions speaks for itself in popularity and respect.
You recently donated some manuscripts to University of Syracuse, which also houses the rest of Rózsa's papers. What are the contents of these papers?
I held on to the various manuscripts of the solo Sonatas and in December of 2008 I made a "deed of gift" to the University of Syracuse, where the majority of Rózsa's manuscripts and personal correspondence are housed and maintained. Of particular interest were the many alterations of the violin sonata. The second movement is a Theme and Variations. These various variations were re-worked several times and I kept the various versions. They are interesting for study purposes because they show the evolution of the work and the practical progress of a master composer's re-thinking and improving. Syracuse University set up a separate linked addendum to the collection that can be located here.
Do you have a favorite antedoteal or humorous memory during the time that you worked with Miklós Rózsa?
During the late '80's I spent a lot of time at Rózsa's residence because, aside from receiving the incredible gift of the Guitar Sonata, I was the one setting the engraved or handwritten versions of the final solo Sonatas for Viola, Oboe, Ondes Martinot, Violin etc. for final publication. During one of these sessions Rózsa's ever vigilant nurse delivered a letter from a potentially up and coming composer. Now the fellow probably did not realize that Rózsa had retired from film composition, and his letter basically was of one offering his services as an orchestrator(!) or ghosting(!!)composer if Rózsa needed it. He probably did not realize Rózsa's background or history and may have just been sending out a form letter. Anyway, on an enclosed cassette tape he included several minutes of his own compositions done in a midi(!!!) version of his orchestrations. Now can you imagine a composer sending Rózsa a midi version of an orchestral piece to listen to? Well Rózsa was not going to have anything to do with it. It went against his very grain! But his nurse kindly suggested that perhaps he should give a listen to the cassette as the fellow had gone to all the trouble to mail it for him, even if it was on the pretext of trying to find work. Keep in mind that at this juncture Rózsa was quite weak and infirm due to his medical complications. Nevertheless with all of his strength he grabbed the cassette and angrily said "This is what I think of such a thing!" and mightily threw it into the nearest wastepaper basket. After completing that action, he paused for a second, sheepishly turned to me and said "Perhaps you might like to have a listen?" I took it home and listened to it. The next day upon my return I said: "Dr. Rózsa, trust me ... your initial instincts were correct!"
Tomorrow we'll continue the interview about Gregg's latest CDs, including his work on covering some of Rózsa's best known film scores on the guitar.
I was in a coffee shop one day by Universal Studios, Los Angeles and I noticed a man reading a book on violin technique. It turned out to be Manuel Compinsky - a long time friend of Miklós Rózsa's. Manuel was a violinist who was first shown the violin concerto of Dr. Rózsa to make sure it was feasible before presenting it for consideration to Jascha Heifetz, who had commissioned it. I introduced myself to Manuel. It turned out he had made an arrangement of a "Fantasy on Fiddler On the Roof" for violin and piano and needed to have the music engraved. After working on this project with him, he mentioned that a close friend of his was preparing a solo Violin Sonata and had asked him if he knew of someone to engrave it out. That close friend of his turned out to be Míklos Rózsa. Manuel took me up to meet Miklós Rózsa. Dr. Rózsa and I immediately felt comfortable with each other. We began a month - 1 1/2 month period of revising the solo violin sonata until it was finished to his satisfaction.
You worked quite a lot with the composer during his autumn years. In what ways did you help his work?
During the last years of Dr. Rózsa's life I prepared the manuscripts for him of the various Sonatas for solo instruments, beginning with the solo violin sonata. Because his eyesight was poor, larger manuscript paper had been prepared for him, and he notated the works on this. I then cleaned up the scores, and he added the necessary dynamics and articulations. The final handwritten scores were then used for publication purposes.
"Sonata for Guitar" bears a dedication to you. I understand you took part in the creation of this piece?
During my work on the solo violin sonata with Dr. Rózsa, he mentioned that his friend, orchestrator Christopher Palmer, was interested in having him write a Harp Sonata. Seizing upon this "opening" I casually mentioned about the wonderful works that his dear friend, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco had written for Segovia over the years, in particular a "Sonata, Omaggio a Boccherini". Dr. Rózsa asked how long about was the Sonata and I said about 16 minutes.
Three weeks later I received a telephone called with that distinctive commanding voice at the other end..." Well,... I've finished the first movement.... I don't know how gooooood it isss.....". And so began this great experience of developing the Guitar Sonata. I initially notated the music in black and then wrote out additions or technical alterations in red. Together we also shortened the 1st mvmt by some 90 measures into a very compact tight thing - every measure was important and nothing was "padded".
(The end result was that Christopher Palmer adapted two movements from "Bagatelles" and 2 mvmts from "Kaleidoscope" for a Harp "Sonata"). While I am sorry that the Harp did not receive the gift of a Sonata, I was glad that I altered the rudder of the ship in this case.I still remember the day I finally played the guitar sonata for Dr. Rózsa and his intensity to details. At the end of the last movement, which is a sort of virtuosic tour de force with rhythmic chords and harplike arpeggiations, he took in such a notable gasp of surprise and delight and then, said ...verrrrry gooood..!
So the chance meeting in a coffee shop and the chance talking to a musician who happened to be reading a book on violin technique led to the creation of one of the great masterworks in guitar literature and my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with one of the greatest composers of the century.
Do you think Dr. Rózsa had a different attitude towards his film and concert music?
I think that his styles often overlapped between the film and concert world - after all, they were like different and demanding children, but both came essentially from the same father. I think that he held his respect for his concert works at a higher level but felt that his claim to immortality lay within the realms of both. As time passes, it is apparent that he was correct - there is a new and exciting interest and demand for his concert works - new recordings coming out all the time - and his cinematic contributions speaks for itself in popularity and respect.
You recently donated some manuscripts to University of Syracuse, which also houses the rest of Rózsa's papers. What are the contents of these papers?
I held on to the various manuscripts of the solo Sonatas and in December of 2008 I made a "deed of gift" to the University of Syracuse, where the majority of Rózsa's manuscripts and personal correspondence are housed and maintained. Of particular interest were the many alterations of the violin sonata. The second movement is a Theme and Variations. These various variations were re-worked several times and I kept the various versions. They are interesting for study purposes because they show the evolution of the work and the practical progress of a master composer's re-thinking and improving. Syracuse University set up a separate linked addendum to the collection that can be located here.
Do you have a favorite antedoteal or humorous memory during the time that you worked with Miklós Rózsa?
During the late '80's I spent a lot of time at Rózsa's residence because, aside from receiving the incredible gift of the Guitar Sonata, I was the one setting the engraved or handwritten versions of the final solo Sonatas for Viola, Oboe, Ondes Martinot, Violin etc. for final publication. During one of these sessions Rózsa's ever vigilant nurse delivered a letter from a potentially up and coming composer. Now the fellow probably did not realize that Rózsa had retired from film composition, and his letter basically was of one offering his services as an orchestrator(!) or ghosting(!!)composer if Rózsa needed it. He probably did not realize Rózsa's background or history and may have just been sending out a form letter. Anyway, on an enclosed cassette tape he included several minutes of his own compositions done in a midi(!!!) version of his orchestrations. Now can you imagine a composer sending Rózsa a midi version of an orchestral piece to listen to? Well Rózsa was not going to have anything to do with it. It went against his very grain! But his nurse kindly suggested that perhaps he should give a listen to the cassette as the fellow had gone to all the trouble to mail it for him, even if it was on the pretext of trying to find work. Keep in mind that at this juncture Rózsa was quite weak and infirm due to his medical complications. Nevertheless with all of his strength he grabbed the cassette and angrily said "This is what I think of such a thing!" and mightily threw it into the nearest wastepaper basket. After completing that action, he paused for a second, sheepishly turned to me and said "Perhaps you might like to have a listen?" I took it home and listened to it. The next day upon my return I said: "Dr. Rózsa, trust me ... your initial instincts were correct!"
Tomorrow we'll continue the interview about Gregg's latest CDs, including his work on covering some of Rózsa's best known film scores on the guitar.
