St Paul’s Church
Saturday 15th November 2025
Dressed in smart black jacket and trousers, black polo-neck sweater, polished shoes, and with no introduction other than a courteous bow, Ian Watt opened this recital with the clear trebles and ringing basses of Villa Lobos’s Prelude No. 2. It was immediately impressed upon the audience that here was an extremely capable musician with a confident precision (his eyes were mostly closed) and clarity of sound. Sections 1 and 3 of its ABA structure were played with a charm fitting to ‘the Rascal of Rio’ referred to in its subtitle; yet its middle section had a rhythmic intensity appropriate to its war-dance origins. Ian played Prelude No. 3 with an equal yet different intensity, this time one fitting to the Baroque grandeur of the soundworld of Bach, to whom Villa Lobos dedicated this piece. This was created via the use of slow, deep resonating chords and by ending musical phrases with a strong vibrato. Prelude No. 3 ended with a mesmerising gentle touch that returned us to silence; followed by an enthusiastic applause.
Staying in South America for the whole of the first half of the recital, Ian followed Villa-Lobos’s Preludes with a selection of pieces by the Paraguayan composer, Augustin Barrios. Prior to playing, Ian introduced himself as well as the next composer, referencing Barrios’s flamboyant character and self-conscious aura of mysticism. Ian grouped the first three pieces together, which worked very well, moving from the colorful and highly melodic Madrigal-Gavota; to a yearning, introspective Prelude in C minor, to a technically brilliant Contemplacion. Following these, he introduced his next two pieces by Barrios, both of which are very highly acclaimed both within and beyond the guitar world: the Peruvian waltz, Vals No. 3, and the romantic barcarolle, Julia Florida. Both of these pieces are respected as masterworks of composition for the guitar, yet also offering much interpretational latitude. Ian’s renditions were infused with musical virtuosity and emotional depth. Taken together, these five pieces by Barrios illustrated not only Ian Watt’s mastery of the guitar, but also remind us of the incredible sophistication, range, and quality of Barrios’s compositional output.
Ian ended the first half of this recital with a masterpiece and staple of the classical guitar repertoire: Barrios’s La Catedral. Although it’s hard to imagine La Catedral without its deeply nostalgic and melancholic opening movement, introducing it Ian explained how it was originally published as a two movement piece in 1921, with a third (the initial) movement being added in 1938. I never tire of hearing La Catedral. It is simply stunning, with each player offering it in a slightly different hue. Ian’s rendition was powerfully muscular, robust and virtuosic, with a grandeur that evokes both the Montevideo Cathedral which inspired Barrios in the conception of this piece, as well as the intense, colourful polyphony of the music of his hero, JS Bach.
Opening the second half of the recital, Ian talked about the work of the late John Mcleod, a composer with whom Ian (a fellow Scot) was personally acquainted. Although Mcleod started composing for the guitar only towards the end of his life, his contribution is distinctive and notable. Ian’s performance of Three Mythical Pieces was a real treat: fascinating music that seems to fit Ian’s style of playing perfectly. It’s astonishing that Mcleod was not a guitarist – or maybe it’s due to Ian’s expressive abilities – as these very contemporary, atonal pieces were multi-layered with colour, texture, and technical sophistication, inspiring all sorts of sounds and effects from the guitar. Moving from the rich, resonating harp-like quality in Amphion’s Lyre, to the percussive, insistent, jarring discords of Salamander, to the mysterious, searching quality of Ariadne’s Thread, this was an intense and very pleasurable guitaristic experience.
Guiding us out from Mcleod’s mythical sound world, Ian’s next offering took us back to the centre of modern classical music, by way of Debussy’s much cherished Prelude No. 8, The girl with the flaxen hair. Composed in 1910 and forming part of book 1 of Debussy’s significant 24 preludes for solo piano, Ian Watt’s transcription and playing of this piece not only foregrounds the music’s very charming and innocent beauty, but also the guitar’s ability to render these qualities through its distinctive dynamical range, tonal colour graduations, and harmonic effects. Ian played Prelude No. 8 with much gentleness and care, allowing the music to breathe and radiate. His next piece, also from book 1 of Debussy’s 24 Preludes, Prelude No. 12, Minstrels (transcribed by Castelnuovo-Tadesco), had a very different feel and effect: a more tightly-knit, choppy, almost claustrophobic, rhythm and melody; but nevertheless, it was a piece that changed and developed, or even experimented, in a fantasia-like way. Taken together, these two pieces from Debussy’s 24 preludes, provided a glimpse of this very influential composer’s brilliantly poetic, variable, sketch-like style. They also aptly demonstrated how the enormous versatility of the guitar can render his music with aplomb.
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was very prolific. Writing over 100 pieces for the guitar alone, he is celebrated as a great composer for this instrument. His Capriccio Diabolico (“diabolical caprice”) is a homage to the legendary violinist and composer, Niccolo Paganini. Fittingly, it seems to be a devilishly difficult piece to play, with virtuosic mastery of the guitar being mandatory. Ian played Capriccio Diabolico with incredible agility, yet never lost sight of musicality. Indeed, alongside its frantic passages, this piece has grace and beauty. It was a phenomenal performance, amply rewarded by loud applause from an uplifted audience.
Saving us from the allure of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s devil music, Ian transported us to the spacious wilderness of the Sergio-Leone’s wild west, via his transcription of Ennio Morricone’s film score C’era una Volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West). Its elegiac, heart-warming nature was heightened by Ian’s gentle tempo and floating harmonics. Ian ended this recital with his own transcription of Isaac Albeniz’s Spanish dance, Seguidillas. It was played with a repeated, conspicuously jaunty rhythm, interspersed with pleasant chord progressions and pleasing gradations of tonal colour. With its sparkling harmonics towards the end, the effect of this final piece in the concert was to leave the listener with a smile on their face.
Ian indulged the audience’s sustained-applause request for an encore with another Spanish dance, composed by Albeniz’s contemporary Enrique Granados. Played with the same skillful musicality as Seguidillas, Ian’s performance of Granados’s Danza No. 5 only served to add further, contented satiety to listener’s fulfilment, perhaps inspiring a skip in their step upon departure from the concert venue.
Programme
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Cinq Preludes
Prelude No. 2 in E major – “Melodia capadócia”
Prelude No. 3 in A minor – “Homenagem a Bach”
Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944)
Madrigal – Gavota
Prelude in C minor
Contemplación
Vals No. 3, Op. 8
Julia Florida
La Catedral
i. Preludio (Saudade)
ii. Andante Religioso
iii. Allegro Solemne
John McLeod (1934-2022)
Three Mythical Pieces
Amphion’s Lyre
Salamander
Ariadne’s Thread
Interval
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Préludes, Book I
No. 8 “La fille aux cheveux de lin” (The girl with the flaxen hair) (tr.: Watt)
No. 12- “Minstrels” (tr.: Castelnuovo-Tedesco)
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)
Capriccio Diabolico (Omaggio a Paganini), Op. 85
Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)
C’era una Volta il West (tr.: Watt)
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
Seguidillas, Op. 232/5 (tr.: Watt)