Harald Kühn, Guitar


A Portrait of Harald Kühn*

· written by journalist Usch Kiausch for the cultural supplement of Rheinpfalz (English translation by Usch Kiausch)

"Searching for yesterdays dreams,

six silver maids dance at the round

where the paths intersect ...",

says Garcia Lorca in his poetical homage to the guitar. During past decades, Lorca´s poem has been a leitmotif for Harald Kühn. Just as Lorca, he sees the acoustic guitar as an entity with its own special charm and individual character. This character is so unique that Harald Kühn will travel as far as to Granada, Spain (where the best guitar builders live and work) to order a new guitar.When he asks Antonio Marin Montero to create a new guitar for him it may last years until he can hug his object of desire and subject of sound - but it is worth the long waiting.
"Music is much more than just a technical skill", says Kühn. "Music means the comprehension and narration of musical history, the understanding of the larger picture, the great dramatic concept. Music encompasses the alternating moments of tension and relaxation. Music means aesthetics, expression and interpretation. And, for me, the guitar is its perfect medium."
It is a medium which he not only loves but also knows thoroughly - because of long years of studying the guitar. Ludwigshafen born Kühn studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim (State Conservatory) and graduated with a diploma degree certifying his qualification to teach music.
He also participated in summer master courses at Trivero/ Italy, directed by the famous maestro and composer Angelo Gilardino. "Actually, these five or six week master courses were work camps where you exercised night and day. People from all parts of Europe travelled to Trivero to hear and see the concerts." Thereafter, he studied for three years in Gilardino´s master class and received his soloist diploma at the Academia Internazionale Superiore Di Musica "Loreno Perosi".
In addition to solo performances, Harald Kühn plays with various chamber music orchestras. His musical repertoire includes lute music of the Renaissance as well as Bach Fugues, contemporary music, and pieces inspired by Cante Jondo, the Blues of Andalusian gypsies. And he likes to share his skills and knowledge, for example by offering verbally commented concerts and by teaching his students in Ludwigshafen and Landau to become excellent guitar players - perhaps even solo guitarists.


Booklet of solo cd El Polifemo de Oro; the cover is a reproduced painting, bearing the same title; it was created by Neustadt artist Klaus Scheu

Conzert and cd program

"El Polifemo de Oro"

3 Pavanen Luis de Milan
(ca. 1500-1561)
Cancion del Emperador Luis de Narvaez
Quatro Diferencias (ca. 1500-1555)
sobre "Guardame las Vacas"
Pavanas Gaspar Sanz
Espanoleta (1640-1710)
Canarios
Lagrima-Preludio Francisco Tarrega
Marieta-Mazurka (1852-1909)
Adelita-Mazurka
Maria-Gavota
Capricho Árabe
-Serenata para Guitarra-
Pause
El Noi De La Mare Miguel Llobet
El Testament D´Amelia (1878-1938)
Canco Del Lladro
Polyphem d´Oro Reginald Smith Brindle
-quatro frammenti per chitarra (*1917)
Ben Adagio, Allegretto, Largo,
Ritmico e Vivo
Fandanguillo Joaquin Turina
Danza Espanola No. 5 Enrique Granados
-Andaluza o Playera (1867-1916)
Asturias Isaac Albeniz
-Leyenda (1860-1909)

We include short musical examples in MP3 format taken from recent programs, playable on all standard media players.

Gaspar Sanz, Guardame las Vacas, MP3-Datei 467 KB

Isaac Albeniz, Granada, MP3-Datei 460 KB

Reginald Smith Brindle, Ritmico e Vivo from "El Polifemo de Oro", MP3-Datei 358 KB

back to concertprojects