Ian Sidden

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“Ständchen” by Schubert, Guitar and Voice Arrangement

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Before I ran off to the US this summer, I shared a YouTube video of me playing Franz Schubert’s “Ständchen”. I’ve loved this troubled love song for years, and when I was first experimenting with self-accompanied art song, this was the first place I looked.

It has a clear guitar-like accompaniment, and in terms of the harmonies, most of the chords are perfectly playable on guitar. Indeed, there are various arrangements floating around, and I wish I’d looked there first; my arrangement has many similarities to the guitar-only arrangement by Mertz (minus the melody in the guitar). Had I just looked there first, I could have saved myself a lot of time.

Of course, part of the time was just learning the technique to play it in the first place. I hope to do many more of these, and with each piece I have to stretch my classical guitar abilities further.

I’ll try and share these more quickly here in the future. Please enjoy.

Upcoming Performances

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2010 has begun, and with it comes a new set of challenges.

Last Spring, I began the transition to singing tenor repertoire. I did several recitals, a Simon and Garfunkel show at Boba Cafe Cabaret, and the tenor solos in Mendelssohn’s St. Paul. Then I took several months to focus on practicing arias and really trying to find my own voice with an eye toward the challenges of the Spring.

In early March, I’ll be performing Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore with Las Cruces’ Doña Ana Lyric Opera (DALO), and in April (precise date is unknown) PhoebeJoy Wong and I will be performing Franz Schubert’s gorgeous song-cycle Die Schöne Müllerin.

I love both of them, and they actually offer some similar challenges in tessitura and length. I am very excited.

The dates for L’Elisir d’amore are March 5, 6, and 7 (though I’m double cast so I don’t know which dates I’m performing). Both will take place here in Las Cruces. Check the Look for Upcoming Performances link for more info as it comes to me. It’s going to look pretty bare for a month or so though :).