These settings are generally intermediate in difficulty and reflect the beauty and lyricism of the original melodies, most of which are tribute tunes named for O’Carolan’s patrons: Colonel O’Hara, John O’Connor, Mrs. O’Connor, Lady Wrixon, General Wynne, Captain O’Neil, The Landlady, etc. The works are meticulously written in standard notation and are ideal for sight-reading practice, personal enjoyment, or concert performance. Moderate left-hand fingering and string numbering are provided in these well-crafted arrangements.
Along with his previous Mel Bay editions, Turlough O'Carolan Irish Harp Pieces for Classical Guitar, O'Carolan Favorites and O'Carolan Airs, this book completes Guido Böger's comprehensive O'Carolan series. The set of four books would make a great gift, particularly for an Irish guitarist.
The guitarist Guido Boger was born and raised in Bad Lippspringe, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. He became interested in the classical guitar and its music in his youth, learning a variety of classical as well as popular literature. He was later admitted to the Cologne College of Music, where he majored in classical guitar. Through later studies, he then completed the "Reifeprufung" (the German equivalent to a Master of Music Degree in Performance) at the Music College of Aachen, Germany. Along with his teaching commitments at area schools of music and at the University of Paderborn, Germany, he performs in numerous concerts both as a soloist, and in a variety of chamber music capacities. In 1993, Guido Boger was featured on the CD Hexachord-New Music for Two Guitars. Since 1994, he has also performed regularly with his wife, the soprano Meg Fitzgerald, as the Duo "Chitarra Canta", presenting a variety of Art Song, Celtic and jazz-classics programs. In 2001 they recorded the CD Aisling - Irish Art Songs & Music. In recent years, he has released a collection of his arrangements of German Lieder for voice and guitar, "Und Wussten's die Blumen..." from works by Fanny (Mendelssohn) Hensel, with Furore Editions of Kassel, Germany, as well as having worked with the modern German composer Gunther Becker in editing his Vier Studien (Four Etudes) for solo guitar, with Edition Gravis, in Bruhl, Germany. Through the demands of this concert work, he began writing more arrangements for voice and guitar, as well as solo guitar settings of various music styles. Guido Boger's arrangements were first published by Mel Bay Publications in 2002, which has released several of his music publications.