7 maRCH 2026   7.30 PM

Ibridazioni        

Etudes / Quietudes

for solo guitar

Wolfgang Muthspiel 

Wolfgang Muthspiel
Etude n. 1, Tremolo
Etude n. 4, Pedal
Triplet Droplet
Etude n. 5, Chords
Etude n. 6, Triplets
Etude n. 7, Brahms Minor
Etude n. 8, Melting Chords
Etude n. 9, Schildlehen
Etude n. 10, Sixths
Etude n. 11, Vamp
Etude n. 12, Furtner
Etude n. 13, Arpeggio

Lennon / Mc Cartney
All My Loving

Johann Sebastian Bach, by Suite BWV 995 
Sarabande

Wolfgang Muthspiel
Between Two Sarabandes
Sarabande (Reprise)

Paul Motian, Wolfgang Muthspiel
Abacus, Theme by Paul Motian

Wolfgang Muthspiel
Roll

 Wolfgang Muthspiel  giutar

With his new solo program Etudes/Quietudes, Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel celebrates the acoustic guitar, the instrument to which he once switched from the violin at the age of thirteen and on which he was trained as an interpreter of classical music. The core of the program is a collection of concert etudes that Muthspiel composed for his instrument. These eleven etudes each explore a different aspect of the music possible for the guitar. Each individual piece is characterized by a certain atmosphere, ranging from highly virtuosic and sparkling to poetically reflective.

​The etudes are joined by four other pieces, such as Muthspiel's heartfelt homage to Bill Evans ("For Bill Evans"), a sarabande by Johann Sebastian Bach (to which he improvises with material from the sarabande), a theme by Paul Motian ("Abacus"), partly improvised, and a fast miniature called "Triplet Droplet".

With Etudes/Quietudes, Muthspiel seemingly effortlessly spans the gap between two musical worlds that have been decisive in his musical life: the classical guitar and the art of improvisation derived from jazz. However, this program is not tobe understood as a crossover, as Muthspiel carries both poles within himself and there are no boundaries for him to overcome. Both on stage and in the recording studio, the guitarist achieves an intimate self-evidence of the music that pushes the high technical demands of playing into the background and places a continuous parlando, a constant musical speech, at the center.

Etudes are basic exercises for musicians, they serve to refine certain skills and develop into captivating concert pieces. "I wrote myown etudes to practise certain technical aspects. Then I fell in love with the compositional process they inspired," says Muthspiel. "Etudes celebrate craft!" he continues, "Craft is a central point for me -all the musicians I admire have spent a lifetime working on their personal sound."

"The composer and guitarist draws parallels here to meditation and sport and emphasizes the beauty of repeated practice, which he personally enjoys as a grounding ritual: "Just like spiritual practices and athletic training, etudes foster a deep-rooted mastery," he explains. "It's a basic attitude from which creativity blossoms."

The new album Etudes/Quietudes presents compositions that are primarily concert pieces and which Muthspiel enjoys playing in front of an audience. Although these pieces are written specifically for the classical guitar, they can also be performed on other instruments. The etudes were recorded at the Vienna Radio Studio RadioKulturhaus. The album was mixed in the south of France with the great engineer Gerard Haro at Studio La Buissonne.

For me, this album is a musical narrative - a reflection of my journey from violinist to classical guitarist to jazz musician," shares Muthspiel. "I invite listeners to join me on this sonic journey to experience the essence of my story translated into music."

Etudes/Quietudes is released on CD and LP on Clap Your Hands (CYH) and is available on all major streaming platforms. In addition, the score of these pieces can be purchased as a download or in the form of a printed music book that includes the CD.

The musician Wolfgang Muthspiel (*1965) lives in Vienna and is considered one of the most influential guitarists of his generation. After being classically trained on the violin, he discovered his love for guitar at the age of 15. An interest in both his own and improvised music eventually led him to focus on jazz. After studying with Mick Goodrick at the New England Conservatory and then later at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he toured with the Gary Burton Quintet (together with Larry Grenadier and Donny McCaslin) for two years, establishing an excellent reputation in the jazz scene. Starting in the mid-1990s, he lived and worked in the jazz capital of New York. He ventured into the world of pop music with the singer Rebekka Bakken, while also pursuing the electronic project Muthspiel/Muthspiel with his brother. He has also collaborated with  artists such as Trilok Gurtu, Dhafer Youssef, Youssou N’Dour, Maria Joao, Dave Liebman, Peter Erskine, Paul Motian, Bob Berg, Gary Peacock, Don Alias, Larry Grenadier, Brian Blade, Brad Mehldau, Ambrose Akinmusire, John Patitucci, Dieter Ilg, the Vienna Art Orchestra, and many more.

In 2000, he founded the Material Records label, which has released numerous recordings of artists in an international format. After a European tour with his new quartet (2008) and the duo project Friendly Travelers, in collaboration with the drummer Brian Blade (2008), Muthspiel devoted himself more and more to the trio MGT (Muthspiel – Grigoryan – Towner), which, after several concert tours, released the highly acclaimed debut album From a Dream. In addition, he has composed pieces for various ensembles, such as the Klangforum Wien and, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Joseph Haydn’s death in 2009, a commissioned work for the Esterhazy Foundation. He has produced recordings of young musicians, and since 2004, he has led the guitar programme of the Basel University of Music FHNW.

In 2017, Muthspiel founded the Focus Year program at the Jazzcampus Basel and has since been artistic director of this globally unique year-long programme of intensive musical exploration.

In June 2012, the recording of the project Vienna Naked, a song programme composed by Muthspiel for guitar and voice, was released.

Muthspiel made his debut with MGT in 2013 with the album Travel Guide on the renowned Munich label ECM. In 2014, he made his debut as a band leader at ECM. The trio recording Driftwood with Brian Blade and Larry Grenadier garnered huge critical praise and in 2014, Muthspiel was given a contract for his own concert series at the Konzerthaus Wien. The Vienna World project was followed by another vocal recording in 2015, for which he performed and recorded with eighteen musicians in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, New York, Sweden and Vienna.

Rising Grace was released on ECM Records in autumn 2016. This quintet recording with Brad Mehldau, Ambrose Akinmusire, Brian Blade and Larry Grenadier adorned many of the bestof lists of 2016, was given five out of five stars by DownBeat magazine, and led to the Wolfgang Muthspiel Quintet playing numerous sold-out concerts worldwide. In 2018, the quintet performed and recorded Where The River Goes, with Eric Harland on drums, which led to many more performances and concerts.

The Wolfgang Muthspiel Large Ensemble was launched in 2019, which led to a programme consisting of pieces by Muthspiel in new arrangements by Guillermo Klein the following year. The 19-member ensemble combined European jazz legends with virtuoso representatives of chamber music, and toured and performed in the autumn of the same year in the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and the Wiener Konzerthaus, among others.