6 Studies op.27 by Antoine de LHoyer, originally published in Paris 1812, edited for solo guitar by Erik Stenstadvold. These exercises, originaly written for 5-string guitar, are remarkably advanced for their time and well worth playing; the rapid arpeggio patterns and daring harmonic shifts in some of them may bring even Villa-Lobos to mind. The 6 Exercices op. 27 were arranged by Giuliani and published some 7 years later under his name as 6 Preludes op. 83. The exercises were originally written for 5-string guitar. We have added alternative readings for using the 6th string, an often employed publishing practice of the period. The music is edited and fingered by Erik Stenstadvold, an authority on the guitar repertoire of the early 19th Century. There is also an informative preface, with full biographical details and critical notes. Antoine de Lhoyer (1768-1852): French guitarist fully deserves the recent belated attention now being paid to him. In 1990 Matanya Ophee spurred his revival with two articles which were followed by the publication of several of his works such as his early, for the genre, Concerto op.16 for guitar and string quartet (1802). In 2011 Chanterelle published his guitar duos edited by Erik Stenstadvold, from whose article the information here has been extracted. Lhoyer studied the guitar in Paris in the 1770s with, among others (B?) Vidal, who is attributed to describing him in 1800 as “The best guitarist in Europe”. On account of an active military career and being a royalist, he spent many years in exile in Hamburg, a centre for French émigrés where he made a living teaching and playing the guitar, and in St. Petersburg. He returned to France in 1812. Shortly afterwards his Six Exercices were published and he changed from the five-string to the six-string guitar. From 1820-30 when in Niort and Île d’Oléron, where he was Mayor, some of his best compositions were written, eg his Guitar Duos opp. 31, 32, 33, 34 and 44. In c.1836 he apparently moved to Algeria, returning shortly before his death to Paris. Interestingly, Aguado mentions in his Nuevo Método op. 6 that Lhoyer used RH fingernails, contrary to Aguado’s recommendations, and at a time when the majority of guitarists did not. His 6 Exercices op. 27 are now being published complete and for the first time in a modern edition by Erik Stenstadvold for Guitar Heritage.
