And now back to the topic of harp guitars, by way of Russia…
I just received copies of the beautiful new CD by “The Czar’s Guitars” – i.e.: virtuosos John Schneiderman and Oleg Timofeyev.
Frank & I have been following the music of both John & Oleg separately and together for some time now, and have been long awaiting this CD, where they finally utilize their rare 7-strings-on-the-neck Russian harp guitars. As John explains: “Most of the tracks have at least one instrument with additional basses. On this recording when we play duets (most tracks), I primarily play Russian quart guitar (7 strings on the fingerboard tuned to a C chord) and Oleg plays on a 12-string Russian harp guitar (7 strings tuned to a G chord + 5 additional basses) and he definitely uses them. The guitars with additional basses used on the recording are by Eroshkin and Arkhuzen, both with seven strings on the fingerboard. The Eroshkin has 5 additional basses and the Arkuzen has 4 additional basses.”
There are also now some nice videos on YouTube of the duo performing this music in concert and also touring Russia.
Historical harp guitar from another time and another country – not to be missed!
