Roland Dyens () (19 October 1955 – 29 October 2016) was a French classical guitarist, composer, and arranger.

Life and career

Dyens was born in

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and lived most of his life in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. He studied with Spanish classical guitarist Alberto Ponce and with Désiré Dondeyne. As a performer, Dyens was known for improvisation. Sometimes he opened his concerts with an improvised piece, and he might improvise the program itself, without planning or announcing beforehand what he would be playing. He said that a journalist once told him he had the hands of a classical musician but the mind of a jazz musician. He played Bach suites and he played with jazz musicians at the Arvika Festival in Sweden. A heavy metal band did a version of the third movement of his ''Libra Sonatine''. Dyens released several volumes of

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

that included not only the classical music of Fernando Sor but also the Brazilian music of Heitor Villa-Lobos, jazz standards by

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

, the French pop of

Edith Piaf Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and var ...

, and the Gypsy jazz of

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

. ''Tango en Skaï'' (1985), is one of his best-known pieces, but also widely played is the more extended ''Libra Sonatine'' (1986) written in three movements: "India", "Largo", "Fuoco", composed after Dyens had heart surgery. "Its three movements are an explicit portrayal of that very particular period of my life: first the chaotic India (before the operation), then the Largo (during it) and finally the Fuoco, in which the unrestrained rhythms depict a veritable incarnation of my return to life (and several guitarists often play this last movement as an independent piece)" quotes Dyens. "Skaï" is a French slang term for imitation leather and here refers to the gauchos (cowboys) of Argentina and southern Brazil who are known for their leather outfits. He taught at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in the position held by his teacher, Alberto Ponce. He died on 29 October 2016 at the age of 61.FRENCH CLASSICAL GUITARIST DIES, 61
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Awards and honors

* International Competition Città di Alessandria, Italy, 1979 * Grand Prix de

Académie Charles Cros The Académie Charles Cros (Charles Cros Academy) is an organization located in Chézy-sur-Marne, France, that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry. The academy is ...

, ''Villa-Lobos Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra''

Selected list of works

*20 Lettres Pour Guitare Solo *Alba Nera (solo guitar) *Aria (guitar quintet) *Austin Tango (4 guitars or ensemble) *Brésils (4 guitars or ensemble) *Chansons françaises Vol.1 (solo guitar ) *Chansons françaises Vol.1 (solo guitar - tablatures) *Chansons françaises Vol.2 (solo guitar) *Citrons doux et le Quatuor Accorde (solo guitar) *Concertino de Nürtingen (solo guitar & guitar ensemble) *Concerto en si (solo guitar & guitar ensemble) *Concerto métis (guitar & piano) *Concerto métis (solo guitar & string orchestra) *Concertomaggio (2 guitars and string orchestra) *Comme un rond d'eau (4 guitars) *Côté Nord (2 guitars) *Côté Sud (guitar octet - quartet possible) *Eloge de Léo Brouwer (solo guitar) *El último recuerdo (solo guitar) *Hamsa (4 guitars or guitar ensemble) *Hommage à Franck Zappa (solo guitar) *Hommage à Villa-Lobos (solo guitar) *L.B. Story (solo guitar) *Les 100 de Roland Dyens (solo guitar) *Libra Sonatine (solo guitar) *Lulla by Melissa (solo guitar) *Mambo des Nuances et Lille Song (solo guitar) *Mes arrangements à l’amiable (solo guitar) *Muguet et L’Allusive (solo guitar) *Rossiniana n°1 d’après Mauro Giuliani (solo guitar & string quartet) *Rythmaginaires (guitar octet) *Saudade No.3 (Solo guitar) *Santo Tirso (solo guitar) *Songe Capricorne (solo guitar) *Suite Polymorphe (4 guitars or guitar ensemble) *Tango en Skaï (solo guitar & string quartet) *Tango en Skaï (solo guitar) *Triaela (solo guitar) *Trois (3) pièces polyglottes - Valse des loges, Flying Wigs & Sols d’Ièze (solo guitar) *Trois Saudades *Valse des anges - Angel's waltz (solo guitar) *Valse en skaï (solo guitar) *Variations sur un thème de la "Flûte Enchantée" Mozart/ Sor (4 guitars or guitar ensemble) *Ville d'Avril (4 guitars or guitar ensemble) *Ville d'Avril (solo guitar)

Selected discography

* 1987 ''Villa-Lobos: Concerto/Suite Populaire Bresilienne/Choros, No. 1/Dyens: Hommage a Villa-Lobos'' * 1995 ''Chansons Françaises 1'' * 1997 ''Paris Guitare'' * 1999 ''Nuages: Solo Guitar Works'' * 2001 ''Roland Dyens: Citrons doux'' * 2001 ''20 Lettres Pour Guitare Solo'' * 2003 ''Night and Day'' * 2007 ''Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Dyens: Concerto métis'' * 2007 ''Sor & Giuliani'' * 2009 ''Naquele Tempo'' * 2015 ''Night and Day/Visite au Jazz''

References

External links

*
Roland Dyens Internet Radio at PandoraJazz Mind and Classical Hands - Roland Dyens and his Style of Arranging and Performing
(2005) by Michelle Birch
Homage in the Solo Guitar Music of Roland Dyens
Thesis (2006) by Sean Beavers
An interview with Roland Dyens
by Sofia Mazi (July 2006; Arnea, Halkidiki, Greece) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dyens, Roland 1955 births 2016 deaths French classical guitarists French male guitarists 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers French classical composers French male classical composers Composers for the classical guitar 20th-century guitarists 21st-century guitarists People from Tunis École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris 20th-century French composers 21st-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians