Pieter van der Staak (1930) 13 Introduction & Dance for Guitar and Strings Solo guitar: Alex Timmerman Instrument: David J. Rubio 1975

Pieter van der Staak (1930) was an autodidact guitar player till he met Andrés Segovia in 1955. He played for him and was admitted to his masterclass in Sienna, Italy. In Sienna he also met Alirio Diaz and had guitar lessons with him as well. Other musicians who were important for him were Emilio Pujol, with whom he studied the vihuela and ancient musical notation, and Wolfgang Wijdeveld, with whom he studied composition. Because it is not possible in The Netherlands to teach at public music schools without being a certified music teacher, he also studied the guitar with Hans Lutz Niessen at the academy of music in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Pieter van der Staak was a senior guitar teacher at the academy of music in Zwolle till his retirement.

He has composed a lot of chamber music, among which works for string quartet, clarinet quintet and cello trio. Besides compositions for cello ensemble and accordion orchestra, he has written music for less common combinations such as guitar, flute and clarinet. He has composedmany pieces for one or more guitars because he feels involved with the development of new didactical material and of course because he is a guitar player himself. Most of his compositions have been published in The Netherlands as well as in other countries. Van der Staak has won many international awards. His interest in writing for the guitar combined Pieter van der Staak made long-playing-records with the famous tenor Arjan Blanken, his wife Maria Hol, who plays the cello, the cabaret performer Willy Brill and the guitar player Milan Zelenka.

He composed his 'Introduction & Dance for Strings' in order to enlarge the repertoire for guitar combined with other instruments. The composition is written for guitar, three violins, cello and double bass. (There are three violins because the viola was not popular yet in those days.) When an arrangement of this piece was made, Het Consort got instructions from Pieter van der Staak during a special rehearsal. The 'Introduction' starts with a mysterious search for the soloist who, after having made his entrance, does not seem to know which way the music will take, tonal or atonal. At the very moment the dissonants have been passed on to the orchestra, it becomes clear that it only wants to use the rhythm of the 'Introduction' for the 'Dance'. In the salon-like waltz that comes into being after that, the guitar, which goes back to the introduction with one more sharp dissonant, is alternated and supported by the other instruments in a masterly way.