HANDS OF THE ANGELS

A Romantic Tale of The Spanish Guitar

In southern Spain, a few miles south of Granada, are the ruins of a centuries old monastery. Several years ago quarry workers found a bundle, tightly wrapped in sheepskin, which, when opened revealed an music manuscript. The anonymous writer of the manuscript was evidently a young monk. He tells us:

"It was my habit to take my guitar to the fountain and sit facing the Sierra Nevada while quietly strumming and singing. One afternoon, as I approached the fountain, along with the sounds of twilight birds singing and the playful splash of the fountain waters, I heard a most exquisite guitar playing. Rather than disturb the mysterious guitarist, I decided to listen to his remarkable music from an archway on the far side of the courtyard. Enraptured by his music, I listened as if in a trance until the sun fully set and the stranger quietly left the monastery.

For the next week, every afternoon before sunset I returned to listen to the guitarist play, being careful not to disturb him, or to let him know that anyone was listening. As he was playing birds would gather and sing by the fountain.

On day I saw an angelic being descending along a shaft of golden light. Her white wings beat softly as she hovered above the fountain. She had beautiful dark hair and her lovely face was smiling as her delicate hands began to strum and play, making exquisite echoing melodies along with the guitarist’s own music.

I was overcome with an indescribable emotion: the mysterious guitarist, the dancing waters of the fountain, the singing birds and now the angel visiting from above combined to give me countless nights of restless sleeplessness."

Click on any of the You Tube videos below to explore the CD:

From the CD: Hands of the Angels: A Romantic Tale of the Spanish Guitar. This opening track "Hands of My Angel" is an homage to the French composer Erik Satie. It is scored for two guitars, flute and strings. Downloads of the CD are available from iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby.

From the CD: Hands of the Angels: MP3 downloads available on iTunes and Amazon. CD available from CD Baby. In southern Spain, a few miles south of Granada, hidden in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, are the ruins of an old monastery.

A dreamlike Spanish guitar improvisation: here is the story: In southern Spain, a few miles south of Granada, hidden in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, are the ruins of an old monastery. Several years ago some quarry workers unearthed an old manuscript hidden between the stones at the base of its courtyard fountain.

Catalonian Reverie is a concert piece for solo classical guitar composed in homage to the music of the iconic Spanish composers Isaac Albeniz and Enrique Granados. The audio recording is included as a track in Jeffrey Goodman's CD "Hands of the Angels."

This is a virtuoso concert piece that weaves a dreamlike tapestry of eight variations and a coda, full of mystical evocations of spring, clouds, misty landscapes and serene meditative solitudes. The audio recording is from "Hands of the Angels" and is available from iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby.