Moonlight by Štěpán Rak

Guitarist/composer Štěpán Rak has put the Czech Republic on the world stage with his work on and for the instrument. Mostly known for his easier, student-level compositions like Moonlight. However, he is an accomplished virtuoso and has written many virtuosic pieces. He does have a page dedicated to him on Wikipedia, but I think his English translation on his website is more useful (http://stepanrak.cz/). Just be sure to hit the translation to English on the upper left-hand corner.

Publications of Moonlight

This piece is published by Boosey & Hawkes under a collection titled Minute Solos. The edition I played from was in the Royal Conservatory. They list it at Level 1.

About The Piece

Moonlight feels like it belongs just above the preparatory level of pieces. It has two sharps requiring the student’s familiarity with the key of D major. It almost entirely uses the p-m-i-m arpeggio to create the “moonlight” texture. Additionally, A few instances use extended m-i and p alternating with an individual finger. I also like the use of two endings giving good practice in understanding the ordering directions from the composer. There are only a few dynamic markings giving the student a lot of room for musical expression throughout.

Chadwick Becks

I have two degrees in guitar performance and was privileged to study under Aaron Shearer, Tom Kikta, David Skantar, Ken Karsh, Tim Bedner, and currently Christopher Berg. Outside my editorial work on this blog, I teach full-time across many genres including classical, jazz, blues, rock, funk, and metal.