Stefan is another of the great living exponents of the 7-string Russian/Ukrainian Guitar. I was very keen to get his thoughts on contemporary music for the 7-string in G tuning, as well as his first-rate arrangements.
After reading the interview, pay a visit to Stefan’s YouTube Channel
Rob MacKillop: Stefan, thanks for agreeing to this interview. You have been around the Russian/Ukrainian/Eastern-Slavic 7-string guitar world for a number of years, and have distinguished yourself both in your excellent playing but also by your focus on arrangements/transcriptions, your own compositions and also those of other modern composers. You have created your own voice and niche within this genre. So, can you start by giving us an overview of where you are at, and how you got there?
Stefan Wester: First of all, thank you very much for your interest and kind words! I have been following your excellent videos on Youtube for many years. They have been a great source of inspiration!
I found out about the music for 7-string Russian/Ukrainian guitar when I was a student at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. I was at the time very interested in 19th century guitar music and used to visit the library to look through the Boije Collection.
I found some Russian music by Alexandrov and played it through I but did not know the music was written for a 7-stringed instrument with a completely different tuning than the Spanish guitar. I love Russian music and literature, but I was not immediately taken by the music by Alexandrov, mostly due to being uncomfortable to play on the 6-string guitar. I did not go further with Alexandrov’s music at that time.
It took maybe 12-13 years until I encountered the music for the 7-string guitar again. I read in a guitar forum on the internet a post from my friend Mårten Falk writing about the Russian Guitar. I got very curious and started looking through the Boije Collection. I bought the “4 Concert Etudes” by Andrei Sychra and after that I was hooked! I was obsessed and practiced day and night! I played pieces by Sarenko, Alexandrov, Vetrov and the Concert Etude no. 1 by Sychra on the 6-string guitar in my concerts. I made my own 6-string transcriptions even if I had some of the transcriptions by Matanya Ophee. When I played some of the pieces, I tuned both the E-strings down to D. In this way 5 of the strings were tuned the same as on the 7-string but I kept the 5th string tuned to A because it falls between the pitches of the 5th B and 6th G-string on the 7-str. It worked well in some of the pieces. I got help and advice from Mårten who recommended me to get in touch with Oleg Timofeyev who was a great source of inspiration. Oleg later invited me to his festival IARGUS, the same festival that Mårten visited two years earlier. I thought that I could play my 6-string transcriptions at the festival but about a month prior to the festival, I asked Oleg something about the program. He was surprised when I told him that I was going to play 6-string. He was expecting me to play 7-string guitar. He told me that everyone will be playing 7-string guitar, and it would be best if I also played one.
I did not own a 7-string guitar or knew anybody who had one. I took my cheap Alhambra guitar and went into the garage. I drilled new holes in the bridge, put a tuning peg in the middle of the headstock and used pieces of broken tuning machines to keep it in place and new tracks were cut on the nut saddle. The guitar was in such a bad shape before I started to work on it that it didn’t matter if I failed with my experiment. The guitar ended up quite well, and I used it during my first visit at the IARGUS festival in Iowa, USA. I played the “Sokolov Polka” by Orekhov, “Oh, dear Mother, I have a headache” by Vysotsky, Ukrainian Dance, and the etudes by Sarenko. I also managed to write an arrangement for the 7-string guitar of “To the Roses (Till rosorna)” by the Swedish composer Wilhelm Peterson-Berger and prepare it for the festival.
Since then, I have been a quite frequent participant at the IARGUS festival. In September 2023 I was in Iowa for the ninth time.
I love the original repertoire for the Russian 7-string guitar. The repertoire is so large, and I constantly find interesting pieces to work on. It has never been my intention to replace original repertoire with arrangements/transcriptions, rather to supplement my program with the addition of something that gives it an interesting flavour. For example, my program had original music from Russia and Ukraine, and I added “Clair de lune” by Debussy into the program. Debussy was inspired by the Mighty Handful and there we have a connection!
Writing arrangements/transcriptions was from the beginning a way to get to know the instrument better when I started to play the 7-string and I became more and more curious. You got an instrument with completely different tuning and one more string, what kind of music can I play on this instrument? Some years ago, I was going to play a few gigs at hospitals, and I wanted to play the concerts on the 7-string. I was told to sit near the entrance and play. I thought people would pass by, probably without even hearing me play. I got the idea that if I played something they would recognize, maybe they would stay and listen for a while. I arranged well known pieces by Bach, Händel, Beethoven, Mozart, Couperin, Brahms, Chopin and more. My plan worked out fine! The audience was listening, and a small crowd was sitting at the cafeteria enjoying the music. It was the first time I played a whole concert on the Russian guitar without playing any Russian or Ukrainian music! Arranging the whole program took many hours, but I still play some of these pieces at my concerts. I have always been interested in expanding the repertoire for the 7-string guitar by arranging/transcribing, trying to get composers interested to compose for the instrument and lately composing.
The composing was something that came out of the pandemic. I was bored and got the idea to make a recording of one of my own pieces and release on Spotify and other streaming platforms.
Right now, I’m teaching more than I used to, but I play concerts as often as I have time. The last 10 years or so most of the concerts I play are on the 7-string guitar unless the organizers ask for something special. I have small children at home, and I want to spend as much time with them as possible. I have less time to give concerts, practice, arrange or compose as much as I would like to. I really love both teaching and playing concerts. I can’t live without any of it. This summer, I will go on tour with saxophone player Niklas Haak. When I play with Niklas I only play with the 7-string guitar and G-major tuning and we play many of my arrangements.
RM: I mentioned at the start the “Russian/Ukrainian/Eastern-Slavic 7- string guitar”, as due to the current ongoing political situation what we call the instrument has become a sensitive topic. Are you aware of the sensitivities here, and if so, how do you deal with them? Some people insist on calling it the Russian 7-string Guitar, but Oleg Timofeyev has recently stopped doing that, suggesting it should just be the 7-string Guitar, presumably qualified as being in G tuning. As someone who is relatively new to the instrument, I’m not sure what to refer to it as, especially as new compositions are being composed for it by non-Russians or Ukrainians.
SW: Yes, I have doubts about using the name “Russian Guitar” even if it’s just a name of an instrument. “Russian Guitar” has been the name of the 7-string guitar in G major tuning regardless of what kind of music you play on it. Oleg Timofeyev has found a lot of evidence that the 7-string guitar community was quite strong in the Ukraine late 19th, early 20th century and even suggested the instrument to be called “Ukrainian Guitar”. I had an idea that we should call it “Eastern 7-string Guitar”, but I think I’ll stick with “7- string Guitar”.
RM: Your compositions are published online by Bergman Editions https://bergmann-edition.com/collections/wester-stefan/products/wester-northern-lights – but so far only for EAdgbe’ tuning. What have you composed in DGBdgbd’ tuning, and where can we purchase the scores? Unless I am mistaken, there are currently (April 2024) no video performances of your own compositions for the 7-string in G tuning?
SW: My output for 7-string is still very modest. I was approached by a small record label (Prisma Music Group) in Stockholm. They had heard my piece “Northern Lights” and liked it and asked if I was interested to work with them.
They asked for guitar music that fits into their playlists. I listened to some of their releases and realized that my music would be perfect. I don’t consider myself a composer, but I love to compose. My music is tonal and has a meditative element to it. I decided that I wanted to use the 7-string guitar for this project. I have so far released two singles: Lullaby for Madeleine (my youngest daughter) and Never Forget (dedicated to the people in Ukraine). I want to publish the music on Bergmann edition soon. I have some videos recorded live, but the sound and video quality are quite poor. When I have time, I will make new videos.
RM: Please do! I love listening to “Northern Lights”. Have you found the G Major tuning inspiring to compose for, or do you find the pull towards the G tonality overpowering? Many ‘Open G’ players for acoustic and electric guitars choose that tuning because of that pull, they exploit it, or use a capo for other keys, yet the composers in the 19th century were more adventurous, tonality-wise. I’m just wondering what a contemporary Classical composer makes of the tuning’s strengths and weaknesses.
SW: Yes, that’s an interesting question! I try to get away from G-major, but on the other hand, it is the easiest and best sounding key on the 7-string guitar. I like to make use of open strings, but I don’t want everything to sound G major. My composition Never Forget modulates constantly, but each key has at least one or two open strings and I try to use them as much as possible. When I play concerts, I try not to put pieces in G-major next to each other or the audience will see through the scam!
RM: Ha! Understood! You also perform music by other contemporary composers for the 7-string in G tuning, such as the moving “Elegy for the Russian Guitar’ by Ulf Grahn. Can you tell us something about the composition and the composer?
SW: Ulf Grahn was a composer from Sweden but spent his last 50 years of his life living in Washington D.C. (USA). About 8 years ago, I came in contact with Ulf. He sent me some of his guitar music and I asked him if he wanted to write a piece for the Russian 7-string guitar. I did not hear from him for about a year. Then suddenly he wrote to me and said: “I have an idea”. Then a few weeks later or so he wrote to me and told me he had written a piece and sent me the music. It was a very beautiful piece called “Elegy for Russian Guitar”. He used the same contrapuntal techniques that Schönberg used before he invented the 12-tone system, he told me in his own words. He used a motif that reappears in various guises throughout the piece. Apart from the technical aspects of the composition process, he had no emotional or narrative idea about the music. I premiered the piece at College of Music in Piteå 2017. Ulf continued to write more music for the 7-string guitar. I think he wrote about 10 pieces for the 7-string guitar in G major tuning. In 2019, Mårten Falk, Marko Erdevicki and I had a joint concert at the IARGUS festival. Mårten and I premiered pieces by Grahn and the composer came to Iowa to attend the festival. It was fantastic that he showed up! He continued to write music until the pandemic, and after that he became ill. I wrote to him and wished Happy New Year in December 2022 and he answered me. That was the last thing I heard from him. A few weeks later, January 25 2023, he passed away.
RM: I’m sorry to hear that. I do hope his collected works for 7-string guitar in G are made available. Do let me know if that is a possibility, as it is really important to show that this is not just a historical instrument.
One of your most successful transcriptions must surely be ‘Intåg i Sommarhagen’ (Entrance into Sommarhagen) by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867-1942), which received the following wonderful performance. To my ears there is a touch of Grieg in Peterson-Berger’s writing. Do you think this ‘Northern’ music is more suited to the 7-string in G tuning, as opposed to the Spanish 6-string classical?
SW: Yes, maybe. I have no good answer to that. I have done some of my arrangements in two versions: one for the Spanish and one for the 7-string. The big difference between those versions is that on the 7-string in G major tuning you have more (campanella) fingerings where each note is on different strings. ‘Intåg i Sommarhagen’ I think, is not possible to play on solo Spanish guitar.
It is difficult to generalize but some of the Spanish music that are based around the Phrygian tonality seems to fit the Spanish Guitar better than the 7-string Guitar.
The music needs to have certain texture and characteristics to be playable on guitar. You can almost hear or see on the score if a piece will work on the solo guitar.
RM: How many 7-string guitars do you have, and who made them? And what strings do you use? Guitar-nerd’s questions! 🙂
SW: I have the “freak” Alhambra 7-string guitar that I told you about earlier, and then I have 5 more 7-string guitars: a modern lattice bracing guitar by Argentinian luthier Ezequiel Stracquadaini, a modern 7-string by Renato Barone, one Doff 011-7, an unknown Ukrainian guitar from late 19th century and a Krasnoshchekov made in 1873. I use the Aquila 142C strings on my historic instruments and I have used many different brands and string gauges on the other guitars. Sometimes, when I’m out of strings for the 7- string, I just use a set hard or extra hard tension strings for the 6-string and add an extra A-string with lighter string tension to use as the 5th B-string.
RM: I’m very taken with your Haak-Wester duo, for which you compiled the following presentation video. Niklas Haas plays the saxophone with great sensitivity, and the guitar seems the perfect support and dialogue partner for his instrument. You use both the 7-string and 6-string for the ensemble, presumably depending on the original scoring or your arranging. I imagine the pairing with saxophone might open up the guitar to new audiences? That must be a good thing.
SW: Thank you! I have been playing together with Niklas since 2018. A couple of years ago, he moved to the south of Sweden while I still live way up north. We can only do a tour once a year or every two years. I used the 6-string on our first tour for the Piazzolla and some original works for saxophone and guitar. Since then, I have exclusively been playing the 7-string together with Niklas and I write most of our arrangements. The arranging gives me a lot of freedom to customize the guitar parts to perfectly fit the 7- string guitar in G major tuning. We like to mix genres. We play classical, folk music, popular music and more in our program. I amplify the guitar because the alto, tenor and baritone saxophones drown the guitar too much. When I play with the soprano saxophone, the guitar does not need amplification. Yes, I believe that we can reach new audiences because of the diversity of our repertoire and the audience on our concerts does not normally consist of guitarists. On our last tour, we played our program with beautiful music and got to play several encores. One of the encores was a Swedish song that competed in Eurovision Song Contest and that was the one that draw most applauses!
RM: Yuliya Finkelstein’s suite for 7-string in G tuning is a wonderful addition to the contemporary repertoire for our instrument. Please tell us about Yuliya Finkelstein. Did you work with Yuliya on the technical aspects of writing for the instrument? I imagine the suite is enjoyable to play, especially as I love Miro’s artwork. The paintings and the music can be observed and heard in this video:
SW: Yuliya is married to one of the foremost classical guitarists in Russia, Evgeni Finkelstein. She’s a pianist, composer, and musicologist. I have a friend who got me in touch with her. To make a long story short, I saw a video on Youtube with Evgeni playing a piece written by Yuliya. I liked the piece; it sounded like Prokofiev on the guitar. I wrote to Yuliya and asked her if she had written something for the 7-string guitar or wanted to write something (at that time I thought all Russians and Ukrainians knew about the 7-string guitar) and she sent me a beautiful suite consisting of 7 movements called “Miró’s Paintings” that no guitarist had yet played. Each movement had the title of a painting by Joan Miró. But it was written for the 6- string guitar! I played it through on the 6-string and found there were some very difficult passages, and there were also some sections that were more or less unplayable. I thought the music was fantastic, and I wanted to play it. Then I got the idea that if it does not work on the Spanish guitar, maybe it would work on the 7-string? I told Yuliya about my idea, and she was very excited about it. I set about making new fingerings and necessary changes to the whole piece for the 7-string, and sent her music and recordings of me playing the piece. Her feedback back necessitated some changes to make it more fluid on the 7-string. For example, I had to omit some notes, put some bass notes one octave up or down, use harmonics for some notes, and changed voicings in some chords. She did not mind me doing all these changes to make her music work on the 7-string guitar and she gave me invaluable advice on tempo, phrasing, and the overall characteristics of the piece.
It is now 10 years since I had the premiere performance of the piece in Iowa City. I’ve played it several times in concert ever since, but one thing I have never done but would have loved to do was to have the actual paintings on a projector screen while performing the piece.
RM: That would be fascinating to experience, Stefan.
I must say I am impressed! You do seem to lead a rich and varied musical life, and are opening up the instrument to new sonorities and timbres, which is all to the good in my book. Long may you continue to do so!
SW: Thank you very much for your wanting to interview me! I hope that we can stay in touch!
RM: We will!
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