Albert Harris (1916-2005) was an English musician who spent most of his life working in Hollywood as an orchestrator, arranger and composer for some of the major film studios and for pop icons such as Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack and Cher. He was born in London and learned the piano from the age of six; he also became a self-taught guitar player. His knowledge of the guitar enabled him in later years to compose pieces specifically for the guitar (his Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel were recorded by Andrés Segovia).

In the mid-1930s he began to make a name for himself as a session musician in London, where he appeared on many recordings, most notably as session guitarist with the Lew Stone Band, his delicate but lively improvisations enhancing many of Stone's 1934/35 records. Harris came to New York in 1938 and began playing piano in big bands all over the USA. He then began his studies at the NYU College of Music, where he graduated in 1944. He completed his PhD studies remotely after moving to Los Angeles in 1942, where he studied composition with Mary Carr Moore and Eugen Zador and conducting with Richard Lert. He was professor of orchestration at UCLA and assistant music director of NBC from 1946 to 1949.

Sonatina, written in three movements, is one of the most emblematic pieces in Harris' catalog. Popular elements from his adopted country, combined with graceful composition that pays attention to melodic construction, make this guitar composition one of his best. Composed in 1972, the suite comprises seven dance movements with modern and ornate harmonies similar to those of jazz, particularly in the waltz. Homage to Unamuno was written in 1972 as a tribute to the dedicatee, a symbol of Spanish liberal thought and an important representative of Spanish literature.

The short Intermezzo was included in a collection of compositions that appeared in the Classic Guitar Society's Guitar News magazine in 1952, and despite its brevity, the elegance of Harris' language remains intact. The Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel is perhaps the composer's best-known guitar composition apart from the Sonatina and is dedicated to the great guitarist Andrés Segovia, who was the first to record it. The work is strongly influenced by the style of the Spanish guitarist. It treats Handel's theme with highly original variations that rapidly change the material and its meaning.

The three short Fantastic Dances, commissioned by the Guitar Foundation of America, were written in 1988, and although they are written in the same tuning, they each present distinctly different material and characters. The unifying element is their brilliance and dynamics. They were composed as a compulsory piece for an international competition that took place that year.

Further information:
- Recording completed in December 2023 in Rome, Italy
- Booklet in English contains liner notes by the guitarist about the composer and the works as well as a profile of the artist
- Michele di Filippo plays a guitar by Antonino Scandurra

- Albert Harris (1916-2005) was an English musician who spent most of his life working in Hollywood as an orchestrator, arranger and composer for several of the major film studios and for pop icons such as Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack and Cher.

- Harris was born in London and learned the piano from the age of six. He was also a self-taught guitarist. His knowledge of this instrument enabled him to compose pieces specifically for the guitar in later years. His variations and fugue on a theme by Handel were recorded by Andrés Segovia. In America, he won the National Composer's Award for his "Concerto de California" for guitar and string quartet. Among Harris' nominees was Aaron Copland, with whom Harris shares a harmonic language that, in the words of Ned Rorem, "sounds like the great outdoors".

- This new recording presents the complete works for guitar solo, consisting of a Suite, a Sonatina, Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel and 3 Fantastic Dances.

- Played with dedication and a feeling for expression by Michele Di Filippo.