Classical guitar There are significant works by composers such as Hans Werner Henze of Germany, Gilbert Biberian of England and Roland Chadwick of Australia. The classical guitar also became widely used in popular music and rock & roll in the 1960s after guitarist Mason Williams popularized the instrument in his instrumental hit Classical Gas. Guitarist Christopher Parkening is quoted in the book "Classical Gas: The Music of Mason Williams" as saying that it is the most requested guitar piece besides Malagueña and perhaps the best known instrumental guitar piece today. In the field of New Flamenco, the works and performances of Spanish
Classical guitar type of repertoire is usually performed by guitarists who have particularly chosen to focus on the avant-garde in their performances. Within the contemporary music scene itself, there are also works which are generally regarded as extreme. These include works such as Brian Ferneyhough's "Kurze Schatten II", Sven-David Sandström's "away from" and Rolf Riehm's "Toccata Orpheus", etc. which are notorious for their extreme difficulty. There are also a variety of databases documenting modern guitar works such as Sheer Pluck and others. The evolution of the classical guitar and its repertoire spans more than four centuries. It has a history that was