The choice of horn and guitar is unusual, though not unheard of.
Given the high quality, powerful guitars we now have, this combination is now perfectly viable, as is the case with guitar and saxophone, or clarinet, etc.
As the titles of these three pieces suggest - the overall pace is: slow - fast - slow.
This inverts the more traditional set up of: fast - slow- fast, which I believe has more of an ‘entertainment’ aspect to it, of: ‘In with a Bang’, ‘Sentiment in the middle’, then ‘Out with a Bang’!
I prefer a more contemplative aspect to the outer pieces, that gradually draw a listener in, then leave them in a calm and reflective state, as opposed to the ‘Happy Hollywood’ ending so beloved of much 18th to 20th century music.
Since coming across Shostakovich’s 15th String Quartet as a student, which (uniquely) consists of six slow movements in a row, I’ve concluded that the success of musical structure is determined by its content and the active process of listening this triggers, rather than by any arbitrary ‘correct’ form.
I hope, as both listener and performer you find these three works as enjoyable as they were to write.
