Set for four professional players, each part exploits the full range of the guitar, from a tuned-down bottom D to top A on fret 17, and the workload is not only shared from the technical point of view but also from the musical with the thematic flow being taken by each of the parts as the music unfolds. Lasting for twenty minutes, the piece unfolds with the first movement, which is comparatively brief with shimmering chords and an opening phrase that reminded me strongly of a piece of TV theme, before moving into something altogether more dark, contemplative and poignant. With an increase in tempo and volume the piece remains dark before dying away. The second movement is lighter in texture and forces, with only two lines playing at a time for much of the piece, and with excursions from 12/8 to 11/8 and 6/4 changing the metre frantically back and forth. Tremolo increases the intensity before a reprise. The third movement requires a quartet of considerable precision as complex rhythms and four-note chords interlock across all the parts, and frantic countermelodies are thrown from part to part, and yet somehow wrapped in an introverted and perhaps reflective and sombre texture.
Thee rhythmical final movement mixes open and stopped strings to make a wonderful drone over which minor motifs are woven. A tango section surprises us with its sudden appearance but again there is an almost insidious darkness to the music. Atmospheric, definitely; challenging, definitely.
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)
