1. Mr. Debussy Finally Went to Spain
2. The Day Mr. Bartók Lost his Scales
3. How Mr. Metheny Met Mr. Kapsberger
4. Mr. Prokofiev Lost his Glasses
5. Waltz for Mr. Satie
This is a nice set of contrasting homages, set in dropped D. So, the opening item is “Mr. Debussy Finally Went to Spain”, with some very Debussyan whole tones and other typical harmonie ideas. “The Day Mr. Bartok Lost His Scales”, after a deliberately dissonant opening, develops into an increasingly fast folk melody over a drone bass and some crunchy notes within, just to spice things up a bit. “How Mr. Metheny Met Mr. Kapsberger” consists of a chord sequence with some gently dissonant modulations, first written à la jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, followed by a variant in the manner of baroque lutenist Giovanni Kapsberger. “Mr. Prokofiev Lost His Glasses” has a walking bass idea that gradually gets more anxious and dissonant as our hero looks for his lost spectacles (?), only to “find” them towards the end, where musical normally is restored. The final “Waltz for Mr. Satie” really sounds like a piece Erik Satie never got around to writing, with its gentle, very French-sounding clashes in the manner of Satie’s Gymnopedies, but set to a slow waltz. This set is humorous and fun to play, and not terribly difficult, although a certain maturity is required to do them full justice. Definitely worth the effort, though!
-Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
