Suite No. 2 “Siegfried”

1. Prélude
2. Allemande
3. Courante
4. Sarabande
5. Danse de l’étrage
6. Gigue

Suite #2 "Siegfried" is dedicated to the British painter Paul Storey. It was commissioned by the Festival "Guitaromania" of Agen for an exhibition at l'Eglise des Jacobins that was premiered on May 21, 2008.

Through our frequent travels and countless discussions, Paul has directly impacted my understanding of composition and esthetics. Since he is an impassioned guitarist himself, it seemed natural for us to work together and create an exposition that combined the visual arts with a large-scale guitar composition (The Ring Triptych).
The Suite "Siegfried" (23 min) is the central solo section of the larger-scale work that uses electronics along with guitar (45 min).  It evokes the death of Siegfried, the hero from the legend of the Nibelungen, a central figure in Richard Wagner's well-known opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen".  The Suite "Siegfried" blends British 20th century music language with dance forms of the 17th century.
Benoît ALBERT, February 2011