I have played through and reviewed works by the American guitarist/composer Nathan Kolosko before and as far as I can recall have never been disappointed by anything he has written. Luminance, I am pleased to write, is no exception. Dedicated to the Taiwan visual artist, Ling-Wen Tsai (whose work, by the way, is definitely worth checking out on the Internet). This composition is in five movements, all fairly short, all having an oriental flavour and each one contributing to making this suite a first-rate piece of writing for the cello and guitar repertoire. The mood for the most part tends to lean towards sad and reflective, but this is not depressing music just very emotive. An unusual feature, but extremely effective in this context, comes with the fourth movement (marked Sly, cunning) where the guitarist has to play single melody notes using a brass or glass slide throughout. Playing ensemble music is one of the most pleasant experiences in music making and if you happen to be around Intermediate Grade and know a decent cellist give this work a try, I doubt you'll be disappointed. The presentation is excellent with the guitar part being read from the score (with no page turns) and a separate part for the cellist.
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
