Septiembre Son (Septembre)

Un an sur l’île - 12 études de concert

September probably has the best weather of all the months; my good friend Isaac Noël, one of this piece’s two dedicatees, was born in this ideal time. As to the other dedicatee, René Izquierdo, it was while listening to him in concert that it occurred to me to dress this étude in a Cuban flavour. From these two elements we get the title, Septiembre Son.

This is an étude of articulation in many forms: legato and staccato, accents (those that are written out, as well as those subtleties of attack that are implicit in this style of music), a wide range of dynamics, from ppp to fff, and, finally, slurs (simple slurs, simultaneous slurs in the same direction, simultaneous slurs in the opposite direction, as well as slurs executed at the same moment that the right hand plucks a note).

The player will hopefully note that many passages would be much more difficult to play if not for the staccatos in that passage, as the shortened note length allows left hand fingers to lift early and be ready for the next notes. Fingering is minimal, each player will need to sort out their own fingerings, fingerings that work well for the player, yet allow the notes to be held for their full length. Where there are no staccato indications, please play as legato as possible. The guitarists will also need to decide which staccatos are achieved by use of the right hand, and which are simply a matter of lifting a left-hand finger. When two simultaneous notes of the same length are each marked with a staccato, it is best to block all strings, to avoid any remaining sympathetic resonances, thereby creating a total, albeit short silence.

In the last bars, diminuendo alla Dyens is indicated with the repeat symbols. This is in memory of Roland Dyens, and the effect is to repeat the bars many times over, always getting softer and softer, and to keep the fingers moving for a bit after you’ve stopped making any sound.