Broken Dance

“Dedicated to Andrew Zohn, this is a complex piece of writing requiring skill to realise it well. Proponents of “tapping”, which has become a whole sub-genre of acoustic guitar, will enjoy the left and right hands both playing on the fingerboard in this piece. Great fun, but mind those nails! The opening calls up right hand pizzicato in some lines and left hand pizzicato in others, layering two slightly different textures onto the two slightly different motifs. The time is irregular, moving between 5/8 and 7/8 in non-quite-strict alternation. The opening is light and fresh, with pauses that increase the suspense, and some simple and nicely fingered harmonics add to the, mood. Much is made of the strengths and characteristics of the guitar, using open strings to increase the note density without adding complexity. Different parts have different rhythmic groupings that overlap in constantly changing ways; provided the players are confident, this again variety and movement without undue exertion. As the pace of the music increases, there are almost fugue-like entries. As each evolves to new notes, there are dissonances and gratings that come and go, but some, such as A, G# and G all at the same time were so severe that I stopped hearing the lines independently and just heard the clashes. There was something vaguely hypnotic about this section, which is followed by a much lower and audibly more confusing passage, where the tapping on the lower strings is adding clatter as well as clutter. Much of the writing is based around repeating shapes - think Villa-Lobos Prelude 3 or Brouwer Etude 6. But the comparison is not straightforward - I found this piece more pleasing to play than to listen to.” Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)