...I'm pleased to report that Kamendja is a powerful and imaginative concert work in three movements. The title, it seems, refers to a bowed instrument from north west Africa, and the musical content is every inch the aggressive, tribal stuff we were all secretly hoping it would be.
The opening Rencontre, in which the two guitars start by hammering out a syncopated theme one octave apart, sounds pretty much like a declaration of war on any third party who happens to be around, and it is only in the central Séduction that any kind of civilised dialogue is allowed to develop. In the final Célébration, triumphant chord strums in 10/8 lead to an impressive display of percussive effects, all of which are fully explained in the preface.
Not the most sophisticated work ever published, but an honest and enthusiastic piece of writing which I confidently predict will be as much fun to hear as it is to play.
(Paul Fowles, Classical Guitar)
