The same movement: a corner of William Walton’s Bagatelle #1Prompted by a random end-of-year question from Mark Delpriora, which clearly got under my skin…Jan 2, 2022Jan 2, 2022
Last one to the barré: a Piazzolla challengeHaving got a couple of my lockdown challenges learnt (and on one case edited) and casting around for the next piece to try, I’ve been…Dec 14, 2020Dec 14, 2020
Writing for Guitar and Piano — a dozen observationsWhenever I’ve played with a pianist, audiences have always commented on how well the combination works. This is surprising — we think of…Nov 23, 2020Nov 23, 2020
Antonio José’s Sonata for Guitar — notes on an editionThe circumstances of the discovery, recording and publication of Antonio José’s Sonata for guitar are well documented in the two available…Jul 12, 2020Jul 12, 2020
Scaling up — orchestral arrangements of guitar worksComposers sometimes arrange their original works for smaller forces for orchestra: one thinks in particular of Ravel’s consummate…Aug 3, 2019Aug 3, 2019
Transcribing, arranging, translating: reflections on Albéniz on the guitarIn the shadow of Gödel, Escher, Bach’s extraordinary intellectual and linguistic virtuosity, Douglas Hofstadter’s later work Le Ton Beau de…Mar 24, 20182Mar 24, 20182
Looking back: 20 years of repertoire in lunchtime recitals at St Mary le BowPlaying a couple of weeks ago at St Mary le Bow in London I realised that I’d been giving lunchtime concerts in this beautiful City church…Oct 7, 2017Oct 7, 2017
The Aranjuez cadenza, and why it’s (even) harder than you think…The adagio from Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez: there is surely no more widely known and popular movement in the guitar repertoire, and…Jul 26, 2017Jul 26, 2017
A tale of two editionsSo recently (well, not so recently) I was grumbling about the quality of a recent edition of a major guitar work, rediscovered in…Oct 3, 2016Oct 3, 2016
