Program Notes

This work for two guitars won the Cygnus Ensemble's 1999 Composition Competition, the prize was a Merkin hall performance by the  Anderson-Fader Guitar Duo. Since then the outstanding William Anderson and Oren Fader have given me a composer's ultimate compliment: they've played the piece over thirty times throughout the United States, in Denmark and Mexico, and on multiple live radio broadcasts.  

As the title implies, Fantasy on Twelve Strings is through-composed, with many emotional ups and downs. Though its moods might sometimes be excited, tender, fearful, or exuberant, overall it keeps a spunky character that grows from its strong pulse and syncopated rhythmic motives. The general outline of the one-movement work is as follows:

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  I. Excited, with nervous energy; Each guitar introduces one theme respectively that will permeate the entire work.

 II. Pizzicato; There is no pause between this and the preceding section. A polyrhythmic motive in one guitar is punctuated by melodic riffs        in the other. The pizzicato effect creates a mood of suppressed tension.

 III. Desolate; Slow and sparse, with an ostinato consisting of bell-like harmonics.

 IV. Kinky; More harmonics grow from those in the preceding section. To my ear the mood is a mixture of subtle funky and subtle perverse.

  V. Cantando; A brief, lush response to the preceding section.

 VI. Ominous; Like section two above, this consists of a pizzicato background with melodic outbursts. The mood, however, is very different.

 VII. Exuberant; This section functions as a recapitulation of the opening.

VIII. Sweet, expressive; This section functions as a coda.