Guitar solo
SKU:
GH.GE-11464
Composed
by Benjamin Staern.
Duration 15 minutes.
Gehrmans Musikforlag #GE
11464. Published by
Gehrmans Musikforlag
(GH.GE-11464).
ISBN
979-0-070-11464-6. A4
inches.
Work note
by the composer:
When I received the news
of this commission, I had
no idea what it would
lead to. Writing for
guitar solo is not the
same as composing for
orchestra where you have
forty voices where you
can easily mask an entire
section. Here you are
very naked to the
bone.
The starting
point for this work was
from J.S. Bach's Chaconne
in D-minor that Johannes
had performed in concert,
originally written for
violin but there is a
version transcribed for
guitar and piano made by
Ferruccio Busoni. When I
went to Cortona (in
Tuscany, Italy) completed
the southern mentality of
this work.
Arpalineais
actually a merged word in
Italian language.
Arpa means
harp, however in a
musical context it's more
or less resembled with
the word arpeggio,
which means broken
chords. Lineameans
line.
The
work is divided in three
parts.
I. Arpeggio:
It starts with an opening
chaconne-like sequence
and is marked with a
certain depth in which
the chords starts to
separate from the organum
note in the bass and it
culminates into a section
called with rhythmical
focus. These sections
alternates, variates
which each other.
The
middle section has a
playful and childish
atmosphere where the
guitarist knocks on the
body of the guitar
resembling a Spanish folk
instrument cajon. This is
leading to a section
which tends more to a
very aggressive
fusion-like riff that
loses control and reaches
its climax at the
end.
II. Linea:
The static rhytmical
pulse is now
disintegrated and it
forms more or less sort
of a free,
improvisational state in
a rubatolike tempo. The
character is described as
a very hot day with
temperatures rising above
37! C (or 100! F) where
you can hardly do
anything just sitting
dozed off and pespiring
because of the extreme
heat watching a huge fog
coming up in the evening
that spreads around the
Tuscan atmosphere.
III. Finale: It
starts off with fast
one-note ostinati then
more and more notes pop
up like a gradual rain
storm with thunder
strikes! And eventually
it leads to that is a
large flood through the
streets of an medieval
Southern town. The work
ends with a short circuit
slapped strings along
with extremely fast
tremolos that reaches
higher and louder as
possible!
Benjamin
Staern
