David Tanenbaum

As a collection, these pieces reflect some trends for guitar music in the 80's -- a freedom from the influence of the Spanish tradition; individual and disparate languages of composition; the blurring of stylistic divisions; and the increased incorporation of the guitar in chamber music settings. These five pieces incorporate, in turn, a painting, a Central African horn theme (Reich's "Electric Counterpoint" -- recorded here in its first entirely acoustic rendition), an abstract form, the nocturnal sounds of the Carribean, and a poem that was inspired by a painting. Three generations of composers are represented here. Of the five, only Takemitsu plays guitar. Tippett and Reich first turned their attention to the solo guitar in the 1980's, as many composers did, while Davies and Takemitsu continued career long associations with the instrument. Sierra had written for both guitar and string quartet when I decided to commission him to enrich the chamber repertoire.