Pablo Montagne
Bergmann Edition : Score and separate parts (24, 10 and 10 pages respectively )
Every so often, a piece of music arrives on my doorstep that almost defeats description. Here is a composer who has actively researched into improvisation along with composition for his instrument and as a result this latest piece comes along which basically carries that idea forward.
It is furthermore important to read the composer’s notes at the front of the book, because there he explains exactly what he expects from the performers
Set in three movements , the first one has arpeggiated patterns constantly along the page but in such a way that the performers can decide a great deal of exactly what happens and when. Here is an example of a small portion of these notes to give you an idea of what you would be expected to do at the opening of the first movement.
‘Pattern 2; Guitar 2 plays new pattern while Guitar 1proceeds with the preceding pattern without interruption. When the Pattern is new for both guitars (ex. Pattern 11) it will be the first guitar to decide when to start using it. It is not important that the two guitars begin this pattern together, in fact the first guitar may start the new representation without warning and it is up to the second guitar to follow on even with a delay of a few seconds.’
The second movement has a multitude of groups of notes to be strummed along with occasional arpeggiated figures similar to the first movement. Again a quote from the notes explains it better than I could:-
‘During the second movement the parts must be played independently one from the other while respecting the range of the various sections. It is actually this, the two guitars’ state of being out of phase that creates the correct sound structure. If ever there were ( by chance or by mistake) to be a tendency to play in the same time for too long, one should take care to modify one’s speed by slowing down or hurrying a little.’
So to follow what those previous notes said, if you happen to be actually playing together, then you really shouldn’t be!
I could go on, but I think you can see that this piece is definitely only for a particular sort of guitar duo, and the actual music itself is exceedingly unusual but can be heard on a YouTube performance , should you be intrigued enough to hear it.
Otherwise I doubt that there are many duos who will find this piece satisfying enough to try it.
Chris Dumigan
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