Si un dia el olvido

Abstract

Background: This event involved the commercial release of "Si un día el olvido...", a virtuoso work for solo guitar composed in 1992-6, recorded for the first time by New Zealand guitarist Campbell Ross for the Parma Recordings-Ravello Records in the US. Contribution: The triptych presents attractive technical and artistic challenges for the virtuoso performer. The slow paced first movement offers abundant situations to shape expression through extreme control of colour and dynamics. The second movement presents virtuosic running figures that are fast pulsing yet highly lyrical –much in the manner of an aria for soprano coloratura. The third movement challenges the performer to achieve cohesion while transiting passages of sudden contrasts, ambiguous direction, and mystifying emotional flow. Significance: The balanced combination of refinement of language and technical demands received praise from the highly trained performers, such as the words from Professor Ken Keaton, first PhD in Guitar in the US: "The music is dissonant but not expressionist, and programmatic but not specific -fascinating stuff, ... It was worth the wait."