Work
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Equinox, for guitarYear: 1993
Genre: Other Chamber
Pr. Instrument: Guitar
This beautiful work for solo guitar, lasting slightly under five minutes, is built primarily on a theme with an ascending and descending curve that suggests both the circular motions of planets and (consequently) the cyclic nature of the seasons, marked by the occurence of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Besides fulfilling this function as a gestural analogy, the theme also expresses the haunting quality of a lamentation ... perhaps for the inevitablity of this natural movement and for the fate of the universe and humankind.
The guitar receives a scordatura, or special tuning, that both emphasizes the tritone harmonies and allows strings not normally played open to take advantage of that rich resonance. The retuning, reading upward from the low E string, is E'', B flat', G', D', A, and E flat.
Between the flowing curves, usually delivered in a triple-meter feeling, there are passages of complex and beautiful parallel chords, sometimes suggesting the Impressionistic period or a fleeting Spanish style. The final passage is in fact built on these chords and leaves the listener hanging.
© All Music Guide



