Work

Programme Note

Written in 1972 for my daughter Katherine. She was at the time learning the guitar and I was endeavouring to teach myself the sitar from the Ravi Shankar book.. In attempting to marry the two instruments, the piece inevitably borrows bits from Indian music: the drone, the modal approach and the association of drumming with sitar-playing (though the “drummer” here is the guitarist). It remains however, basically western in concept: it is fully notated, the mode is Messiaen’s mode 2, and the sitarist is required to stop the tonic drone during the middle section of the piece allowing the guitarist to provide three substitute chords – in other words, “modulation”!

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences:

• Indian

Dedication:

For Katherine