Les 100 de Roland Dyens - Um retrato sò

This piece is marked “Malincolico, con Saudade”, and consists of almost continuous semiquavers with a lower melody underneath the 1st and 4th of most groups of the four semiquavers. There are plenty of places where the notes gently clash an open area where the 3rd-string melody reaches fret 12, whilst open 1st and 2nd strings are playing. It is a melodic and moving little piece with a coda where one meets a “repeat and fade” instruction during a repeated pair of bars playing an altered A minor sequence. This is et thoughtful little piece with a sad under-current to it that makes it rewarding to play, whilst having a dual purpose of being a really useful study piece too. Yet another winner in this fine series.

Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)