Fantasy – Sketches

Subtitled 24 pieces in all the major and minor keys, this is a demanding and fascinating collection of short pieces. The composer's objective to create pieces of great brevity combined with structural and thematic completion was a very ambitious idea - the sort of self-imposed discipline that often brings out the best in a writer. The added complication of a complete key-cycle is the extra dimension that adds rigour - and scary factor. Guitarists do not like key signatures of any length, and the more remote-from-normal keys here are appreciably harder to read one's way through, and more tiring on the left hand as open strings disappear from the available harmony. Sometimes familiar-looking chords appear like friendly islands of repose before the music sinks back to its unfamiliar key. Almost before he's started the first piece in C, Dumigan is straining at the tonal leash with modal-ish F sharps pulling away. Throughout the set the music is impulsive and prone to restlessness, with key changes that can be tricky to follow. There is a wide range of moods and some very clear and at times jocular tempo instructions. There is virtually no fingering present, which gives great latitude for experiment, but I often found myself asking for some guidance where different options exist. (.) Some individual items stay in middle grade requirements, but the set as a whole is only likely to appeal to upper grade players with good reading and a sense of adventure and an interest in quirky modern writing. To them this collection is very highly recommended as quite an achievement in contemporary guitar composition.
Stephen Kenyon (Classical Guitar Magazine)