Fredonnements - The Menlove Avenue Dreamer

THE MENLOVE AVENUE DREAMER is the fourth in a set of pieces for a quartet of guitars (all published separately) and coming under the main title of Fredonnements. This final movement of the set has a curious title which I assume to be a reference to John Lennon who once lived in Menlove Avenue.
It opens with a widely spaced chord based on whole tones spread over the four players. The whole tone scale was widely used by Debussy and other French composers particularly and definitely conveys the dreaminess of the title in spite of it developping into an insistent rhythmic idea shortly after. Then a rather oriental first guitar melody continues the theme over repeated chords elsewhere before high pitched shriek like sounds on guitar two leads to the players 3 and 4 having to shout the word «Shoot!« over a climactic staccato idea in guitars 1 and 2. This obvious reference to Lennon's murder leads to a moment of hiatus before everything dies down uneasily on a semi-tonal crunch. Then a Più lento idea over a pizzicato bass and sustained chords in guitars 2 and 3 heralds in an emotive melody which subsequently returns to Tempo I where an agitated repeated chord accompaniment is surrounded by high and low tremolando single note lines. Then an ad lib. solo section on guitar 1 leads to a slightly latin rhythm over which an arpeggiated melody holds sway. Ideas are constantly changing now and (...) continues right to the coda where everything dies away on an E minor chord.
This is an interesting piece, dramatic and a little unusual in one or two areas that would benefit any relatively advanced quartet.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)