2 Consonnes

The first piece Enne is on two staves throughout much of its length, the top stave being at the beginning an open B being played on the offbeat, with the melody and odd harmonies ending up on stave two in direct rhythmic contradiction to the open B. So immediately one spends a fair amount of time trying to accommodate the clashing rhythms, a real case of rubbing your head and patting your tummy at the same time! After 32 bars the opening melody returns topped with a counter melody surrounding the open Bs, before developing still further in its middle section and as a result getting edgy and somewhat emotional too. Then a new idea brings relative calm, continuing for quite a time before closing on a gradual repeat and fade.
Number two, Elle is ostensibly in 4/4 and E major, but has a complex semiquaver idea that stretches over two bars but in odd groups of 2s and 3s and 4s resulting in an idea that is almost constantly on the offbeat. With more than a hint of the sort of style employed by many acoustic players currently, this piece crosses several musical borders and is extremely difficult to play. At seven pages in length this piece does not let up on its semiquaver assault for a bar and anyone who can play this would certainly, to start with, have an advanced technique.
So, two interesting pieces that require an extremely good performing technique to do them justice and are both worth playing, if you are physically able to do so.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)