Under the Influence of Poetry

The Sunspark - Sonnet - Song - Estrelluvio

Moscow-born guitarist Nadia Borislova is currently based in Mexico where this work was awarded the First National Award for Composition in a guitar competition in 2003. In an imaginative contemporary style Borislova exploits musical ideas requiring advanced techniques in four movements. The Sunspark, based on Octavio paz's poem The Sunstone, has an evocative opening, involving rubbing the strings over shifting chords and percussive effects, followed by arpeggiated sextuplets, requiring left hand flexibility in some extremely demanding stretches. A misterioso section continues the sextuplet rhythm as an ostinato sustained notes and ornamentation provide a contrasting bell-like effect. The following Allegretto passage has humorous touches of chromatic harmony, employing parallel fifths and tritones, before the misterioso returns, leading back to material from the introduction.
Sonnet (influenced by Mirrors, from Sonnets to Orfeo by Rainer Maria Rilke) opens with driving accented quaver rhythms and includes pizzicato runs and accented
chords. A second section, marked Meno mosso ad lib. provides a contrastingly melodic and haunting passage in E flat major, followed by sustained chords leading to a closing pizzicato arpeggio run up to a top B.
Song is based on a poem by the same author and employs tremolo after a slow introduction. Haunting and angular, the melody has an improvisatory feel with some startlingly beautiful moments of harmony. The fourth movement is based on the poem Under the Influence of poetry by Jose Luis Vega and dedicated to the author, marked Tranquillo misterioso, this opens an effective section using natural harmonics. The following rubato presents snatches of melody between phrases of harmonics. Quaver movement is stepped up to semiquavers in a demanding Animato section, which involves strummed harmonics, glissandos and repeated arpeggio ideas, before the opening tempo returns and glissando and harmonics ideas are combined in a repeated figure which dies away to the close.
Borislova is uncompromising in her use of the guitar, with much of her material involving repeating textures using the full range of the fingerboard. An advanced fluent technique is required plus great stamina and musicality, There is very little fingering given, but other indications are clear. A great challenge for those looking for an extensive work in contemporary style.
Linda Kelsall-Barnett (Classical Guitar Magazine)