Adagio et passacaille

Work from a writer who obviously knows the fingerboard

'Parisian-born guitarist/composer Arnaud Dumond has an impressive list of achievements behind him, including having won prizes in various competitions, performed in over 40 different countries, composed a relatively large body of works, and having made at least 15 recordings. This newly published work shows Dumond to be an inventive and stylish writer who composes in an attractive manner and who obviously is knowledgeable of the guitar fingerboard. "Adagio et Passacaille" is actually written as a guitar duet, the flute line being ad lib. As a duet it works well; the sequence of the chord passages is passed back and forth between the two players in fairly equal amounts, with the guitarist not having the sequence performing variations, which include fast scales passages, high position work, note clusters, varying rhythms, and more. Although the work is firmly fixed in the 21st century, there are many allusions to the Baroque era, which adds greatly to the enjoyment of the work. To my mind, the addition of an extra melodic line if the flute is included is superfluous: the work becomes much busier and there is a melody overload; it functions much better as a guitar duet. The technical standard is of the higher-intermediate level and the edition comes with full score and separate parts.'

Steve Marsch (Classical Guitar Magazine)