River Fragments

River Fragments was commissioned by SoloDuo (Lorenzo Micheli and Matteo Mela). The premiere took place on 11^th September 2021 at the Auditorium Pollini, Padua, Italy, as part of the International Guitar Festival “Homenaje”.

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River Fragments is a set of pieces based on musical material extracted from my Koblenz Concerto for two guitars and orchestra (2019). Each of the three movements depicts a setting on the river Rhine.

The Waterfalls at Schaffhausen were painted many times by J.M.W. Turner who was endlessly fascinated by the play of light on the effervescent and troubled water as it cascaded over the rocks and drops of the falls. In contrast, Deep River evokes the mood and character of the Rhine at its most static and peaceful, as envisaged in Andreas Gursky’s photograph, “Rhein II.”

Castle in the Air transports us to the world of the romantic castles that decorate the Rhine. I was particularly drawn to the Stolzenfels Castle at Koblenz, a Gothic revival fantasy that reminded me of an Escher painting – an impossible labyrinth of turrets and staircases (that all look similar) which don’t seem to lead anywhere. Here the music goes round and round in circles: the harmony is based on an elaborate design of falling thirds. Whenever music returns, it is never quite the same.

© Stephen Goss