My ongoing series of Preludes began as an off-shoot of my concerto Rhapsody on a Spanish Theme. As in that work, the basic idea was to write music more or less in the style of the great Romantic pianist-composers. This involves using the characteristic harmonies, rhythms, textures or formal ideas of Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff et al, ranging from pseudo-original ideas through to outright thievery (whether conscious or subconscious).

This is conceived as an ongoing, somewhat open-ended project, with more pieces gradually being added in the next few years.

Preludes (2007 - ) [work in progress]
for solo guitar

  

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Prelude No. 1 is an arpeggio study in C major, adapted from Chopin's Op. 10 No. 1, and employing a cello-like tuning that I like a lot. For guitarists, it will be reminiscent of Villa-Lobos's First Etude, but with a lot more jumping around of the left hand!