Description
Eight pieces for solo guitar :
I. Innocence Asleep; II. Lamento (Gethsemane); III. Hyde Park Rag; IV. Fantasia from the other bank; V. Prelude in Dorian mode (Dorian Serendipity); VI. The Princess's Tune; VII. Quelques minutes espagnoles; VIII. Sketch in Blue
A series of guitar solos illustrating some of the moods and discoveries of the composer when he was young and fancy free ... at college.
Christianity:
- Innocence Asleep - a gentle tune depicting the baby Jesus
- Lamento (Gethsemane) - part of a long lost Easter Suite, reflecting the sorrow in the Garden
Holidays
- Hyde Park Rag - a quasi ragtime composed on the composer's first outing from Oxford to London.
Sexuality
- Fantasia from the other bank - the downward sweep of the strangely augmented chord represents the composer's initial feeling of surprise when he realises he is "from the other bank" ("vom anderen Ufer" is German slang for gay)
Musical discoveries
- Prelude in Dorian mode (Dorian Serendipity) - the beginning of a long love affair with this mode, in which the major 6th and minor third give a special flavour.
- The Princess's Tune - a curiously atonal piece based on a short theme given to the composer by a "very shy" fellow student known as the Princess.
- Quelques minutes espagnoles - first venture into the Spanish flavours of guitar music
- Sketch in Blue - an early experiment making use of blues harmonies