John Arran
Classical Guitar Magazine

This comment was taken from a review in Classical Guitar magazine about my piece, 4 Dialogues for Two Guitars. The piece is published by Lathkill Music, http://www.lathkillmusic.co.uk, and the published score was reviewed by John Arran, who is himself a composer. The full review follows:

This is a complex work, written for the Scottish Guitar Duo and I hope performed by them. I particularly like the way the music, particularly the first movement, evolves. The handling of the changes of mood and tempo are superb. The stretto at the end of this movement gives a great sense of climax without straining the resources of the instrument.

The second movement, Calmo ma ritmico has an insistent chordal accompaniment in 6/8 against a melody in simple time the progress of which is punctuated by dramatically accented quaver chords.
The Molto Ritmico, which forms movement three, is a toccata-like piece, which moves easily through various time signatures. Watson uses his ideas sparingly using each to expand or contract to make the shape of the piece.

The final Lento – rubato e espressivo, uses the Lento to begin and end the piece, the Allegro which is thus framed, is hectic while never losing control. The writing also gives one a sense of bringing the other movements into focus by referring briefly to previous moments.

This is a beautifully crafted composition, the way the music is constructed and developed is a model for all who write for the instrument. The effect is that of a superb piece which luckily just happens to have been written for guitar.