Splice Explores Guitar Sfx

“Seikilos Epitaph’s Fantasy” project explores a rich diversity in compositional styles, ideas, textures, sonorities and archetypes.

The guitar can cross musical boundaries like no other instrument, its shape-shifting qualities conveying it instantly, from biting twang to gentle iridescence. A guitar quartet performing Australian contemporary works may seem one-dimensional on paper, but this is a truly thrilling and beautiful album. It helps, of course, that Guitar Trek’s skill and musicianship on each of their myriad instruments is staggering—Nigel Westlake’s cinematic 6 Fish shimmers on the group’s steel-stringed instruments, while Richard Charlton’s Guitar Quartet No. 8 “Five Tails in Cold Blood” inspires ensemble work of mesmerizing precision with fizzing, jazz-inspired licks. Phillip Houghton’s kaleidoscopic, emotive Opal explores every inch of the guitars’ musical potential. Ending the album, Elena Kats-Chernin’s “Bleached Memories” pays a lighthearted, ragtime homage to the guitar’s Baroque heritage.

Repertoire for solo guitar has gained in depth and quality in recent decades, with acoustic and electronic techniques enjoying an ever more imaginative coexistence. Arturo Tallini’s recital explores contrasting approaches for his instrument, beginning with the ostinato textures of Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, an acknowledged classic in this field. Tallini’s transcriptions of early piano works by Cage create a mood of reverie, while Carter’s Changes forms a mercurial dialogue. James Dashow’s iPiece fuses acoustic and electronic elements to stunning effect, while Arthur Kampela’s Percussion Studies have proved pivotal in exploring new sounds for the guitar.