.M.

Programme notes

(Dixit Casteels) I was commissioned by my friend, the guitarist Didier Ballenghien, to compose a piece for solo guitar. The title, .M. (with a dot before and after the capital letter) is a tribute to Didier's wife, Meriem Ballenghien. The structure of the work is unique: eight variations are presented in reverse order, culminating in the theme. The variations are:

• Variation 8: Rapid, light, and dance-like

• Variation 7: Nostalgic, calm, and shimmering

• Variation 6: Smiling waltz

• Variation 5: Elegant with a hint of irony

• Variation 4: Very rapid

• Variation 3: Dramatic and emphatic

• Variation 2: Slow, very free, rhapsodic, as if improvised

• Variation 1: Moderato

Only at the very end does the short, majestic theme appear. This theme is revealed to be the presentation, in contrary motion and equal quarter notes, of a recurring six-note chord (E flat - A - D - G - C - F sharp) that permeates the entire piece. This chord evokes E flat major, but lacks the leading tone, featuring a raised supertonic and a raised subdominant.

Thus, the subtitle is Eight Variations in Search of Their Theme in an E Flat-ish Major.

I received assistance with the fingerings from the Filipino guitarist, Gladwin Pantastico

Handwritten sketches and drafts

to be found in chapter XIV page 2 of the white cover, A3 size, 600 pages sketchbook and page 39 of the blue cover logbook #5