Guitar
Note from the Composer: Greetings guitarists! While I have a few works that include guitar, this is definitely an area of my catalogue I would love to develop further. If you’re interested in working together on something new, let’s chat soon! In the meantime, I’m always happy to recommend works by other living composers.
Return to The Library | Commission Information
Current Commission Discounts:
All commissions with guitar will receive 50% off their total commission price for proposals submitted before May 1, 2024. This includes solo works (with or without accompaniment) and chamber music (up to 8 players). No large ensemble works for this opportunity, please.
Unaccompanied Solo Works
A Tiger Walks in Thunder for solo guitar or guitar with piano (2020)
This work has not yet been recorded—a MIDI rendering of the work is available at the link above.
Duration: 3’45”
Commissioner: Walter, for his granddaughter Layla
Commissioned by a guitarist to play with his five-year-old granddaughter, A Tiger Walks in Thunder works as both a solo work for guitar as well as a solo with a textural soundscape provided by piano.
Layla’s love of tigers and rain serve as the inspiration for the piece—both the careful padding and purring of the tiger calmly walking and lurking as well as the gentle drops of rain growing denser can be heard in this lush, solo version for guitar.
You can read more about this work on my blog post linked here.
Pricing
Solo version, digital: $8
PDF includes a full guitar score formatted for page turns.
Commissions from Quarantine: 7. Peaceful and Full of Hope for solo guitar (2020)
Duration: 4’00”
Commissioner: Heike Matthiesen (YouTube)
Beginning with a melancholy tune, Peaceful and Full of Hope explores a variety of moods and textures. Sections of strongly-voiced chords and downward runs, scattered uses of the guitar’s sparkling upper register, and large contrasts in dynamics and tone, make this a challenging-but-fulfilling work for any professional guitarist.
Commissions from Quarantine: 13. Calm, Somber for solo guitar (2020)
This work has not yet been recorded—a MIDI rendering is available upon request.
Duration: 3’00”
Commissioner: Anonymous
This simple work for guitar uses a simple melody and accompaniment textures that ebb in and out of an ostinato. Exploring the expressive elements of the upper strings and the warm resonance of the lower strings, this work gives the performer the opportunity to showcase their expressivity and emotional depth over technical prowess alone—making this an approachable work for a wide range of guitarists.
Duos with Guitar
Cross-Talk for tenor saxophone and guitar (2021)
To read more about this work, visit the blog post linked here.
Duration: 5’45”
Commissioner: SANS; duo (Website)
Commissioned by SANS; duo members Brian Ellis (guitar) and Jonathan Hostottle (saxophone) during the pandemic, Cross-Talk was written as part of a concert of pieces premiered from two coasts simultaneously on Zoom. Needing to make the score flexible enough to work with the inevitable lag but still maintain the feeling of connection and interactivity, the piece plays on this struggle as the voices begin to “talk past” one another. The result is a work that ebbs and flows between order and chaos, giving the listeners a fun challenge to identify just how much is specified in advance.
Pricing
Full score, digital: $20
PDF includes a full performance score (transposed and formatted for page turns).
Think’st Thou Then By Thy Feigning Sleep for soprano vocalist and guitar (2020)
This work has not yet been recorded—a MIDI rendering is available upon request.
Duration: 5’50”
Commissioner: Jannis Wichmann (Website)
Commissioned as part of the Project 12 commissioning series by Jannis Wichmann to be included on a recital of works revisiting settings of John Donne works, Think’st Thou Then By Thy Feigning Sleep is a haunting and violent work for guitar and soprano setting the poem by the same name. In the poem, the speaker states that the woman he’s watching is feigning sleep, but that won’t keep him from her—ultimately concluding, however, that he will not do more than kiss her, even though he yearns to do more. This setting taps into a more voyeuristic and resentful reading of the poem—with creeping lines, dramatic outbursts, and wide leaps in the voice.
Pricing
Digital: $8
PDF includes a full score. Available in other keys at no additional cost.
Looking for more?
You may also find more works for guitar in the Large Mixed Ensemble section of The Library—or reach out to me directly! If I don’t have what you’re looking for, I’m always happy to recommend other living composers who might have just the thing!