Guitar Quintet (1973)

“No single composer who is a non-guitarist,” it was authoritatively pronounced during Stephen Dodgson’s 80th birthday celebrations, “has contributed in such a major way to the guitar repertoire, and in such varied genres.” Popular instrument though the guitar is, however, Dodgson has in no way written down for it or its wide audience. The Guitar Quintet – which was commissioned for Julian Bream and the Sartori Quartet by Lancaster University in 1973 – might be described as neo-baroque in style and is certainly tonal in harmony, but it is not easy to get to know.

While the first movement is clear enough in its broadly French-overture outlines, with Largo outer sections framing a central Vivo, the detail is elusive, largely because the material is not profiled in such a way as to give obvious priority to the most significant themes. It is only in retrospect that one could know that, of the four string lines in the opening bars, it is the three-note rising motif on first violin rather than the more active second-violin part that is important – more even than the lyrical guitar melody that emerges half-way through the Largo section. The Vivo, introduced by a pizzicato cello, is an intricate mosaic of ideas which, developed and varied in frequently changing metres, constantly generate new material. But for the three-note motif imposed on the shifting pattern, initially by first violin and then at all levels in the texture, orientation would be difficult here.

The way through the Scherzo – which derives its interest largely from the contrast between the rhythmic energy of a motif introduced in the opening bars by guitar with cello and viola and the more sensuous appeal of a chromatic melody for legato strings – is not difficult to find. The Chaconne, on the other hand, follows an ever more elusive course as it wanders away from the seven-bar theme delicately plucked by the guitar at the outset. Following baroque precedent, however, its regular cycle of 18 seven-bar variations presents not only a wide range of colour but also a readily perceptible onward momentum.