When I was a kid we had a scrap of paper stuck to the kitchen wall next to an old football card of Gordon Banks. I used to stand on tip-toe to stare at this scrap as my Mum worked away in the background skinning rabbits or chopping up conger eels. It had this poem written on it: 

THE GUITAR

The weeping of the guitar begins.

The goblets of dawn are smashed.

The weeping of the guitar begins.

Useless to silence it.

Impossible to silence it.

It weeps monotonously as water weeps

as the wind weeps over snowfields.

Impossible to silence it.

It weeps for distant things.

Hot southern sands yearning for white camellias.

Weeps arrow without target evening without morning

and the first dead bird on the branch.

Oh, guitar! Heart mortally wounded by five swords.

Federico Garcia Lorca

Photos from Richard's "Musical Forensics" Spanish Guitar Night. Ropetackle Centre Shoreham. Taken by Chris Williams. Stage & Lights by Bill Hammond.

On Sunday the 23rd of Jan Richard played a wonderful concert in Arthouse 13 in Velp in the Netherlands (Kunsthuis 13) at the invitation of director José Alferink and sponsor Henk Put. It was a concert not to be forgotten I must admit, starting with some wonderful South American pieces and also including works played on tenor banjo, ukelele and mandolin (I never knew that JS Bach could sound so special on the first two instruments). My personal highlights were certainly the RD compositions 'Exploring the Deep' and 'The Early Learning Sonata'.  The audience simply loved all of it - especially the request spot.  The setting and the atmosphere were perfect. Words of praise throughout...

The concert included moments from the new Dutch theatre show which will start in the new season. I can't wait for a next visit. Hope it isn't that long...

Léon Collaris
programmer theatre Bemmel

Here's a picture of the Groswangen  gig last Wednesday.

And here I sit in Bemmel awaiting tomorrow's recital in Velp. Having driven nearly 2,000 km's in less than a week its good to find a handy p.c to download pictures and keep in touch.

Resen Church, Nijmegen, Holland.  13.11.04

Electro/Acoustic Improvisation to include the following pieces:

Subdominator                                    Richard Durrant

Here Comes the Sun                        George Harrison

Atikatika                                             Simon Limbrick (for Richard Durrant 1994)

Westway                                             Herbie Flowers

Palindromic Canon                                Richard Durrant

This improvisation was premiered at the Colourscape Festival, London in September 2004. In it Richard uses a selection of foot pedals and studio gear to manipulate the sound of his two acoustic guitars. No sounds you hear are originated electronically. The works listed above are used to provide the framework for the improvisation.

interval

Pieces by Richard Durrant:

First Flight of the Baby Seagull              1995

The Early Learning Sonata                      2001

(Classical guitar - for Daisy Grace Durrant)

1. First Steps  2. The Awakening  3. Into the Forest

Wilbury Summer                                         1989

Exploring the Deep                                    2002              

Steel strung guitar in DADGAD with capo.  Written for Herbie Flowers (recorded in version for guitar and electric bass) 

1.Morning Tide  2. Engines  3. Silence  4. Catch the Tide

All the works in the second half of the programme are available on CD.

The Herbie and Richard gig in Radlett this Friday has had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologise to all those who bought tickets for the show and understand that the venue are, of course, offering a full refund.