In virtually all of my pieces, it is the sound and personality of an instrument (or combination of instruments) that inspires the emotional content of a piece rather than the other way around.  I am not interested in “imposing” a feeling upon the instrument regardless of its character.  This time, as I gradually acquainted myself with it, the guitar revealed its searing, vulnerable beauty – a quality which totally enchanted me.  It is the guitar’s inability to sustain, its particular six-string resonance, the method of plucking, and the special sound of turns or ornaments – due to the technique of hammer-ons and pull-offs, that I believe yields this beauty. Turns, in particular, enthralled me.  (There is simply nothing like that sound on any other instrument.)  They are central to the musical fabric, as both rhythmic and figurative elements in the piece.

Although we are used to the guitar in highly amplified settings, in its untainted state the guitar seems to me to embody intimacy, both in its delicacy and in its quiet power.  And it is intimacy, mainly, that I explore in this piece – an exploration which unconsciously and naturally gave rise to an air of seeking.  Seeking is universal to humans, but how and why we seek is uniquely particular to each individual.  It is a personal process, intimate in the extreme.  Thus A Seeker’s Song is a very personal evocation of seeking.  There is an overall lyricism reflected in the idea of song that is punctuated by impassioned cries and invocations.  In this way the song seems to overflow beyond its confines.

I am profoundly indebted to Kenneth Meyer for his confidence in my creativity and his courage in commissioning new works for guitar.  I hope I have done justice to this trust and am grateful to have come to know this remarkable instrument.

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