Acoustic Guitar Portraits

Duets For Two Acoustic Guitars-The Christmas season has always been special to me. It is a season that has crystallized the hopes aspirations and faith of millions of people through the centuries. The amount of music written for Christmas is monumental.This book contains 14 scores from my Christmas Guitar Portraits recording. I selected various genres dear to me.First there are selections from the early American sacred song tradition. The Babe of Bethlehem Cherry Tree Carol A Star in the East The Shepherd's Star A Virgin Unspotted and I Wonder As I Wander all are from this rich heritage.I also picked a number of carols from theOld English genre. Away In The Manger Green Grow'th the Holly and What Child is This are included.Then there are the Christmas favourites. In the Bleak Mid-winter and a medley ofBaloo Lammy; The First Noel and Silent Night make any Christmas complete. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is one of my favourite Advent hymns. Gaudete Christus est natus is arousing carol dating back many centuries.Finally I included two originals. Lullay My Liking is an ancient carol text. Many composers over the centuries have written melodies to these lyrics most notably GustavHolst. I could not resist the temptation so the melody here is original. Finally Christmas Prayer is a new composition. I have always wanted to compose and arrange music designed to bring the Plectrum or Flatpick Guitarto the concert stage. These arrangements were written with that in mind.

Acoustic Guitar Portraits is a collection of 15 original compositions for two acoustic guitars written and recorded by William Bay. The recording features an eclectic array of musical genres and was recorded on 4 different handmade acoustic steel string guitars. Three of the guitars are 7 string acoustic models and one is a 6 string. The recording features a complex interplay between the two guitars and frequent lush harmonic chordal structures.