Study 1 “Relentless“ - Benjamin Dwyer (Adam Cicchillitti, guitar)

This virtuosic study opens a set of 12 concert études for the guitar written by Irish composer Ben Dwyer. The work utilizes the note ’E’ as a central focus, relentlessly insisting upon it in a variety of textures. As Fabio Zanon states, “The questions here are not how many colours the note ‘E’ has, but how these colours affect the rhythmic framework“. The driving rhythm of the piece is asserted from the first note, creating increasing momentum from section to section. The relentless energy steams forward until it reaches a climactic event of quickly strummed chords that extend beyond the fretboard before returning to the main theme at it’s loudest. This video was recorded for the 21st Century Guitar Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, which ran from March 22-26, 2021. Many thanks to Amy Brandon for running such an important festival pertaining to new music for guitar. I feel that these 12 studies by Dwyer should have a place in the standard repertoire of the 21st century guitar,