Rhapsody on a Riff

On their debut Ravello Records release, New Zealand composer Michael Calvert and guitarist Matthew Marshall present original works for solo guitar that display a musical language influenced by serialism, New Zealand culture, and several guitar traditions, from classical and folk to rock, jazz, and pop. The title track treats a well-known passage from the rock group Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water, while Lascivious Pleasing elaborates on phrases from John Dowland's Flow my Tears and the Beatles' Norwegian Wood. Written for the 2008 film Flesh in Ecstacy, Gaston Amoureux is based on the opening of Debussy's Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune; Fantasia in August references works from Britten and Kubizek.