Electric Confession (2000)
(for Electric Guitar and Fixed Media)

This piece is dedicated to Lyle Mays and Pat Metheny, co-composers of The First Circle. Having analysed this piece for my Masters thesis some years before, I had long wanted to write a work which took The First Circle as its starting point. In the end, I deviated away from that model in a number of ways, but there are still comparable aspects. The use of a consistent pulse, redefined by varied groupings of either 2 or 3 quavers, together with a middle–section improvisation that leads back to a recapitulation defines the structure of the work in similar fashion.

The title is indirectly an anagram: from The First Circle, I was able to derive 'Electric Shrift'. I substituted shrift, with its synonym, confession, and thus arrived at Electric Confession. While that was fun (and entirely arbitrary), I do feel that the title appropriately reflects my homage to Mays and Metheny’s wonderful piece.

The work was written specifically for Ken Murray, who also assisted with the preparation of the pre–recorded CD part and the guitar setup.