Light On Dark Water

Paul Galbraith and his amazing 8-string guitar, nicknamed "the Brahms guitar," because Galbraith developed the idea in order to be able to transcribe and play a Brahms piano work more effectively. I wasn't able to find the Brahms piece on YouTube, but here is a beautiful Bach prelude. And the video, which seems to have been produced by Mr. Galbraith, is very well-done, giving us a good look at the instrument, the unique (as far as I know) position in which it is played, and the performance itself.

Many (many) years ago I had an LP by Julian Bream called 20th Century Guitar, and I especially liked a long piece by Benjamin Britten on it, "Nocturnal, after John Dowland." The LP escaped me somehow long ago, and I've had my eye out for a CD reissue for a long time, but it only materialized recently–as part of a 40-CD set of Bream's complete recordings. Fortunately, the set is available on Rdio, so I was able, finally, to hear the piece for the first time in something close to 40 years. Almost immediately afterward, I discovered Galbraith's recording. And I think I may like it better. It's an angular, astringent, "modern," work, based, in ways too esoteric for my limited musical sense to grasp, on a song by the Elizabethan composer John Dowland, which in more or less its original form concludes the piece.

I see on Wikipedia that it was written for Bream in 1963, and is highly regarded, as well it should be. You can read more about the guitar, and the artist, at Galbraith's web site.