The sunset from Sandviksfjellet

This is one of my favourites.

Like Myrage, this piece was inspired by a landscape and its photograph, or more accurately, by the memory of the landscape. I spent about an hour and a half watching the sun go down from Sandviksfjellet and it wasn't until about a year or so later, when an opportunity arose to write for guitar quartet, that I looked back at the photo and decided to do something with it.

I had an idea of what I wanted but absolutely no material for it. Discouraged and uninspired, I picked up my guitar and randomly played the octave F#s of the opening which, to my surprise, perfectly captured the mood I was after. I find it quite funny that one of the most rudimentary moments I've ever had on the guitar ended up birthing one of my favourite pieces.

After some progress I got stuck again, albeit with some ideas (a D# here, a D♮ there, etc.) but nothing satisfying. Then, one day I sat down at an out-of-tune piano and managed to hammer out some melodies and find my way out of the slump. I know the notes of the piano but I can't play it, so if I'm sat at one, unless I take time to think, I don't really know what I'm doing. I like it this way because I always end up playing chords and melodies "by accident" that I might not if I did actually know how to play it.

I find sections B and D to be incredibly enchanting, and section H, with the reveal of the F#-G#-A♮-A# melody, is exactly what I had in mind as the climax.

My only regret about this piece is that I wish I'd explored more polyphonic writing… after all, the possibilities are endless when composing for four guitars with six strings each! However, I do think that the piece needs the sobriety and space that the writing gives it. Maybe next time…

I'm glad that I spent that long watching the sun go down, even if it meant braving the cold winds and eating only liquorice and chocolate for dinner (the sun ended up setting fairly late and I had failed to think ahead).