The Duchess | Premiere

Partita No. 4 for solo guitar

This concert will present guitarist Tom Clippinger in a preview performance of the fourth and final work in my series of partitas for solo classical guitar. The Duchess draws inspiration by the 14th-century French composer Guillaume de Machaut and his patron, Bonne of Luxembourg (1315-1349). Drawing from her illuminated pasalter with its distinctive grisaille miniatures by Jean Le Noir, and borrowing from my ekphrastic instrumental meditation of Machaut's Dit de l'alerion, this work explores medieval visual art techniques and subjects—from tempera and gold leaf to iron-gall ink, to the images of the "three living and three dead", and of David dancing. Each movement functions like a musical tapestry in the style of "La Dame à la licorne," weaving together themes of patronage, mortality, and artistic devotion that characterized medieval court culture.

The event is free, but CLICK HERE to secure a ticket.