Dark Sonata was written for the Helsinki Guitar Duo – Rody van Gemert and Jose Casallas. The piece is in three movements: In Shadows, Interlude, Night. The first movement is full of many contrasting sections and uses delicate colours from the guitars to shape a mosaic of sounds. The middle movement is lighter in mood and brisk in tempo, with a more lyrical central section. In the final movement the music takes a darker turn and gradually winds itself up into a series of intense chords that punctuate long silences. In writing the piece I wanted to move away from a lot of traditional guitar repertoire to create a substantial work that places considerable demands on the players and is a gradual journey into darkness for the listener.