Album Notes by LVJ

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Music can express our deepest emotions. Especially in dark times of tragedy and tribulation, it is through music a composer finds their way along the journey toward catharsis. The inspiration for recording these compositions, especially The Peace Concerto, emerged from trials in my personal life. Following the death of my son, Alex Johnson in 2010, I needed to address the pain and honor his life in a meaningful manner as a composer, musician and father. I owe deep gratitude to my son, my beautiful sweetheart Libby, grandson Alex II, daughter Heidi, my family, friends and fellow musicians, designers, and artists who shared their talents to make this important monument a reality. I compose music to illustrate what I cherish most - the people in my life. In The Peace Concerto you will hear the influence of classical styles, wild flamenco breezes, whispers from folk music, and even quotations from the great Romantics. From this palette, I aspired to bring these colors together in an innovative way to convey a wash of feelings. Cullan Bryant adds an exciting string quartet arrangement. We begin the CD with my friend Mark A. Radice’s delightful contribution, Toccata, Evocation and Fandango - a virtuosic exploration of the guitar ranging from soulful beauty to thrilling excess; Philip Rothman wrote a sensitive and deeply haunting string quartet accompaniment. Fernando Sor’s immortal guitar masterpiece, Allegretto in B-Minor (originally Étude #22, and also called Study # 5 by Segovia), finds new life in my guitar presentation which combines with the lovely string quartet accompaniment written by Craig E. Palmer and Richard Altenbach.