concerto no. 2 in a minor for guitar and oboe (full)

track: 10

recorded: 20140322 - 20140712

duration: 19:51

(note - this same track also appears on the pureambient album SSDL1747 "classical - an eternal album" as track 14)


NOTE: if you have already purchased the three individual movements of this concerto, you do not need to download this track, as it is simply the three movements joined together in one uninterrupted track, which is actually the way I scored it – movement by movement, and, releasing each movement as it was completed.

now that a reasonable amount of time has passed, I am also making the “full version” available, so that in the future you have a choice of whether to download the three separate movements, or this track, which is simply the same three tracks concatenated. finally, for the completists out there, of course, you can download all four :-)

NOTE: please also, read the original, individual comments for each of the separate movements above, to get the viewpoint from the actual time of completion and release of each piece – please see the comments under "about this track" for: “concerto no. 2 in a minor for guitar and oboe – movement 1”, “movement 2”, and “movement 3” above.


in addition, here are the 20140817 comments for the “full version” of the second dave stafford concerto:

my second concerto was scored and constructed in a completely different way, using a completely different method from the first one (which was actually made solely with a guitar synthesizer playing every part), and for some unknown reason this time; the first two movements appeared quite quickly, while I spent a lot more time bringing together the musical elements that I wanted to reiterate or present; to tie together the three movements; in the much longer and much more musically challenging movement no. 3.

movements 1 and 2 were 3:20 and 6:20 respectively, taking up a modest 9:40 of the 19:51 “complete” score presented here.

movement 3 clocks in at 10:17, which is of course, longer than the first two movements combined! I really wanted to take my time with the third movement, and I worked very hard to combine both references to the first two movements, as well as new themes and bold solos to lend as much musical excitement to the entire piece as I could.


while I was working on the piece, I actually in the end, maintained four different scores: one score containing all of the movements (which was, of course, the score used to produce this track) and one score for each of the three movements, created as they arrived, so I could upload each movement separately as they were completed.

this concept of releasing the work as it’s been completed is a new one for me, but the “eternal album” format provides me with a lot of flexibility and a lot of options – so I decided to give this technique a try, and actually, the three individual movements each stand up for themselves quite well.

at the same time, in my head, it was always more like this track, it was the entire score in one long, long notion file, and it just grew and grew as I added on over ten minutes of the final movement – and once it was finally complete, I was truly really very pleased with the result, this is only my second-ever piece of classical music, really, that I’ve composed (although I have made some loops and a song or two with some classical elements) – however, I’ve noticed something else happening that is quite unusual – for one example, the beginning of the notion track “notionally electric” is 100 percent classical music,

and in fact, there are a number of sections of this rock / guitar track ("notionally electric"), that are completely and utterly classical. so classical themes, and classical instruments….are moving into my rock and alternative pieces within notion!

that wasn't really intentional, it’s just how it happened – I hadn't had much chance to use the horns in notion, so I thought I would try a horns introduction. it didn’t take long until it had worked itself into a fairly classical form!

now that I have two concertos “under my belt” so to speak, I am certainly going to continue scoring and recording classical music, having spent most of my life playing rock music, heavy music, prog music, alternative music, and a lot of ambient looping…it’s time now to move into what I used to call “serious music” – classical.

this concerto, and the first one which was released a couple of years ago now, are the starting points not just for a future of classical scoring for myself, but also, for integrating classical themes and instruments into my alternative or rock or prog scores. I reckon…why not? If it sounds good – do not question it.

I do not question it at all – I just accept it. Happy listening.