being written in response to the passing
of Ida Presti at the tragically young age of 43 in April of
that year. Fuga elegiaca proved to be one of the
composer’s final works before his death in March 1968,
and for that reason is without an opus number. The Preludio is founded on a series of repeated chords. This
begins agitato e tremante (agitated and trembling),
followed by a theme in thirds shared between the
performers and interspersed with more thickly textured
chords. The Fuga opens with a gently poignant subject
in A minor. After a short development section, this
motif returns in octaves and chords, the coda making
reference once more to the themes of the Preludio.

The Well-Tempered Guitars, 24 Preludes andFugues for two guitars, Op. 199 (1962), proved to be a
landmark in the guitar’s history and thein G sharp minor (27/28 May)
takes as its substance repeated patterns of energetic and
rhythmic chords divided between the two guitars. The
Fugue deploys the melody of the Prelude as its subject
in the form of a decisive March in 4/4 time. An episode
in the central section offers a brief cadenza which
emerges later as a coda in terms of a grandiose chorale
and a climactic bar which returns to the original
rhythmic patterns.

With the last few compositions in flat keys, PreludeNo. 21 in E flat major (20/29 May) embarks on a
fluid lyricism, allegretto and scorrevole, in which
melody and harmony are closely integrated in a two-part
texture later broken into by accompanying chords. The
Fugue, Andantino Pastorale, takes the tempo of the
Siciliana in 6/8 time, the pastoral elements including
snatches of birdsong.

Prelude No. 22 in B flat