Welcome to an adventurous journey with guitar music from four continents. The journey takes its beginning in the old sailors town, Marstal, on the island Ærø where the record company Barbarossa is situated, and from where many sea voyages have had their departure.

This oddyssey goes to the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America and the journey takes us through time and different ages of music including contemporary composers, old lute masters and J.S. Bach whose music is like a continent as such. A great deal of the music on this cd is arrangements of folk melodies and folkdances as well as music composed in the local native music tradition. It is my hope that you will sense the character of the different countries from the very first harbour of the journey, the elegant city of Barcelone in Catalonia, until the cd fades away with "Farewell to Stromness" from the Orkney Islands.

The music was recorded during two beautiful summer days in July 2006. The recording was made in Bregninge Church on Ærø, known for its outstanding acoustics. Søren Buhl from Barbarossa Records has made the recording as well as mastering, the design of the cd cover, production etc. I hope that you will sense the room of the church as well as the atmosphere from the recording. In a glimpse you might even hear the sound of the swallows around the church.

The music of this cd was played on a number of concerts around Denmark in the concert season 2005/06. I want to thank everybody who has made this cd possible, especially my wife, Annette, who insisted...

Kolding, November 2006
Arne Gaardsted