Over the course of his 66-year career as a composer, John W. Duarte formed numerous friendships with performers and other composers. This recording documents the history of these relationships, captured in Duarte's numerous musical tributes to others and in three tributes by other composers. The only homage by Duarte not included on this recording - Canción y Danza (Homage to Ruiz-Pipó) Op. 117 - is already included in Volume 1 of this series (Brilliant Classics 96184).

For Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco:
The three-movement Sonatina Lirica was commissioned by the Guitar Weeks Foundation in Zwolle (Netherlands) and was composed in a very short time in the summer of 1971. Duarte described it in a letter to the Italian composer's widow as a "homage to Castelnuovo-Tedesco, as I believe it corresponded to the spirit of his music".

Angelo Gilardino for John W. Duarte:
Italian guitarist and editor Angelo Gilardino was introduced to Duarte by Clara Castelnuovo Tedesco in September 1969. Duarte provided Gilardino with 19 original compositions and 14 arrangements for his guitar sheet music series published by Edizioni Musicali Bèrben, and the two exchanged hundreds of letters. "A Quiet Song", written at the request of American guitarist David Norton and dedicated to the memory of John W. Duarte, is "actually a contrapuntal essay on (the melody of) Barbara Allen, a song Jack liked."

For Wes Montgomery:
In late 1971, Gilardino wrote to Duarte suggesting that he write "a kind of tombeau, a memorial piece, so to speak, for Wes Montgomery," who had died in 1968. "Sua Cosa" has a predominantly jazzy character and quotes from Montgomery's own composition "Mi Cosa" in the middle section. In a letter to Duarte dated May 22, 1972, Gilardino commented: "You should have been a mediator between heaven (where I hope Wes will be) and the world!" in 1986, Duarte said this might be his favorite work (for solo guitar) because of its many associations and unique character.

For Antonio Lauro:
Duarte visited Venezuela for the first time in October 1979 to judge the Alirio Diaz Guitar Competition. About two months later, Duarte wrote: "Having just returned from Venezuela, where I met Antonio Lauro for the first time, and having had several Venezuelan pupils, I decided to write a Venezuelan vals. In fact, I wrote three in one day."

Mark Houghton for John W. Duarte:
The British guitarist and composer wrote his elegy (Habanera) on December 26, 2004, just three days after Duarte's death. Houghton chose the Habanera style because of Duarte's arrangement of Manuel de Falla's Homenaje pour le Tombeau de Claude Debussy, which was originally published in 1920 (a year after Duarte's birth) and remains a seminal piece for guitarists today.

For Manuel Ponce:
Terence Usher's and Duarte's Epitaphs form two one-part movements. Manuel Ponce had a great influence on Duarte's early compositions. The Epitaphs, written in 1948 and first printed in 1949 in the memorial edition of Guitar Review for Ponce, who had died the previous year, are based on the movement "We mourn a friend - but his music gives him back to us". The first movement, taken from Usher, reflects the first half of this statement, while Duarte's piece embodies the second, using a fragment of Usher's piece and linking it to one of Ponce's last compositions, Rondino (Matinal).

For Frank Martin:
Partita II (Relazione) Op. 104 was begun in late 1986 at the request of Swiss guitarist Deborah Mariotti, who also gave the first performance. The second movement, Plainte (Lament), is a tribute to the Swiss composer Frank Martin and refers to the third movement of his Quatre Pièces brèves.

Further information:
- Recorded in March 2024 in Weston, England.
- The English-language booklet contains liner notes by the composer's son, Christopher Duarte, and a portrait of the guitarist.
- Daniela Rossi plays a guitar by Walter Verreydt (2019).
- The works by Houghton, Bogdanović and Usher as well as Duarte's Epitaph for Manuel M. Ponce are included in her first recordings.

- John Duarte (1919-2004) was one of the most important and influential guitarists and guitar composers of the 20th century. His work is characterized by an exceptionally wide variety of styles. Some works reflect the Renaissance style of court lutenists such as John Dowland, other works oscillate stylistically between aleatoric, atonal and graphic, embedded in a conventionally notated framework and allowing spontaneous reactions from the performers. In many other works, he uses a tonal language that is often influenced by the folk music traditions of various nations and has a romantic touch.

- Over the course of his 66-year career as a composer, Duarte formed many friendships with performers and composers. This recording documents the history of these relationships and includes three tributes to Duarte by other composers. The composers on this new recording include Dušan Bogdanović, Terence Usher, Mark Houghton and Angelo Gilardino.

- Played with great aplomb and feeling by Italian guitarist Daniela Rossi, described by composer/guitarist Leo Brouwer as "...an artist with a very rare combination of energy, expression and perfect technique".