Beyond Your Valley for Solo Guitar was commissioned by the guitar maestro Peter Argondizza, with assistance from the Scottish Arts Council in 2006. It was first performed by him at a recital in Edinburgh in May 2007. Over the years I have revisited this work and re-drafted it in a number of ways - this took on new urgency during 2025 with very significant changes to the work. For centuries the guitar - or its close relation the lute - has been closely related to the musings of the traveller. Beyond Your Valley is inspired by the lyrical intimacy so closely assosciated with the instrument. By drawing upon figurative idioms from Renaissance, Classical, Blues and Rock music traditions it attempts to create a multi-faceted musical dialogue as a portrait of life's valleys of arrival and departure. Much has changed in the lives of Peter Argondizza and I - we no longer live in the same city, country or continent but this new version of Beyond Your Valley is still dedicated to him with much affection and friendship founded upon our love for the deeply revealing human power of the guitar.