To wake and find the world still burning

To wake and find the world still burning, Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis (2022)concerto for two guitars and string orchestra “We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.”―Tennessee Williams, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here AnymoreComposing a major substantial work for guitar & strings – such as what is in essence a two-guitar concerto – carries special meaning (and baggage) for me. As a metal guitarist by training and temperament, I am inevitably inclined to try to write the most powerful, virtuosic, metal piece I can.It so happens that modern electric guitar language has been strongly influenced by the string music of Antonio Vivaldi. Guitar pioneers such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Romeo, and Uli Jon Roth grew up on a classical music diet before becoming shred guitar icons. In Vivaldi's more virtuosic string music, such as the f