.jpg)
October 2, 2026 — Sacred Black Records announces For Whom the Bell Tolls, a new album from guitarist Stephen Mattingly, out October 2, 2026. Taking its cue from the words Woody Guthrie wrote on his guitar, This Machine Kills Fascists, the album brings together music composed in response to authoritarian violence in Spain, Chile, and Panama.
The centerpiece is Roberto Gerhard’s score for the BBC’s 1965 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s novel. Gerhard, a Catalan composer and student of Schoenberg, was forced into exile when Franco overthrew Spain’s elected government in 1939. His music for the series, scored for solo guitar, draws on Spanish song and Gerhard’s own song cycle, Cantares.
Marc Satterwhite’s Víctor Jara’s Hands (2014), written for Mattingly and heard here in its world premiere recording, honors the Chilean singer-songwriter who was tortured and killed after the 1973 coup. “These two pieces are a small tribute to Jara and his legacy,” Satterwhite writes. Emiliano Pardo-Tristán’s El Tambor de la Agonía (1999) mourns the Panamanian civilians who died in the 1989 U.S. invasion, taking apart a beloved children’s song across six sections.
Framing these are two quieter works. Matthew Cochran’s Two Young Fish (2023), also written for Mattingly, responds to David Foster Wallace’s famous “This Is Water” commencement speech on attention and compassion. Graeme Koehne’s A Closed World of Fine Feelings and Grand Design (1997) closes the album with a gentle character portrait.
“This program invites you to set aside the distractions of modernity and courageously become more aware, more curious, and less certain about what is presented as truth,” says Mattingly, who dedicates the album to his late father, a Marine and Vietnam veteran.
Stephen Mattingly is Associate Professor of Guitar at Florida State University and a founding member of the Tantalus Quartet. He has performed as a soloist across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, including appearances with the Albany Symphony and Louisville Orchestra and at Weil Hall. His recording of Schubert’s complete guitar chamber works earned a Theodore Presser Award.
About Sacred Black Records
Sacred Black Records is a classical music label and publisher dedicated to connecting audiences with world-class musicians through high-resolution sound recordings and publications. Guitarist, composer, and producer Matthew Cochran founded Sacred Black Records and Publications in 2024.
• Title: For Whom the Bell Tolls
• Artist: Stephen Mattingly, guitar
• Label: Sacred Black Records
• Release date: [10/02/26]
• Streaming on All Platforms
