Dear Guitarist, To begin with, let me say what an honor and joy it is to have you play these Towns and Cities. If you follow the CD with the score you may say to yourself: “Hey, Ben's Playing fewer beats than what's written in the score;" or, “Wait a minute, Ben's written a different accompaniment than he plays on the CD;" or,"The guy has writ- ten an entirely different ending!" All of those may be true, When it came time to make the final decisions for Publication, | changed some things here and there. | hope it doesn’t disturb or confuse you. The fact is, however, tomorrow I might play a yet another version in concert! | don’t know!! But for now, I'm happy with what's on the pages that lie ahead. If you prefer playing various discrepancies in the score as they are on the CD, go ahead. If you have an idea you like better than either the performance on the CD or the version in the printed score, knock yourself out! (Not literally, please.) You are on your own! Before | leave you, I'd like to thank Nat Gunod for being such a splendid and patient editor; Dave Smolover for dinner and all the great support; Newport Classic Recordings; and my students and friends who have encouraged me to write music for the last few years. Have a great time! Affectionately, Benjamin Verdery