The work's title, Music of Memory, refers to the long-term memory of a golden age (and the corresponding hope that it can continue to nourish our own art) represented by the Mendelssohn; the short-term 'memory' of an original that lies behind the variation form; and the use of the different kinds of memory-related techniques and materials during the work - 'guitar sounds' typical of the instrument and its repertoire, and the 'memory recalls' of the coda.