Andrew Hull
Les Productions D’Oz: 15 pages
American composer Andrew Hull, has here produced seven miniatures each named after a member of his family, and amounts to, in his words, ‘several years work designing a collection that would be at once universal and personal’
No1, Dad, uses an arpeggiated pattern that moves in and around open strings mixed with higher frets on lower strings in that particular guitaristic way that would mean nothing to a pianist, for example. Against that there is a long voiced melody, sometimes above, and sometimes below the arpeggiation. My Love, (No2) is a lilting Waltz, whilst Mom (No3) is a 5/4 Andante lyrico, entirely in triplet quavers, to be played on the B string only.No4, Brother is more complex (as brothers no doubt are!) and is longer , much more diverse, and actually reaches right up to the top of string one, with seven bars at fret 19 ! Daughter (No5) is slow and lyrical, and movingly harmonic, whilst Cousin (No6) is a tremolo piece of some length, set in Cm, again reaching the higher echelons in a number of places. The final No7, Son, is a Vivace with a number of time signature changes and a constantly varied set of themes with a rasgueado finish.
This set is lots of fun, intermediate to quite tricky in places, and is never boring or obvious in its musical content, and as such I can imagine that many players would get lots from this fine little volume.
Chris Dumigan
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