Adrian Andrei
Les Produc tions D’Oz: Score and separate parts (16, 6, 6, 6, and 6 pages respectively)
Romanian – born Andrei is a superbly imaginative composer of many works and here has written a set of 8 short pieces dedicated to Chuck Hulihan , who has a guitar orchestra and I can imagine that Adrian has written these for him to , hopefully, play with his orchestra.
Not knowing any Transylvanian carols I cannot tell you any more about the origins of the actual pieces which are, incidentally, not titled in any way, except just given a number. However after a brief look at the score I can say that the majority of the writing is single – noted, with only the very seldom use of two notes in a few places here. No 1 is a Moderato in G major, and mostly in 2/4 except for three bars of 3 / 4 .The harmonies are friendly and the musical parts only moderate in difficulty. At only 36 bars it, and the other movements too) are quite short.
The second one is an Andante of only 20 bars and is completely in 3 / 4 and with a modal sound to much of it.No3 is an Em Adagio set in 2/4 with a very pleasant sound, and with all the parts very similar in difficulty. It does seem that Adrian has done his utmost to make each of the parts at the same level of difficulty.
No4 is alternately in 3 / 4 and 3/8 and the first piece where the occasional part has a two note score. This Andantino is in E minor but with a number of modal harmonies in it including a final bar that closes on a chord of F#, B, and C#!
No5 is an Allegro in 2 +3 + 2 /8, a time signature that continues throughout the piece except for a final bar of 2/4, but still with every player having about the same difficulties in their parts.
No6 is a Moderato in a mixture of 3 / 4, 3/8 and 2/4 and is in a modal G, and very short at only 18 bars length.
No7 is Lento, and is a 6/8 that is mostly in A minor and leads onto the final Allegro, marked Con Anima, that is in 5/8, 2/4 and 3/8 and is a convincing conclusion to the set of pieces
They are all short, but quite different from each other, and lots of fun for a moderate group of players who enjoy something a little different from the norm. Worth looking at!
Chris Dumigan
Comments