Angela Mair
Bergmann Edition: 20 pages
Angela Mair’s music is always melodic, interesting and fun to play and always has a technical reason behind its composition so that teachers can use these books, and pupils will always enjoy learning them. Here is the fourth volume of her One to One series, the first volume of which I reviewed back in 2021.( I haven’t seen Nos 2 and 3 yet, but would like to!)
Long Nights is a 4/4 E minor piece with a sad melody and some nice flowing arpeggios underneath
Turning Leaves is in Am , and has , for most of the time , an offbeat pair of rhythm chords alternating with a bass line and a haunting melody.
Winter Waltz is a 3 / 4 piece in C with a middle section in the relative minor, a key that it eventually finishes in.
The Trusted Path has a 6th string on D and a 5th on G and sounds a little like a song melody, as a number of her other works I have played before do, as they appear to cross the boundaries between classical and folk at times, as this piece does.
Early Morning has a 6th string tuned to D and has a walking bass line with a pleasant melody above and is fundamentally in two voices throughout.
Floating Clouds is a 6/8 E Major piece with a dancing rhythm in the accompaniment and a lively melody above.
Ghost Waltz is an E minor 3 / 4 that manages to move around quite a lot in its short time space and again is melodic and friendly, and requires careful playing to create the right effect.
Did I Tell You? Is a 4/4 E Minor piece that has a rocking arpeggio accompaniment amid some long bass notes and a sad melody above.
Long Ago is a 4/4 piece in D minor whose melody uses the full range of the guitar for much of its melody and is again in two main voices.
Countryside is a 3/ 4 waltz in E minor and has a slight touch of the Venezuelan waltz style in places, with a middle section in the tonic major.
The final piece is Return of a Friend, set in A minor and is another gentle waltz styled piece, which again manages to most of the fingerboard for its melodic structure.
So, this fourth volume is another fine set of pieces that are only of moderate difficulty that would be ideal for any teacher to show his pupils as the constant melodic interest, and technical knowledge throughout the set make them both fun and useful at the same time.
Chris Dumigan
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