Atanas Ourkouzounov
Doberman – Yppan : 8 Pages
Bulgarian composer/performer Ourkouzounov is one of the most prolific modern guitarist composers, as you would find if you look at his oeuvre on D’Oz, and Doberman-Yppan, for example. Having written over 80 works involving guitar for many different combinations, won many composition prizes, and had multiple players performing his works, you might realise that this is a major composer.
This latest work is available to hear on YouTube , should you want to, and i can only say that, as I have said many times before, his musical language is extremely modern , full of tonal clashes , and often full of unusual rhythms that might not be immediately under your fingers. For example this work , is almost entirely in 11/8, with a few bars towards the end in 7/8.It has a key signature of 2 sharps and is therefore in B minor, but, as I said before , the chromatic notes are many and frequent and so any thoughts of full tonality are to be disregarded.
As in other Passacaglias, there is a main theme of four bars length, before on bar 5, a higher pitched voice enters above the repeating Passacaglia theme and the piece continues from there in 2 voices with cross rhythms aplenty, until a six note forte chord of ( from bottom upwards) F#, G, B (Twice)F natural, and a top 18th fret A# takes us into a new idea still sometimes in two voices, but occasionally in 3.There is a momentary Piu Lento , towards the end until the final few bars marked Lento, and a close on an altered B minor chord.
This piece will definitely task many players, not only for its extreme difficulty, but also for its modern style which some like and some don’t, but suffice it to say that this man’s writings are always similar to this and so, if you like his works, this will surely suit you, but your playing will have to be excellent, as it is very tricky indeed.
Chris Dumigan
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