Daniela Charles
Les Productions D’Oz: 12 pages
This Canadian born Writer/performer is a new name to me. Born in 1979 in Montreal this latest volume consists of 7 pieces dedicated to David Gaudreau, who she was taught guitar by at the age of fourteen.
Chrysalide opens the set, written in 4/4 in E minor in a style that may be familiar to players, namely a bass and treble note struck together at the opening of the bar, followed by accompaniment chords in between, and generally following a chord sequence that is pleasant but not too surprising, and therefore to my mind a little derivative.
Poeme en Musique is in 2/4 and a little more adventurous in that in spite of it beginning in Am with no key signature, it traverses a number of keys, finally closing in Dm. The piece has a bass line and a top voice usually consisting of single notes but occasionally two, and sometimes three, providing the harmony work.
A Coeur Ouvert is another 4/4 set in E minor, but this time has two and sometimes three voices with the middle one usually a form of arpeggio and generally falling nicely under the fingers throughout.
Ne Pars Pas is again arpeggio – driven, set in A minor, but with a middle section in the tonic major, and a few moments where the writing takes you by surprise
Un Vie a Vivre is marked ‘avec sincerite’ and is an emotive piece again using some relatively standard arpeggio patterns but with plenty of scope to bring out the inherent feelings of the piece. This one is perhaps my favourite of them all
Precipice , set in D minor with a dropped D 6th is definitely the trickiest of the 7, as the 6/8 time signature written entirely in semi – quavers with a number of unusual patterns cropping up, makes this the most difficult to keep flowing without having to stop momentarily. That only makes this a fun piece to practise though, and is definitely one that teachers could use as a great example of a study to improve a pupil’s arpeggio playing.
The final piece Quinze Hivers set in A minor in 12/8, is a flow of quavers and, although pleasant was over in 16 bars, which I thought felt too short.
All of these pieces are pleasant to play, with a few of the seven really standing out, but with a small number feeling a little too obvious to me, and using chord sequences and note patterns that I felt I had seen many times before. However, they were nearly all of moderate difficulty, and certainly pleasant throughout, and so I am sure that any number of players would enjoy this set.
Chris Dumigan
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