Divertimento No. 1

“A wonderful piece for modest ensembles”
Originally for three basset horns, this is more a transcription than an arrangement, but Mr. Kindle makes it look like it was writ­ten for guitar. Guitar Three is predominantly in first position, Guitar Two only ventures up to the fifth fret of the top string occasionally. Guitar One needs fifth position but there is nothing fast and furious here. Set in the key of C, there are occasional forays into F major and there are helper accidentais wherever there might be ambiguity about whether a B is flat or natural. There is no fingering, but only Guitar One really needs a few helper finger num­bers, and these are easily added. The five movements mean the part score is a sta­pled booklet comprising 12 faces. There are eight sides of music, and each part has a blank sheet in the middle to remove any need for page turns - so much more considerate than trying to save a sheet of paper in the booklet! This piece is not complicated and the parts fit together well and as such would go down very well in a school concert, performed as a trio or large ensemble. All that is needed is the ability to play triplets and to not panic in the «Adagio» where the 16th-notes are actually quite leisurely. This is a wonderful «big» piece for an ensemble with modest abilities.
-Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)