Cattywampus Rompus

Described as a modern (Texas) take on the tarantella, the title indicates an off-kilter «rompus» is fake Latin, but «catty­wampus,» an adjective meaning askew or in disarray, is now in my vocabulary and awaiting a chance to bring it out at parties! This is more than a bit tongue-in-cheek, and so are the program notes. The performance markings are in English and gloriously funny, with a section marked «murmuring,» passages marked «unsure» and «uneasy with dread,» and my favorite: «Go ail out!» Set in 6/8 and not too fast ( six notes a sec­ond) this is a feast of different textures and tone colors, with an emphasis on bold artic­ulation and lots of rests in the accompani­ment while the tarantella feel continues. But this is not the melodic tarantella-to capture the overall feel, think, «’Teddy Bears Picnic ­meets-horror-movie.» Though chromatic and dissonant, the technical demands are not too fierce, but will require a confident ensemble to stay tightly locked together, and quite a lot of rehearsal to keep the con­stant momentum from flagging. Opening in no sharps, there is a wonder­fully sweet section, which appears twice, set in live sharps and using two guitars to form an arpeggio-a trick that gives a lovely and clever sustain to the repeated top note, shared as it is here, between two guitars. This piece is a (deserved) winner of the 2013 Japan Guitar Ensemble Association Composition Competition, but is not so difficult as to restrict its playing to profes­sional ensembles.
-Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)