Tarentelle

"What a fun little piece this is if you're not an arachnophobic. Set in the traditional 6/8 time this is a lively dance in A minor, with an introduction marked 'mischievous'. There is a centre section in A major, and a reprise of the opening section to finish. This piece has some nice features that would make it particularly suitable for a school environment - it is mixed ability, with Guitar Four being in first position, and Guitar One all over the neck with simple scales and slurred notes. There are imitative phrases and littie bursts where each player has a bar on their own (or in the more complex lines, considerably more). For the bulk of the piece, Guitar Four plays bass, Guitar Three plays two and three-note chords and Guitar One has the tune, often shadowed by Guitar Two, a third underneath, or taking it in turns to have a go in the limelight. The slurs are not only between adjacent notes (where the slurring is a consistent 'first two of each set of 3 quavers') but sometimes down to the open string from high up - another great teaching point in getting the right about of 'pull' without tugging the string off the neck. [...] Elsewhere, the typesetting is clear and the fingerings well chosen. Fingerings are shown by finger number and by string, instead of by finger and position, which I've always felt, is a more intuitive way to show how to plan an upcoming shift. [...] For a school concert with a mixed ability ensemble - yes, bring it on."

Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)