Imminent Loss

These two new releases from guitarist & composer Eddie Healy are both scored for guitar quartet. You could double up on the parts for a larger group but I think Imminent Loss might be tricky to keep rhythmically tight with more guitars. The edition by Les Productions d’OZ looks great (as usual) with fingering but only a minimal amount so the score looks nice and clean.
Quartet is a peaceful adagio in A minor which could possibly serve as prelude to Imminent Loss. It’s a short and sweet 40 bars. There is some nice interaction between the parts and the general sound is consonant, melodic, and steady in pulse and rhythm. The actual playing difficulty is low so students could plug away at this but more advanced players could get more musical results.
Imminent Loss is more significant with much more rhythmic variety and plenty of accents, time signature changes and ties so the difficulty level is quite a bit higher than Quartet. It’s still around the intermediate to intermediate-advanced level but mostly requires rhythmic reading skills. Advanced players could up the tempo and really hit the accents to make it more exciting. It is generally very consonant once again, not without some spike and dissonance but certainly easy to listen to for general audiences. Don’t forget to listen to samples.
Productions d’OZ is pretty much my number one place to visit for ensemble music for classical guitar. Works like these ones from Eddie Healy really fill out the repertoire and have an important spot in a world short on ensemble works of medium difficulty. I would recommend this for students who like consonant melodic works or performers looking for something for audience relief from more dissonant or virtuosic displays. This is nice melodic music overall and although it might not end up being a hit on the charts it will be happily used by many.
Bradford Werner, thisisclassicalguitar.com

 

Written for Texas’ Collin College One O’Clock Guitar Ensemble, «Imminent Loss» opens with a punchy rhythm that builds across all four forces. Set in F# minor, the time signature changes occasionally, but nothing too scary, and the harmony is dark but hypnotic rather than discordant.­ Good use is made of the very low E# to bring the music back to the tonic. This is acces­sible without being simple, and is rather fun, with short little solo breaks that have an improvisational feel. The score is clearly marked «solo» and «tutti» for use when played by more than four guitarists. There are a variety of textures, and techni­cally the piece is probably no more com­plex than about Grade Six.
-Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)

 

This is a relatively short quartet piece to be played at a moderate tempo. All four guitars play an important musical role. The fourth guitar is rhythmically interesting and creates a steady, heavily accented, syncopated bass line. The first guitar plays the primary melody, which contrasts yet complements the rhythms played by the fourth guitar. The second and third guitars go back and forth with secondary melodies, creating harmonies with the fourth guitar. Fingerings are abundant and clear and place the melodies in higher positions, creating a full and rich tone. The rhythmic patterns are probably the most creative and interesting thing about this quarter piece, and they’re not difficult to play once one “gets the feel” of the syncopations. The title hints at a musically depressing mood, but it is actually more haunting. Although it remains in the key of F# minor, there are a few moments in which the melody creates a sense of hopefulness. It wouldn’t be hard for a quartet with a strong sense of rhythm to put this piece together, and with the staccatos, heavy accent patterns, and contrasting melodies, when played well this could make an effective concert piece. -Amy Hite (Soundboard Magazine)