There are three movements. The suite is dedicated to five people, and the third movement alone to two more.
Le Vieux-Lille en mai is in swing-time, and is marked 'mélancolique', though it's in A major. A long introduction of descending chords over a rhythmic bass is captivating. When Guitar One enters with a nicely swung melody, Guitar Two moves from chords to shadowing the tune a sixth below. The piece moves up tempo over a pizzicato jazz bass and a richer harmonic palette. Musical development continues with set of modulations that exploit quite a set of keys, never venturing away for long. And then there are rhythmic variations too - swinging quavers in twos but taking them from patterns that are three notes long, so the stressed notes jump about in the sequence of high and low notes. Finally, we move into 6/8 so that the shuffle can be split into threes, rather than long-short pairs. A rall. and decrescendo bring this concordant and satisfying movement to a close.
Les nuits mauves is slow and emotional, in 2/4 time With an almost Bach-like opening in Am, but although the accompaniment is a mechanical arpeggio, there is a lyrical and gently syncopated tune that crowns it, and the development begins, with the rhythm shared between all the forces except Guitar Four which provides a slow and solid bass note for each bar. This movement is lyrical and spacious, and the chromatic harmonies work well.
Place du concert is in 12/8 and in the first few bars it might give them impression of being another swing-time piece written in compound, rather than shuffled, time, but once the piece starts in earnest, semiquavers add to the sense of motion, and it's more of a fast waltz than Swing. The writ¬ing is slightly busier, With more crossing of parts and more height between bass and tune. Although slightly black on the page, the music is comfortable to play and count. There are delicate high sections - not quite tremolo but garnering a similar effect.
Everything is fingered on the first occurrence, and the dynamics are clear. There are page turns in the part-scores, but all are well chosen and none are awkward. I'd say that this would suit a Grade 6 ensemble, and I have to say that I think it has that special quality that so much music loses - it appeals on a first hearing. When playing to an audience, that's a real selling point for this accessible and charming suite.
Derek Hasted
