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
«Quartet» in 2/2 time (with one bar in 2/4 time) is perhaps best suited to a mixed-ability ensemble, with Guitar 4 being Grade One, Guitar 3 perhaps Grade Three (on account of some fifth position work and some half barres). Guitar 2 has a little double-stopping in the lowest two positions (but is no harder), and Guitar 1 has faster notes and forays into the ninth position, but a Grade Four player would not struggle. It has a leisurely pace and some lovely, light, jazzy chords; the texture is one of smooth openness and relaxation. With the two repeats and the laid-back pace, the music lasts about two minutes, and it’s an enjoyable sound that novice players might not have seen in many of the pieces written for a modest standard.
-Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)
