Divertissement no 1

Jean-Michel Coquery is a musician and a guitar teacher who lives near Paris, and, according to the sleeve notes, one of his ambitions is to enlarge the repertoire of chamber music. If this piece under review is anything to go by, then this project is something to really look forward to. Divertissement No. I has three movements. Beginning with a joyful, very vivacious Allegro, where the melody is divided mainly between the flute and alto parts while the guitar begins by playing syncopated chords with the cello before launching off on its own as the sole rhythm section of the piece, during which the other three instruments counteract with each other. A brief, unexpected slower section appears part of the way through with the guitar and cello duetting, and then a return to the previous animated style concludes this very entertaining first movement. The calmer middle movement has the guitar once again as the accompanying instrument but this time playing tremolo throughout while the other instruments enjoy brief snippets of dialogue between themselves. The final Vivace brings a return to the spirit of the first movement with its bouncy and cheerful mood. Altogether this is an excellent addition to the repertoire and, just as important if not more so, gets the guitar performing with other instruments in a piece in which it would be difficult to imagine not going down well with audiences. The music is very well-presented with full score and separate parts. The level required to play this work is of around the grade 6-7 standard. Highly recommended. (Steve Marsh, Classical Guitar, 12/2000)