This piece was commissioned by the 30-strong Essex Branch of the SRP, and belongs to Hawthorns’ series "Recorder Ensembles", implying several players per part, making the final eight-part chord possible. No instructions are given as to which note to leave out if only four players are available, or whether you should sing one while playing the other. The music is lush, richly sonorous and rhythmically lively despite its ‘languido e sensuoso' marking, which obtains for the full four minutes. Parallel triads over a leaping tango-like bass and a leaning to the sharp side of tonality make this a colourful and effective piece. The lower Cs in bars 20,25-27,32-3 and 36-37 of the bass part (and in score) should certainly be C#s.
Paul Clark: Recorder Magazine, Summer 2000Back to Opening page
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