Rustic Sketches
Four Rustic Sketches Op.80
Symphony Orchestra 16'
2222-4231-Timp-3Perc-Harp-Strings
Commissioned by Bedford School Music Festival, conducted by Andrew
Morris.
Chamber Orchestra Version
2222-2200-Timp-Strings
Written for the Canford Summer School 2006.
First performed by the Summer School Orchestra Conducted by
Christopher Adey.
A wind quintet version was written for the Galliard Ensemble and is called "Westerly Winds"
Audio
Examples: 
Looe Bar Lady
Scrumpy
Giles
You can purchase this recording direct from Amazon.co.uk
Released 2002 by: Meridian Records CD Number CDE
84429
Bedford School commissioned four
Rustic Sketches in 1997 for the 25th anniversary of the foundation of
its music school. It is essentially a sequence of four short fantasias
based on West Country folk tunes.
The opening Scrumpy Giles is based on the Somerset tune Farmer Giles,
leading off with a formal unison statement of the tune before setting
off upon its even-tempered course. Before long, though, the tempo speeds
up and the tune finds itself had been accorded a far less deferential
treatment before a final upward flourish bring matters to a forceful
end.
The Devon tune Widecombe Fair is
the subject of the second movement, Widecombe Jan, and its unruffled
manner imparts the music the character of an Intermezzo.
The third movement, Lazy Lawrence, is the slow movement proper, and
it uses the Dorset folktale Linden Lea. The calm opening portion of
the movement is offset by a more agitated central section, which briefly
disturbs the peaceful atmosphere. Eventually, Linden Lea restores everything
to order with a grand, dignified statement before fading away to a quiet
close.
The concluding movement, The Looe
Bar Lady, turns its gaze towards Cornwall, with the Helston Floral Dance
taking centre stage. Its dominance, however, is not uncontested, as
another West Country tune, The British Grenadiers, aided and abetted
by Linden Lea, repeatedly barges in and threatens to hog the limelight.
However, the Floral Dance succeeds in having the last say as the music
makes its last frantic dash to the finishing line.
Programme note by Paul Pellay.
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