Two Baroque Arrangements

About

These two arrangements were written in December 1990 after a period of compositional inactivity, which had in turn followed a very busy early part of the year. They are two pieces for which I have a particular fondness. Over the years I have been drawn to re-working the music of earlier composers and various forms of ‘re-composition’ appear in works such as Well Done, Mister Bach, One More Tijme Mister Couperin, and Elysian Fields.

The first piece in this set is Bach's chorale prelude Ich Ruf' Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ ('To Thee I Cry, Lord Jesus Christ'), scored for alto flute (flute in C may be used), clarinet, viola and piano. The instrumentation suggests the rather dark and sombre character of the original organ piece.

The second is a sonata by the eighteenth century Spanish composer Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783). Soler wrote his harpsichord sonatas at the time when Scarlatti was in Madrid, and there are strong influences of the latter composer. This sonata in F sharp major is a bright and cheerful work, and the arrangement exploits much staccato playing and pizzicato viola work. In places there are some elements of 're-composition' - material drawn from the other parts of the sonata is used to overlay the music, although no violent damage is done to Soler's original conception!

These two arrangements were made for the Zelanian Ensemble as an appreciation for their performances of my Hurdy Gurdy which they commissioned in 1988 and have performed widely (and constantly) since its premiere in early 1989.