Balkan Songbook (2007 - ) [work in progress] for flute and guitar (also versions for clarinet, oboe, etc.) Ajde jano [flute PDF] [guitar PDF] [score PDF Rachenitsa Machine Lament [score PDF] The Shepherd's Dream [flute PDF] [guitar PDF] [score PDF] Sivi grivi [flute PDF] [guitar PDF] [score PDF] Heart No Longer Mine (solo gtr) At Sunset [flute PDF] [guitar PDF] [score PDF] Emina Ruza [score PDF] Evgenija [score PDF] Haj, mene majka Scores: see above; for pieces not yet posted or versions for oboe, clarinet etc., please contact info@alanthomas-guitar.com Performances have included: The Cavatina Duo, The Madison Duo, Duo Allegro,Annica Gerlecz/Jon Larsson, Adi Sehu/Djani Sehu, Roberto Casado/Sergio Larrion Recordings: The Cavatina Duo (Cedille Records)
Demo recordings performed by: The Cavatina Duo (Sivi grivi and Shepherd's Dream) Joanna Kirkwood and A. Thomas (read-throughs of Evgenija and Lament) computer samples (all others!)
My Balkan Songbook began life with a commission from the outstanding Cavatina Duo to write a piece for their "Balkan Project" concert programme. The idea was to create an original composition using pre-existing material from a folk song. As I worked on the piece and began listening to more of the music from the region, I became increasingly drawn to the incredibly rich musical culture of the Balkans. Though of course the music varies greatly from country to country (and within individual countries), common traits emerge in the use of complex asymmetrically structured meters and modally-based scales and harmonies.
The songbook is conceived as an ongoing, somewhat open-ended project, with more pieces being added over time, ranging from fairly straightforward arrangements to more abstract musical "games" played with the material provided by the music of the Balkans. As the individual pieces are not really conceived as a complete set to be played in its entirety, performers are encouraged to choose a selection of the pieces which suits their interests and artistry, programming whatever number of movements in contrasting/complimentary keys and moods.
Individual piece programme notes:
The Shepherd's Dream: While perusing a folksong collection, I came across a little tune labelled as "Croatian Lovesong". Though only eight bars long and extremely simple in its rhythmic and melodic construction, I became somewhat obsessed by the haunting beauty of this melody (I am often troubled by these "earworms" (as the Germans call them), which can sometimes cycle constantly round in my head for days on end). As I sang the melody over and over in my mind, an image began to form of a shepherd on a hillside in the still evening air, playing variations on the melody as he drifted off to sleep. The score is headed with an excerpt from a poem by W.B. Yeats: "And I dreamed my lost love came stealthily out of the wood/With her cloud-pale eyelids falling on dream-dimmed eyes".
First performance: Cavatina Duo, 2008.
Sivi Grivi: Sivi grivi ("Gray mane") is based on a dance from the Pirin region of Bulgaria. Typical of the region, the piece employs an asymmetrical meter (7/8 in this case), and has a largely stepwise diatonic melody featuring the exotic sounding augmented 2nd interval.
Commissioned by the Cavatina Duo (flautist Eugenia Moliner and guitarist Denis Azabagic), and first performed by them in 2008.
At Sunset: At Sunset is based on the beautiful Macedonian song "Zajdi, zajdi", the lyrics of which are a poignant evocation of loss (of youth, love, or almost certainly both). I approached this piece as something of a stylistic exercise--in homage to Rachmaninoff.
Ajde jano: Ajde Jano is a re-working of the first movement of my Concerto for Flute and Guitar. The piece draws its inspiration from the Serbian dance "Ajde Jano" ("Come on, Jana"), a courting song which embodies the ardent emotional idealism of youth. (“Let's sell the horse, let's sell the house, just so we can dance!”)
Rachenitsa Machine: The rachenitsa is a Bulgarian (wedding) dance in 7/8 time, which is often played at virtuosic breakneck speeds. If a computer could be programmed to compose one...
Lament is based on "Si Zaljubiv Edno Mome", a beautiful Macedonian song in which tells of the singer's dead love. Having loved her since childhood, when he comes to her now he sees only her white face and "closed black eyes".
Rondo: Rondo is a re-working of the third movement of my Concerto for Flute and Guitar, and draws on the sound of Renaissance music seen through a Balkan prism.
Emina: Emina is an arrangement of the second movement of my Concerto for Flute and Guitar. The haunting melody of the Bosnian song "Emina" (a strong contender for "the most beautiful song in the world") here provides the inspiration and source material for an extended musical musing on the forever out of reach. The piece makes a feature of what I feel to be the strong musical and emotional connections between Bosnian "sevdah" and the "duende" of Spanish flamenco, and also features passing shadows of another unattainable Balkan woman, Jovano Jovanke.
Ruza is based on the Bosnian song "Jutros mi je ruza procvetala", in which the singer compares the lips and tender glance of her lost love to a rose. The piece is effectively a passacaglia which takes the musical "sigh" motif to extremes, as a descending chromatic thread leads through the entire piece.
Evgenija is a more or less straightforward arrangement of the beautiful Macedonian song "Bor Sadila moma Evgenija" (another of my all-time most troublesome earwigs).
Haj, mene majka is in a fast 9/8 meter and makes use of the Arabian-derived Hizaz scale. Like Emina, this piece explores the connection between Balkan music and flamenco.
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