Tarot

Guitars 1, 3, and 4 double on other instruments

Guitar 1, doubling percussion    

- Suspended cymbal (small and large)    

- Triangle    

- Cajon

Guitar 3, doubling Baroque guitar *

Guitar 4, doubling quint bass guitar **

 

*the Baroque guitar part can be played on a standard guitar

** An alternative part for standard guitar has been included.

 

Programme note

The tarot is a pack of playing cards. Tarot cards began to be used for fortune-telling in the late 18th Century and have been associated with the occult ever since. My piece uses seven cards as the basis for a set of miniatures for four guitars and percussion. The movements can be played in any order, any number can be played, and movements can be repeated as desired. The order of performance can even be determined by the dealing of cards. Consequently, each time the piece is performed, there is a new reading of the tarot cards and a fresh narrative for the music.

The published order or movements is simply the order that the Barrios Guitar Quartet chose for the premiere of ‘Tarot’.

 

Wheel of Fortune

Temperance

The Magician

The Lovers

The Fool

The Devil

Death