Aeolian Suite (score and parts)

2 fl., 2 clar., guit., 4 vln 1, 4 vln 2, 3 vla, 2 cellos, 1 bass

1. Aeolian Chant

2. Double Dance

3. Ballad

4. Toccata

The first movement, Aeolian Chant, is based on a theme by a friend of mine, (not a musician!) and is developed with some other ideas in a semi-improvisatory style and features only strings. I combined a 14^th Century Italian melody with an old English country dance for the second movement, Double Dance, which introduces the wind instruments. The third movement, Ballad, is here revised from its original version and now includes the theme on clarinet with guitar obbligato. The last movement, Toccata, is fast, but not as difficult as it sounds, which will appeal to most players!

- John Williams