April Song

The music itself is elegantly presented, coming with eight more performance indications and a genuinely helpful tip for Guitar Four, whose bottom string is a floppy B.
An almost pastoral opening is nothing less than delightful. Little octave notes remind me of raindrops. Soon the complexity ramps up with harmonics over fret 3 as well as the more accessible locations, coupled with more aggressive chords and slides, and dry chords. As we have come to expect. the piece is elegantly structured, and it's not long before the opening theme reappears in new hands. There are some not-unexpected time-signature and key-signature changes - there is a wonderfully mellow G minor section that contrasts sublimely with the bright D major opening.
Technically, though, the fireworks are just beginning and what has been so far very accessible now starts to move up a gear, though there's nothing here that would scare a Grade 8 player blessed with determination and the ability to count a tight rhythm. But again a reprise brings calm.
There are some gorgeous sounds - a C chord that normally has a relatively high bass note sounds very different with a C on a B string underneath. Dissonances are often quickly and elegantly resolved, and the palette of effects is not only wide and varied, but it is employed as a chef would draw upon his spices - there to enhance, not overwhelm.
This piece was commissioned by the Guitar Festival of Ireland and premiered this year. It will require a team of very competent players, but it's not beyond the reach of a good. as opposed to exceptional, quartet. The physical demands are not overpowering, but some of the rhythms require precision to place notes in the gaps between other parts.
Derek Hasted