Comedians

This is a substantial work from this Moscow-born composer, with 425 bars of music over 24 tightly-knit pages. The music has a glossary of terms at the front, relating to various percussive elements and the suchlike that are built into the body of the piece but they are all very user-friendly so don't let that put you off.
From the start you know that the music has been written to be enjoyed, with a high degree of entertainment factor built in. So you immediately are made aware of the circus element: the semitonal runs with suitably amusing harmonies, an inherent part of it all. The work starts with a number of glissandi of angular pairs of notes, to highlight the comedy factor. Then the semiquaver runs arrive in all three parts, followed by a galumphing «um-ching« bass-chords rhythm, just in case you were in any doubt. There are great deals of chromatic harmonies throughout but they are purely there to enhance the comedic element.
Technically this is not easy music to play and your trio should be well prepared to fly all over the place on the fingerboard. The glissandi recur and everything dies down momentarily onto the top guitar reiterating B quavers against A crotchets, under which the other two players perform a sort of stop-go-pizzicato-quaver idea full of sudden accents, pauses that is almost visual in its ideas. Then the first idea returns, placed differently of course on the guitars (giving everybody a chance at all the sections), until the quiet passage again follows on, again slightly altered but obviously built from the same ideas. Now a number of the percussive elements enter, leading in turn to a new andante section, that swiftly becomes a brief animato, and then a meno mosso, all in the space of a few bars, until a real momentary pause leads to a new 2/4 - 3/4 Allegro idea that continues for several pages. A moderato built on more of the amusing elements then takes over, full of glissandi and deliberately off-key notes. This in turn leads to a sort of alarming samba idea that tries to sound serious but fails miserably to do so. A brief largo heralds a return to the opening tempo and a suitably uproarious finish.
This is a wonderful piece of clever writing that a seasoned trio really ought to get their fingers on. It would really enhance and compliment an otherwise serious recital and I feel that audiences would love It. Great stuff.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)