Balmoral Suite

The composer says: 'I wrote this suite in 2017, as an affectionate tribute to a wall-known family who habitually spend their summer holidays in the eponymous Scottish Highland abode. The work is a pastiche of Scottish folk music, with the occasional Modernist twist thrown in, to keep both listeners and players on their toes. Of the five movements, the first, Overture-The Family Gathers (Descant then Sopranino) begins with a certain regal poise, after which ensures a medley of tunes expressing the wide range of ages and personalities brought together, and the movement ends with everyone joining in an energetic jig. Grandpa Hankers for the Past (Descant), in recognition of the somewhat conservative taste of perhaps the most musical family member, is written in a mannered rococo style, with a straightforward ABACA structure, giving the recorder plenty of scope for ornamentation in the reprises of the opening section. A Graceful Beauty (Treble), in simple ternary form, is lyrical throughout, with considerable interplay between the recorder and the accompaniment. Enter Great-Grandpa (Treble) gently acknowledges the growing frailty of the family's the oldest member Prince Philip, depicting a difficult walking gait and a degree of understandable irascibility in the sections of dissonant harmony, especially where the strings play on the bridge. Finally, Rough and Tumble in the Nursery (Sopranino) brings the younger family members to the force in a high-spirited romp. 

Score: 28 pages. 1 part @ 11 pages