Ratjetoe (for 4 guitars)
By: Annette Kruisbrink
Publisher: Productions d'Oz
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Saint-Romuald, QC
Language: eng
Number of pages: 15
Subjects: four guitars
Genres: music for guitar
Description: “This is a little compilation of ten Dutch folk songs that are laid end to end, and joined almost seamlessly into an impressive montage of over two hundred bars of fairly easy and pleasantly enjoyable quartet.
Although the piece is laid out conventionally, so that part one is the tune and part four is the bass, there is plenty ofvariety for all and the careful writing means that many of what a beginner would regard as “scary-looking black bits” are under the fingers and based on shapes that every guitarist will be familiar with.
There is a natural variety that the constantly evolving time and key signatures necessarily bring, but this variety is further expanded to include textural contrasts, such as natural harmonics, some big arpeggiated chords, glissandi, some pizzicato, snare drum effect, some muted strums and tambors. Most of the effects have thoughtfully been allowed more than adequate preparation time beforehand.
The music would suit an ensemble that is perhaps around the Grade Four or Five standard, and the technical demands throughout the composition are admirably uniform. Despite the varied styles and textures, the music interlocks well and competent players that don't yet have an “ensemble ear” will find that their initial efforts are rewarded with a piece that comes good quickly and stays tight in performance.
I have to profess to being pretty much ignorant of Dutch folk songs, and so it was a pleasure to be introduced to a sizeable sample that have been thoughtfully selected and elegantly spliced together. As part of the publisher's easy four-part music from around the world, this is a chance to enjoy something that is stylistically a little unfamiliar and therefore all the more fun.”
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)
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