Harb: Spirit - Suite for guitar (2020)

*** THIS SCORE IS NOW ONLY AVAILABLE VIA LES PRODUCTIONS D'OZ. PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK TO PURCHASE: https://productionsdoz.com/product/8769-spirit *** I am very excited and honoured to present to you my first major composition for guitar; a suite for solo guitar titled "Spirit"! "Spirit" is comprised of five movements: I. Dance of the Jinn II. Midnight III. Rondo IV. Meditativo V. Motherland You'll receive a PDF file of the full score upon placing your order; 39 pages. Music is approximately 17 minutes in length. Spirit - Program notes: "The inception of this five-movement suite for guitar started with my unorthodox attempt to put down on paper a few musical ideas, which, to my surprise gave birth to Dance of the Jinn — a driving musical interplay between witty note patterns and odd rhythms. This first movement’s title came about due to the piece taking on its own course as I was composing it. I don't really consider myself a composer as I do relate, and have an affinity for performance much more strongly (at least at this moment in time), yet for an odd reason the piece was revealing itself to me, sort to speak, as I was exploring its different musical ideas. The jinn (or genie in English) is a mythological Islamic spirit that is mischievous in nature, whether good or bad. After its ‘trickster’ dance the clock strikes Midnight announcing the second movement of the suite. Midnight is a reminder of the Grandfather Clock at my grandfather's home in Gaza. It sounded on the hour even through the night, and being quite loud, it woke me up at times. The piece utilizes extended techniques to create a ticking-clock effect while also investigating odd time signatures. It develops new material that will later be used in the fifth movement but over even time signatures. Rondo, the third movement, explores the traditional rondo form in a ‘scherzando’, playful manner. Listening to music by major 20th-century composers and also to music by non-classical progressive groups lately, and dabbling and experimenting with various patterns on the guitar I believe inspired the main theme of this rondo. Moreover, the B and C sections are from the many musical influences I gathered over time and therefore display popular textures that are normally heard in the guitar repertoire. The fourth movement, Meditativo, is an experiment in spaciousness and the guitar’s ability to create a meditative atmosphere using the tremolando technique. It does not focus particularly on the tremolo as a device to imitate a singing legato effect, but rather to contribute to the serene effect that the piece creates. The melody in the middle section plays on the off-beat often, giving a slight variation to the usual order of the classical guitar tremolo. Quoting thematic material from Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No.2, the main theme and Prokofiev’s theme intertwine to create a climax before the recapitulation, bringing the movement to a quasi-resolution. The fifth and final movement, Motherland, is a homage to my origins and to my late mother, Dr. Asma Harb. My mother greatly admired Classical Arabic music and especially singers such as Um Kulthum and Warda Al-Jazairia. Based on the Fallahi rhythm found in Arabic music, Motherland develops dance-like material before falling into variations of a popular melody from the song Inta Oumri by the great Egyptian singer, Um Kulthum. The piece then merges several musical ideas from previous movements, combining them to create a fast-paced tail end of the suite. The even rhythms and time signatures give a comprehensive sense of structure that takes the suite to its final ending." I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for your order!