Partita Fantastica

The goal of Partita Fantastica was to take - as a starting point - titles of movements that are usually found in suites of the Baroque period and stylise the music that those titles describe instead of concocting a simple 'pastiche'. For example, the Corrente Ritmico is full of syncopation; the Sarabanda Triste is more of an extended reverie rather than a tightly structured slow movement; and Giga con Slancio is a playful light-hearted finale. Each movement is based on some material (be it harmonic, rhythmic or melodic) that appears in the short, fanfare-like Prelude Maestoso. Indeed, the opening four note motif of the work uses four letters from the word "dance". The Giga leads directly to a short Postlude that revisits the Prelude's opening music. The music is designed to be accessible and colourful. D.B.