Tarantella (for guitar duo)

This is the first semi-completed piece I've written for my composition masters degree, and the first one where I was told to write something for a specific concert. The brief was to write a guitar duet, maximum 4 minutes. Not having much of a clue about writing for guitar, I just sat down and notes came out and I wrote a piece anyway. This is the first finished draft of it which I will be giving to the players and discussing with them.

The idea behind the piece was to have a piece in near constant harmonic and rhythmic movement, always changing in feel, morphing gradually from four beats in a bar to three beats in a bar without any sudden obvious change. The cross noteheads from bars 85-96 will be some sort of percussive effect, and I'll discuss that with the players when I meet them to see which effect fits the best.

I'm probably most interested here to see how convincing the harmonies are to people - my tutor liked most of the piece except for a couple phrases, which I have (hopefully) already improved for this draft.

Hi I really enjoyed to listen to it!!!

brilliant moving to the 3/4 beat

that was really a smooth moving.

no remarks to be added from my point of view

goodluck!

The beginning is very lively and morphs very well in other passages, from percussion-like to the more lyrical one around 1:50. Before the final lively passage begins, there is a bit of a downer where the music meanders a bit around. But all in all a very engaging piece. Thanks for sharing it.

Just one question : Why do you call it Tarantella?

Thank you! It's just the word that sprung into my head while writing it - I think from a piano piece I once learned of the same name. 'Tarantella' itself is a dance, or type of dance, originating from the Apulian region in southern Italy in the 15th to 17th centuries. It comes from the belief or superstition that the bite of a certain spider, the 'Tarantula', was poisonous, and the poison could only be cured by a ritual involving music, dance, and colour - sometimes taking place over several days. It seems pretty complex and very interesting from what I've read so far, and I reckon the name is kind of suitable. If this piece ever appears in a program under this title, someone will have a lot of fun writing the program notes!

This is AMAZING. Love the intricate syncopations and interesting nonchoral chords. Very great work!