The Blue Suite : three-movement work for guitar orchestra

The Blue Suite is a set of three dance movements composed in 2005 for the Cranbrook Guitar Orchestra. Blue Rondo uses a fairly standard seven-part ABACABA rondo form with a refrain that owes more to a Latin jazz feel than your typical "Classical" rondo. Blue Waltz takes a theme, originally written as part of an orchestral piece, that depicts flying trapeze artists in a circus, providing a Prokofiev-like lyrical quality with a quirky handling of its harmonic language. And finally, Blue Rag resumes the suite's upbeat tempo with a little piece that swings to a rousing conclusion. These compositions are for an orchestra of guitars that is assembled like a traditional string orchestra. It is intended that each voice in the music is played in unison by a number of acoustic guitars - the actual number used would depend upon the guitarists available and the discretion of the musical director. A possible line-up would be a single electric bass guitar (or double bass), 3 or more standard guitars on each of the Guitar Three and Guitar Two parts and slightly fewer of the transposing requinto guitars on the top line of music. Published by Fretful Music, edited by Christopher Keane. It was performed at the 2006 Sydney Guitar Society summer school in January 2006, and by the Hobart Guitar Orchestra in December 2006. ISMN M-720058-10-8