For Ali, and for all

[vkioulaphides]

Dear friends,

now that our own, illustrious Alison Stephens has already given the premiere of my Suite for Ali at the Dartington Festival, I am deligthed to make the score available to all, as a free download, courtesy of the ever-generous Jim Garber, my good friend and faithful "un-publisher"

http://www.paperclipdesign.com/vk/

I wrote this piece at Ali's request in the summer of 2008, for her to perform on her glorious Pecoraro octave-mandola (hence the 8va under the treble clef). Needless to say, it can be performed just as effectively on the "regular" mandolin, or (read as it looks, i.e. sounding a 5th lower) on the CGDA mandola, or (for the truly intrepid) on the mandocello, sounding an octave + 5th lower than on the mandolin-- or even, for "period effect", as this is a profoundly neoclassical piece, on some earlier sort of mandolino.

Heeding the exigencies of Ali's career, with limited air-time allotted to her various appearances, the Suite is "modular"-- as they all are, of course. In other words, please feel free to play any movement(s) you wish, one or more, freely at will. That said, I have designed this piece so that it flows as a congruous, unified whole from top to bottom.

I thank Ali for giving the impetus for this, my most ambitious solo mandolin work to date, and entrust my baby to the loving hands of the world-wide mandolin community. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Victor

[Simen Kjaersdalen]

Thank you for this, Victor.

I've just played through this suite on my Waldzither (there you have another instrument...) - and I really liked it. (By the way - this would be fine on the violin as well...) I liked all 4 parts of the suite, with the 2nd part maybe as a favorite, and I think this suite will stand out as one of the most solid works for our instrument. This is much like a blend of Bach, Corelli and Vivaldi, but with a personal touch. Thank you.

[vkioulaphides]

Thank you, Simen.

Sure, Waldzither would be just fine, too!

Interesting, how different people react to different things: so far, Simen, you are the first one to single out the Allemande; one friend was most instantly and most deeply touched by the Sarabande, while another kept playing the Prelude over and over, fully absorbed in the sonority of his instrument, paying scant attention to the other, dance movements. And this, of course, is the way it goes: "different strokes for different folks". I am happy to have "interested, surprised, or moved" --as was Puccini's creed and mandate-- anyone, anyhow.

My Suite for Ali is, as you say, a neoclassical composite: Bach-like in the sense that all movements feature the same underlying, unifying "harmonic skeleton" (elaborated differently, of course); it is Francophile, Couperinesque, as it has more galanterie than gravitas, and is meant to come across as elegant, not monumental; it is Italianate, Corellian, Vivaldian, as it places on the stage as the "main character" the instrument and the instrumentalist, leaving the composer in the background-- where he truly deserves to be.

It is, in short "player's music". I therefore hope that all of you, my friends across the world, play it to your heart's delight.

Cheers,

Victor

[Stefano]

Thank you Victor for sharing this nice and interesting composition with all internet people. I've played it on a mandolin and it sounds very good!!

Stefano

[vkioulaphides]

Grazie Stefano.

This piece, when played on various instruments, ought to be played with an open mind and some artistic liberty, in style-appropriate manner. For example, Ali plays this Suite on her wonderful Pecoraro octave-mandola, so some ornaments (e.g. in the Allemande) ought to be kept simple on such a larger instrument: single mordents (as opposed to double), for example. Those playing the piece on the usual, "regular" mandolin, can easily do double mordents-- at will, of course.

Also, some of the chords can be held longer on smaller instruments (where the stretches are naturally smaller), whereas they will need to be rather arpeggiated on larger instruments. That, too, is perfectly OK. So, please do not take the printed note as Gospel. After all, people perform Bach in a myriad different ways, and (often) to good effect. And surely if some such variants are good enough for him, they SURE are good enough for me.

Cheers,

Victor

[John Goodin]

Victor, thank you, thank you, thank you! A wonderful set of pieces that I've already played several times through (to the extent that my limited abilities will allow) on mandolin. I might get out my octave mando tonight and see how they play.

I'm partial to the Gigue but I love all the movements.

What a wonderful gift to us all.

John G.

[wildpikr]

Victor,

Thanks for the music. Do you recommend any tempos?

[vkioulaphides]

Thank you kindly, both.

Well, John... as I was saying earlier on this thread, you are now the first one to single out the Gigue. Thank you for your kind words. It seems that, in a sense, I've written something for everyone. If true, that would be a wonderful, indirect compliment. Thank you, all.

Sure, try it on your octave-mando. I have refrained from putting in too many fingerings, as they are of course instrument-specific. I know that Ali plays this on her octave; Alex wrote to me that he just played through the Prelude on his liuto cantabile! So, to each his/her own.

As for Mike's question, I deliberately chose not to indicate tempos, so as to leave the matter at liberty to the performer(s). There is also a long tradition regarding at least approximate tempos of these stylized dance-movements, so there is in fact something to refer to. The names and origins of the dances tell much of the story.

So, I'd rather speak of character --a meaningful, musical matter-- than mere speed --a crude, mechanical one. With that in mind:

The Prelude ought to be slow enough to sound meditative, but not so slow that the sonority of the instrument dies out between harmonies. The Allemande should sound like the jolly, lap-slapping German dance that it is; not too fast, but with vigorous metric accents, and jovial, foot-stomping chords. The Courante should be "runny", fast and fleeting, lightly articulated, bringing out the irregular lengths of the phrases and harmonic changes. The Sarabande should be soulful and majestic, slow but not amorphous-- the typical, bad way of playing such movements. Finally, the Gigue should be, well... a jig happy, light-footed, rolling along its merry way.

I hope that my verbiage offers at least some help towards that tempo that's ~just~ right-- just right for YOU, that is. I would rather share these words with you than post a bunch of dictatorial numerals, "play-THIS-fast" or "THAT-slow". Ultimately, I want you to find the tempi that feel the best for you, and sound best on your instrument. For example, I can easily imagine the Suite played a bit slower on larger instruments, and not only in order to accommodate technical difficulties, but also because of the naturally longer sustain of octave-mandolins, mandocellos, and the like.

OK, too much talk on a Wednesday morning; any half-decent composer ought to know when to shut up and sit down. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Cheers,

Victor

[Simen Kjaersdalen]

I agree totally to that, Victor, that it's the instrument that decides the tempos. I guess the tempo should over all be almost 1/3 slower on my waldzither, compared to my mandolin.
A long ago, these were dances, but even in the renaissance/baroque eras, they were often played only for listening (Take John Dowlands Melancholy Galliard as an early example. Of course Bach were never meant for dancing, what a waste of talent that would be.). And as we do not dance these tunes anymore, we should be completely free! One thing I've always loved about baroque-music is by the way that they had no metronome marks... Personally I would probably end up playing the Allemande (my favorite...) slower than usually recommended, simply because I would like to give it a more singing "crystal" quality. (These words...)
I am interested in your methods of composing, Victor. How did you work these pieces out? Do you like to re-work and re-work your pieces over days or maybe weeks, or do they "come" to you more or less like they are written down? (I am more like that last kind, and seldom use more than half an hour for a 2-minute piece). I find a fine balance between mind and soul in these pieces, heart and intellect. They are peaceful, calm, and should in my opinion be played with some of the crystal quality (again that word...) that Goulds recording of the French suites by Bach show.

Sorry for my lack of fancy English - and thank you again for the music!

[JeffD]

has more galanterie than gravitas, and is meant to come across as elegant, not monumental;

The perfect description of the best possible kind of friend to have.

[JeffD]

Victor I have downloaded many of your compositions. My playing is not at the caliber to do them much justice, but I have been having a lot of fun working on them. A lot of fun. The work rewards the effort.

Someday, if I can get something "ready for prime time" I will record it and send it to you.

[vkioulaphides]

Thank you again, Simen. And, of course, I agree on the performance of these dance-derived movements of suites-- clearly NOT the same as "dance music"! Your comments are right on.

I can hardly speak of a "method", to tell you the truth. The "first seed" of this Suite came from... a single chord (!) whose applications I was studying in Walter Piston's Harmonic Analysis book; then came (my own analysis of) the voice-leading of... George Gershwin's "Someone to Watch Over Me". So this is, as far as I can tell --what do I know?-- my "method": composite, neoclassical, syncretic.

Years ago, I read a manifesto by Italian composer Mariorlando de Concilio, wherein he enthusastically advocated syncretism, while vehemently denouncing eclecticism. Past the UNBEARABLY pompous verbiage, what I understand that to mean is that in the former, the materials are fused, welded, melted together, as in an alloy of different metals; in the latter, the materials are heterogeneous, disparate, mix-and-match, like a rag-rug.

So I guess that's the way I compose. I am an avid and insatiable analyst; I study scores all the time, partly for the purposes of my teaching, partly for my own edification and delight. Finally, to answer your question most directly: once I know what to write, it takes me very little time to write it.

I hope this gives you a full and honest answer to your question. Such things are SO tricky to talk about...

Cheers,

Victor