Jan Bartlema : Tarantella : DOz

Jan Bartlema

Les Productions D’Oz: 8 pages

Here is a very vibrant piece of writing from Dutch guitarist Bartlema. True to its title, it’s in 6/8 for most of the time (the occasional bar is in 9/8), but the interesting factor is its constant forward move. It never sits still and yet the melodies and harmonies themselves are often modern, but always approachable.

Set in Em, and marked Allegro Con brio at 1230 dotted crotchets a minute, it begins by climbing gradually up the fingerboard, changing the arpeggiated chord shape every half a bar. Some chords are expected, but a lot are slightly unusual so you don’t always get what you think you might do, a sign of a good composer! After then making its way back down, often with clashing open strings for a particular effect, it climbs up again, this time with a different conclusion at the top. The arpeggiated chords then turn into three and four note chords for the next section, again with the odd ‘wrong’ note to create the surprise feature.

The writing does occasionally return to a previous theme, but more often than not, the piece just continues, constantly on the move and often with new ideas flowing out of it continuously. There are a number of repeat sections however, and a D.C. al fine leading to a Coda with a very effective close on a tambora.

This is a super piece of writing, great fun to play, and I can imagine many players (providing they have a good technique) getting lots of fun out of it!

Chris Dumigan