Two works from Nick Fletcher
a) Ballerina : 7 pages
b) Ossian’s Lament 3 pages
Both books from D’Oz
Reviewed 17th January 2018
Here are two more imaginative character pieces from the fine pen of Nick Fletcher. The first and the longest is the Andante of Ballerina, a work in Bm that goes through a number of time signatures and keys along the way. The journey through the piece is quite involved and seems to imply a story without any being discussed in any Preface, as the dancer seems to go through some moments of tension, and high emotion that are not explained. 6/8 vies with 2/4, 3 / 4 and 7/8 in only a few bars in the introduction before settling down momentarily to a rocking rhythm accompaniment surrounded by a melody and bassline. This however doesn’t stay in this mood for too long before a brief 3 bar journey through Fm takes us into C major where the opening time signature changes and rhythms are varied .A return to the start leads soon to a coda in the home key and a quiet ,reflective final chord.
Ossian’s Lament is intended to take the player back into the modal sound world of the Celts, and whilst, to my ears not sounding too modal in style , is a haunting Adagio that begins in chords and gradually develops into 3 voices , and thence to a sextuplet sixteenth note section that is easier than one might first think. A return to the opening idea leads into a reflective coda.
These are both pleasant and moderately demanding technically and both worth playing.
Chris Dumigan