Spotlight on Bisearta
Bisearta is George Campbell Hay's poem in Scottish Gaelic about the destruction of the Tunisian town Bizerte in World War Two. MacNeill has given it an entirely modal "Celtic" setting for solo voice and light (but somewhat dissonant) accompaniment.
Spotlight on Kernsary
If George Gershwin had been a Welsh hymn-writer, then maybe he would have come up with something like Kernsary, a hymn-tune in four-part harmony with the metric pattern 8787D.
Spotlight on Where's my Db minor ninth?
The lightly-scored jazz-orchestra piece Where's my Db minor ninth? is innovative in that, until the final chord, it is restricted to seven notes (in various octaves) that do not make a recognized scale.
Spotlight on Celtic song-tunes
Some modal song-tunes are offered here that draw on traditional Scottish music; the light accompaniments are definitely not in Victorian drawing-room style. Many of the tunes have a second melody that works either as an alternative for some verses or as a harmony line.
Spotlight on Cove
Looking for a different Christmas-carol tune? Fitting the words "Once there came to earth" (slightly amended), the tune Cove is in mixolydian mode in four-part harmony.
Spotlight on Three Down and Four to Play
Pieces with strict four-part canons at the minor third are rare. Bach wrote one example; probably just one! The jazz-orchestra piece Three Down and Four to Play takes the idea rather far.
Spotlight on Old Friends Remembered
Not much music is in 5/4 time, and even less is in locrian mode. The jazz-orchestra piece Old Friends Remembered is therefore unusual, being in 5/4 time and partly in locrian mode.
Spotlight on The B'bebb
The B'bebb isn't music, but a children's book. The main character, though, does have opinions about music on our planet.
Spotlight on Charis
The four-part hymn tune Charis starts with seven Ds for the sopranos, but each D is harmonised differently. The altos' initial five-note chromatic run is later repeated by the basses two octaves lower.
Spotlight on The Middle Floor
Can playing guitar in a jazz big-band be frustrating - working so hard but scarcely heard? The Middle Floor is a guitar feature for jazz orchestra that even includes an unaccompanied cadenza, and further guitar improvisation in the form of interplays with the rhythm section and a modal solo.
Spotlight on Monkflower
It's no surprise for a jazz composer to write a tune that honours Thelonious Monk and seeks to reflect the Monk style. Monkflower has both boisterous and gentle passages, and for once the baritone saxophone and the bass trombone can be heard - some reward for toting all that heavy plumbing.
Spotlight on A Place So Perfect
A Place So Perfect is a love song with a pentatonic melody, words in the form of a sonnet, and a light, somewhat dissonant, accompaniment.
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