Danzas Costeñas – flute, clarinet and guitar / piano George Barcos

These three short pieces for flute, clarinet and either guitar or piano, have proved to be very popular and accessible for intermediate level students – either to prepare as entry for the NZ Community Trust Schools Chamber Music Contest, or for fun. And they are very suitable too for NCEA Level One or Two group assessments.

These three ‘dansaz’ indeed fit this description, although I would say that perhaps the South American flavour comes through most strongly, and this is part of the appeal for those students with whom I have worked on this music over the years. The Latin element comes through clearly in the idiomatic guitar writing which has been well transcribed for piano. Your pianist, though, must listen to some guitar performances, especially flamenco style music or similar, to have the sense of the strumming patterns.

The first dance is Chango, a triple meter, one in the bar dance with the expression markings “Joyeux et romantique” – joyous and romantic! That immediately gives you the idea of the exuberance of this music. Flute and clarinet move in rhythmic unison throughout, mostly a 6th apart, creating a sweet and colourful timbre. The melodies are similar in many respects to the indigenous music of the Andes and the rhythms are either strongly bouncing off the first beat of the bar, or syncopated.

There is great scope in this movement for matching articulations between the flute and clarinet, in accents, syncopations, staccato and flowing semiquaver passages which are mostly all tongued. It would be helpful to listen to some music of the Andes on pan-pipes to hear the kinds of articulations used to give vitality to the rhythm, and try to emulate those. Another challenge in this first movement is intonation – not so much in the moving parts as in every phrase ending, which is a sustained note between flute and clarinet, either at an octave, and 3rd or a 6th. The variety of dynamic markings, either fp cresc, or a diminuendo can give rise to intonation issues, and some isolated work on controlling pitch and dynamics will be of benefit.

The second movement is typically a slower one, entitled Desierto, which conjures up the idea of loneliness and melancholy. Marked “resolu, mais tres expressif”, there is plenty of opportunity for the wind players to find a very expressive tone, and the composer even goes so far as to mark vib. above some of the held flute notes. As in the first movement, the flute and clarinet move together, although there is a little more independence in the parts. The phrases are short, but try to think long lines that carry one short phrase to another in a song-like manner. The guitar/piano accompaniment is relatively simple, providing a gentle syncopated and lilting foundation for the melody line. In creating an interpretation of this movement, aim for a subtle rubato and flexibility in the shaping of the semiquaver patterns – this is definitely not a strict and metronomic movement.

Listen to some slow Latin dance music to develop a feeling for the mood of the movement. In complete contrast, the third movement Buenaventura moves along at a brisk dotted crotchet = 104, and is marked “movido y alegre”. The rhythm oscillates between a 6/8 and 3/4 feeling in the piano/guitar part especially, although in the central section the alternation is more between wind in 3/4 and accompaniment in 6/8. This is a high energy movement, great fun to play and requiring good finger and tongue co-ordination in the wind as well as plenty of stamina. The skills that can develop through learning this piece are mostly rhythmic (once the notes are learned) – learning to feel the syncopations together, coming in together after a quaver rest, or coming off ties together, all at a fairly brisk speed, all while switching between the compound duple and simple triple meters. Danzas Costeñas lasts between five and six minutes in its entirety. It is published by Emerson Edition Ltd (no 348), Windmill Farm, Ampleforth, North Yorkshire UK YO62 4HF. Having seen quite a few young players really enjoy learning and performing it, I wholeheartedly recommend this piece as an addition to your chamber music repertoire.

Ingrid Culliford spent many years in London as a free- lance flautist and teacher, and was professor of flute at Trinity College of Music and the Junior Royal Academy of Music. She currently tutors in flute at Waikato University and the NZ School of Music, adjudicates at many festivals and competitions, is an examiner for the NZMEB and a Senior Examiner for the International Baccalaureate Organisation.