Canadian guitarist Adam Cicchillitti and flautist Lara Deutsch perform Folk Suite by Jason Noble. This comes via Cicchillitti’s YouTube channel. Wonderful performance and piece filled with a vast variety of melodies and textures. Check out some info below or more via his YouTube description:
Originally written for Montreal-based ensemble Stick & Bow, Folk Suite was arranged for guitar and flute by the composer and premiered by Lara Deutsch and Adam Cicchillitti with Ottawa New Music Creators in December 2021. It is a work in six short movements, woven together with traditional folk tunes inspired by Newfoundland folk music and performers. Jason Noble notes that the “style and genre of Newfoundland folk music is heavily influenced by older folk music traditions from European countries such as Ireland and England. Both vocal and instrumental genres are adapted in this piece: artists who influenced its composition include folk singers Fergus O’Byrne and Pamela Morgan, Celtic harpist Ed Kavanagh, and fiddlers Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit.”
The six movements are as follows:
1. “Overture” emulates the sonorities of folk instruments such as the Celtic harp and the tin whistle;
2. “Air” emulates accompanied folk singing, with the flute taking the role of a lyrical female voice and the guitar taking the role of an accompanying string instrument with echoes of the historical lute song;
3. “Ceilidh” emulates the joyful energy of Newfoundland kitchen parties, which often feature improvised percussion on instruments such as the spoons or the ugly stick;
4. “Ballad” emulates a cappella folk singing, with the flute taking the role of a male voice with much freedom of pacing for narrative delivery;
5. “Jig” emulates group folk singing in a party setting; and 6. “Reel” emulates fiddle music and folk dancing.
Read the full info at Cicchillitti’s YouTube.
