SOLO INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC by Neil Buckland
Melancholy Waltz
for piano (2’15) – CONTACT
A simple little old-fashioned piano piece. I call it “melancholy” with some reservations, as this word is generally taken now to mean “gloomy”, “mournful”, even “depressed”. In earlier times melancholy was considered a quiet state of mind that assisted contemplation and opened one up to inspiration – tinged, perhaps, with sadness, but full of its own rewards.
Melancholy Waltz can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website and on YouTube.
Pobblebonk Dance
for piano (3’58) – CONTACT
A fun piece. (Pobblebonks are a species of frog found in eastern Australia.)
Siciliano
for guitar (2’30) – CONTACT
The siciliano was originally a folk dance from Sicily but is now best known from baroque music as a slow movement in 6/8 time. This little piece mixes folk and baroque elements.
Siciliano
for (Celtic) harp (2’45) – CONTACT
The siciliano was originally a folk dance from Sicily but is now best known from baroque music as a slow movement in 6/8 time. This little piece mixes folk and baroque elements. It can be played on any kind of harp with a minimum range of E – c”’.
Siciliano for harp is available on YouTube, Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play Music, Spotify, Deezer, QQ Music, Kuwo and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
Sins of My Youth
for piano (8’15), in 9 short movements – CONTACT
1. Prelude and Fugue in No Particular Key
2. Two-Part Discovery
3. Berceuse
4. Interlude
5. The Tone-Row Waltz
6. Three-Part Discovery
8. Postlude
9. My Lady Margo’s Rompe
A collection of short, whimsical piano pieces written in my youth (the title is a play on Rossini’s ‘Sins of My Old Age’; in both his case and mine the ‘sins’ are purely musical). The Prelude and Fugue in No Particular Key gets lost in a chromatic jungle and has an unfortunate accident. The Tone-Row Waltz shapes a 12-tone row (as well as its inversion and retrograde) into something like a melody, adding a tonal accompaniment. My Lady Margo’s Rompe is a jazzy remake of a medieval keyboard piece, My Lady Carey’s Dompe.My Lady Margo’s Rompe and The Tone-Row Waltz are available on YouTube, Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play Music, Spotify, Deezer and on CD (to order CDs: CONTACT ) and My Lady Margo’s Rompe is also on QQ Music and Kuwo.
Trumpet Descant
for the Christmas carol ‘Ding Dong Merrily On High’
The sheet music for this piece is offered free of charge: free pdf sheet music
Written for the well-known Charles Wood harmonization, from the Cambridge Carol-Book (may also work with other harmonizations of the carol but has not been tried). (The Charles Wood harmonization is available free at: http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/ ding_dong_merrily_on_high.htm and at: http://imslp.org/wiki/Ding_Dong_Merrily_on_High_(Wood,_Charles)
Winter Journey
for piano (4’15) – CONTACT
A piece that explores feelings and atmospheres rather than describing a specific journey; a journey of the mind. (There is also a version of Winter Journey for wind quintet – this can be heard on the Listen page of this website.)
Solo instrumental works in progress
(none at present)