Cattywampus Rompus (Texas Tarantella) for guitar quartet (2013)
Winner of 2013 Japan Guitar Ensemble Composition Competition
Cattywampus (adj.): awry, askew, off-kilter. Rompus (n.): fake Latin for “romp” (frolic, play, prance). This work is a modern take on the classic tarantella, with an eclectic array of allusions to several musical styles. Energetic, humorous, yearning, and intense, this Tarantella is meant to be for guitar quartet what Mertz’ and Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s great works in the genre are for solo guitar reperoire.
Winner of the Japan Guitar Ensemble Association Composition Competition. Premiered by Quattro Palos quartet in Tokyo, Japan.
“Described as a modern (Texas) take on the tarantella, the title indicates an off-kilter «rompus» is fake Latin, but «cattywampus,» an adjective meaning askew or in disarray, is now in my vocabulary and awaiting a chance to bring it out at parties! This is more than a bit tongue-in-cheek, and so are the program notes. The performance markings are in English and gloriously funny, with a section marked «murmuring,» passages marked «unsure» and «uneasy with dread,» and my favorite: «Go all out!» Set in 6/8 and not too fast ( six notes a second) this is a feast of different textures and tone colors, with an emphasis on bold artic¬ulation and lots of rests in the accompani¬ment while the tarantella feel continues. But this is not melodic tarantella-to capture the overall feel, think, «Teddy Bears Picnic meets-horror-movie.» Though chromatic and dissonant, the technical demands are not too fierce, but will require a confident ensemble to stay tightly locked together, and quite a lot of rehearsal to keep the constant momentum from flagging. Opening in no sharps, there is a wonder¬fully sweet section, which appears twice, set in five sharps and using two guitars to form an arpeggio-a trick that gives a lovely and clever sustain to the repeated top note, shared as it is here, between two guitars. This piece is a (deserved) winner of the 2013 Japan Guitar Ensemble Association Composition Competition but is not so difficult as to restrict its playing to professional ensembles.”