"Greensleeves - Theme & Variations" by Bernie Holland

"Variations On A 16th Century English Ballad" was written in 1984 when I was studying for an Arts Degree at a college in London. The first performance was given in 1985 during a programme of music for the classical guitar which I had prepared as part of one of the assignments I had been set. The theme can easily be recognised as 'Greensleeves', the well known traditional English folk song. The key is D minor with the 6th string tuned down a whole tone to D. The first variation "Tempo Di Marcia" consists entirely of a succession of block-chords, somewhat reminiscent of "Estudio 9" from the 20 studies by Fernando Sor (1780 -- 1839) however the chromaticism of the chords climbing towards the end shows the influence of Percy Grainger (1882 -- 1961). The second variation "Martellato Maestoso" presents an insistent, almost ostinato, rhythmic motif possibly borrowed from the famous 'Chaconne' by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 -- 1750). The third variation "Leggiero" is an amalgam of the 'courante' and 'gigue' forms and some of the running semi-quaver passages bring to mind the work of Luys de Narvaez (fl.1526--49) a Spanish composer and vihuelist, regarded as one of the earliest composers to devise sets of variations based on ostinato harmonies. The fourth variation "Larghetto Con Anima" is once again built from a series of block chords but is in 3/4 time as compared to the 2/4 signature of the first variation. The fifth variation "Ritmico Con Fuego" is a lively dance in 6/8 time which is based on an arpeggiated rhythmic motif that was used by Agustin Barrios Mangore (1885 -- 1944) in his "Danza Paraguaya". The final section repeats to 'Greensleeves' theme as a coda. The 1985 performance had been given on a concert guitar built by David Rubio, however for this recording the guitar part was played on an Ibanez Artcore electro-acoustic guitar. The guitar notation was then written into a midi programme with various 'patches' being used for the different movements. Cubase (Version 5) was used for the production of the audio file and Windows Moviemaker was used for producing the video. For anyone who might be interested in seeing the notation whilst the music is in progress, the original manuscripts have been scanned and used as a visual guide here.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Greensleeves
• English
• Folk
• Music
• Fernando
• Sor
• Percy
• Grainger
• J.S.Bach
• Chaconne
• Ostinato
• Luys
• de
• Narvaez
• Variations
• on
• Theme
• Agustin
• Barrios
• Mangore
• Dante
• Gabriel
• Rossetti
• Pre
• Raphaelite
• Brotherhood
• Classical
• Guitar

[HighRewards]

Hi, do you have the score for this that I could have a copy of for my senior music assessment on theme and variations.

[MrEipast]

I like this song, because he is well known in Germany too. GHreat job and well done

[taildragger53]

Bernie, many thanks for this! It's stunning. Love the fact you've given out the sheet music which i can actually READ (unlike Steve Khans on his website, Yikes). I was trying to work out the chords to "My Latin Brother " from Steves website and i gave myself a migraine. Best wishes to you. Peter.