Aignish on the Machair

In writing these arrangements for clarinet quartet, Frank Reinshagen has created little masterpieces, which broaden the rhythmical and harmonic context of the original tunes in an interesting manner without detracting from their archaic and melancholic character. These original tunes are—in a direct or wider sense—of Celtic origin. In other words, they have been borrowed from the Irish, Scottish, and Gaelic musical tradition. These through-composed arrangements are rather easy to perform from the rhythmical and technical point of view. Yet, they are quite demanding in respect of the key they are written in, their intonation, and especially, their interpretation. Their different instrumentations are fully compatible with each other and, due to their overall structure, they are also suitable to be played with multi-scored parts. Annotation on “Aignish on the Machair:” The arrangement of “Aignish on the Machair, Folksong from The Hebrides,” illustrates, above all, the melancholic character inherent in the harmonies of the original tune. A short rubato passage is followed by several variations over the flowing melody in 3/4-time. The short triplet passages embedded in these variations are quite demanding from the technical point of view; considering the key they are written in, however, these passages are not too difficult to play.