VILLANESCA
arranged for percussion ensemble
Publisher: C. Alan Publications (2014)
Composed: 2013
Duration: 5′
Difficulty: Medium
Instrumentation (10 players): bells, xylophone, vibraphone, 4.0-octave marimba, 4.3-octave marimba, triangle, tambourine, suspended cymbal, timpani (29″,26″)
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Villanesca is the fourth selection in a collection for piano entitled 12 Spanish Dances (Op. 37, H.142) by the Spanish pianist and composer Enrique Granados. Like many of his compositions, this set of pieces written in 1890 helped further his ambition to bring the Spanish folk idiom to the attention of the contemporary European music establishment. With the style and tempo indication Allegretto alla pastorale, this is a playful and simple, yet somewhat stately, dance movement. The solo vibraphone briefly interrupts the otherwise consistent pulse on a few occasions during multiple statements of the primary and secondary themes. Eventually the work slows and fades away into a beautifully plaintive four-voice chorale marked Molto Andante. The original dance returns for a brief reprise before slowing and fading again into a final D major chord.