This Small Violet ukulele quartet

Something quite different from me. A ukulele quartet that uses a choir of ukuleles. From low to high these are baritone (DGBE), low G, high G (campanella) and machette (aka braguinha using traditional Madeiran tuning DGBD). The idea of a choir of ukuleles is based on the traditional string quartet. As there was no model for the voicing and score layout I used Samuel Adler's 'The Study of Orchestration' as a guide. Adler doesn't mention the ukulele but his method provided the template for my approach. It took about a week to figure out just the score layout! I had to think about the range of the individual instruments and work out how to use each voice. I didn't want to just create a melodic line with 3 accompanying parts. I wanted each instrument to have its own individual voice. If you're following the interactive score: the baritone ukulele part uses a guitar template and, thus, sounds an octave lower than written. I decided to use tab for the high G ukulele part as this was the most effective way of showing the campanella ideas. I also wanted to minimise the score as much as possible. As some of you know I recently did an online composition course with David John Roche and the final assignment was to compose an ensemble piece of approx 10 minutes duration. I use a 19th century spelling for machete / machette as the inspiration for the piece comes from events of 1888. My mark is revealed at the bottom of this post 😂 As far as I know this is the first work to combine the different types and tunings of ukuleles in a traditional classical setting, therefore, can be considered a new genre. The piece is programmatic in nature, drawing on the Romantic notion of music portraying a story, or capturing a particular mood. My narrative was inspired by Hallie Rubenhold’s book 'The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack The Ripper'. The piece is a musical memory to the tragic, tumultuous lives and horrific, violent deaths of the five canonical victims of Jack The Ripper - Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elisabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. The title of the piece comes from a popular song of the day called 'A Violet from Mother’s Grave'. Mary Jane Kelly (the fifth victim) was heard singing this song shortly before she was murdered. Brief quotes from the song are heard at Q, S and Y as a poignant reminder of Mary. The final notes of the quartet are from a popular comic song of 1888 called 'Where Did You Get That Hat?' The first victim, Polly Nichols, was known to have been wearing a black straw bonnet trimmed with black velvet. On the night of her death she had told a lodging house keeper she would soon be back with her “doss” money. Her final words were, ‘see what a jolly bonnet I’ve got now?’ All of the Whitechapel murders took place in 1888. This year is, coincidentally, the first time the ukulele was mentioned in writing. The piece fluctuates between calm, meditative sections (the opening) inspired by Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie no.1 (of 1888), and brutal, demented sections (X) influenced by Stravinsky’s idea of paganism in 'The Rite of Spring'. In section X the ‘head banging’ indication dares the performers to cross over from the restrained traditions of Western Classical music into the wild strumming patterns and clashing harmonies of death metal. The resulting anger and dissonance is a marked shift away from my usual diatonic musical landscape. This is the midi recording from Sibelius Artist. I would love to be able to record this piece one day but will need to find the right players so... My final mark was 85/100. Very pleased / relieved with the outcome! I am hugely gratefully to Dave Roche for his support and guidance, and for just being an all round lovely human being! Thanks also to my Patrons for encouraging me to share this publicly!