Gaelic Faram (Jig in Kiev)

Designed as a companion piece for Bartok’s famous Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion, Gaelic Faram (Jig in Kiev) was composed for the Kiev Piano Duo (Oleksandra Zaytseva and Dmytro Tavanets) and percussionists Dmytro Ulyanov and Yevhen Ulyanov for the final concert of the Kiev “Chamber Music Session” Festival 2012. Fully revised 2016.

This is a note-filled, virtuosic piece inspired by British folksong, and includes adaptations of the Dargason jig and the reel Mary Mack, and starts with an attempt to capture some of the ornamented and decorated melody lines typical of Scottish bagpipes.