Composer:
READ, H.
Arranged/Written for: Quartet
Instrumentation: SATB
FORMS and COLOURS consists of eight stylistically different movements, each of which reflects a facet of Hugo Read's personal musical experiences and artistic activities.
On the one hand, there are lyrical, tonal movements inspired by late romanticism and jazz, but also abstract, non-tonal movements that are more in keeping with modernism. In seven of the eight movements, there are very different improvisation sections, depending on the style of the movement. This means that either the “composed” solo can be interpreted at the appropriate points (this is intended for players who are still inexperienced in improvisation) or the given harmonic symbols can be improvised upon.
As the improvisation parts are kept relatively simple and catchy, they can also be improvised by ear without any knowledge of the symbols.
