Genre: Instrumental
Mood: Cheerful
Forces: Recorder, Harpsichord
Length: 11 Minutes
A light-hearted piece for recorder and harpsichord in four movements.
Hopje - A Dutch Suite
(pronounced Hop-yer)
Bach wrote English and French suites. This is a Dutch one: the first ideas for the piece were conceived during a very happy visit to Delft.
As all my friends know, I am quite unable to resist a pun: one movement of my guitar piece is called ‘Fluent Guitar’ (some people, like Julian Bream, pronounce guitar like catarrh). Similarly, the title for this piece chose itself. It’s pronounced hop-yer.
The four movements are loosely held together by a focus on contrasts: staccato versus legato (short sharp notes against long smooth ones) and leaps (notes that jump from low to high or vice versa).
It’s not deep and meaningful. It’s just for fun. Like a real hopje, it is bitter-sweet, crunchy and lasts just a few minutes.
F L Dunkin Wedd
Tonbridge, Kent, 2006
First performance:
Evelyn Nallen and David Gordon, Tudeley, Kent.