FANTASIA UPON A CABBAGE - GUITAR QUARTET/large ensemble
For Classical or Acoustic Guitar

Perfect for School Music Teachers and for adults with a sense of the ridiculous...

Derek Hasted writes This really does need a bit of explanation. Well, more than a bit...

As a Guitar Teacher I often have to teach beginners how to read music, and of course the seven names of the musical notes can be made to spell words. Like CABBAGE.

This, then, is a little piece of kitchen-based nonsense, cooking up a rather unappetising dish comprising cabbage, egg, beef and a lot, lot more cabbage. Iâ??ve arranged it (if that is the word) to include nods to the renaissance and baroque periods.

The scores contain mark-ups to show where a particular player has an item of food in their motif.

As well as EGG, youâ??ll find some GEG (thatâ??s scrambled egg) and a BAD EGG (and some sad music). Youâ??ll also find that the recipe includes a helping or two of BEEF.

Bach comes in for a special mention, as thereâ??s a fugue-like section where the subject comes in a fifth away from the starting key (which Iâ??ve loosely interpreted as being a recipe in a foreign language) and thereâ??s some stretti (well, just about) at the end, when the fugue subjects overlap a tiny, tiny amount. And we also pay homage to the pedal section of an organ, where the CABBAGE subject comes in down low at half the speed of the original.

The final, jazzy, chord at the end contains seven notes that collectively spell CABBAGE.

Guitar 4 is supplied in treble and bass clefs - either or both will work in a large ensemble.

So there are lots of teaching points, lots of things to ask the audience to listen out for, and a lot of mischief in a compact piece.

The musical refrain CABBAGE is not the greatest motif to work with, but on reflection, when you have this much cabbage, itâ??s much better to listen to it than have to eat it...

I hope you enjoy playing this piece!

This is one of a large and growing range of accessible ensembles from experienced arranger Derek Hasted, and is supplied as full score and parts. Derek's website at www.derek-hasted.co.uk/smp lists all his arrangements by title and by number of instruments, with links to soundclips and sample score.