Intimations is a piece written for the (very) mixed ensemble that made up my Year 12 group. Because their instruments are quite diverse they have found it difficult to find a pre-published ensemble piece so they asked me to write one for them. This is not an exemplar or any other kind of exam piece, it is purely for them to play and, hopefully, enjoy.

The title is a bit of a play on words. Intimate means close and intimations means (loosely) hints. These pupils are all friends to one degree or another and the music is quite intimate in that the main musical ideas overlap with each other and are quite closely related musically. Also, the main ideas hint at other possibilities and these are only partially developed before a reprise of the first idea.

The opening and its reprise hint at the Baroque era, while the 4/4 section hints at the 20th century, with its syncopated accompaniment and off-beat melody. The rhythmic patterns hint at 8/8, but there are sections clearly in 4/4 and I decided to make the rhythm patterns clearer by using accents, rather than keep swapping time signatures and, in any case, Sibelius finds simultaneous time signatures difficult and clunky to implement.

It’s meant to be a fun piece and, if you like it but have a different ensemble, just ask and I’ll create parts for other instruments. (Clarinet/saxophone, say).

Current orchestration is Flute, Cornet/Trumpet, Viola, Bassoon.