Guitar Picture  McGillicuddy's Rant (Classical Guitar) - Programme Notes
                        (1980-2003; 15')

                       Click to view or print the score (please let me know if you perform this)

            Variations on McGillicuddy’s Rant was composed intermittently over a twenty-three year period, and I got to hear a performance of the complete set for the first time around 2003.* The theme was written in 1980, around the time I started taking composition lessons. Before it had a name, I played it for my guitar teacher (Stephen Wingfield), who, for no apparent reason, suggested I call it "McGillicuddy’s Rant." I probably should have asked why it he suggested this quirky title (I know no McGillicuddys, and I don't believe he did either, so where did that name come from? And what is a musical "rant?"), but I liked the sound of it, so I used it. I also arranged the theme for piano, which can be found in “11 Short Piano Pieces.”
            According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., it turns out that a musical "rant" is “a lively country dance… a variety of the polka step in an anacrusic 6/8 or 2/4 rhythm which is hopped or skipped.” Calling my slow and meditative theme a "rant" is therefore wrong, at least if one were to insist on following correct word meanings in the naming of one's compositions, but by the time I realized this I had become too fond of the title to change it. I extend my humblest apologies to rant connoisseurs offended by this egregious and cavalier lexical misapplication.
            The (non-rant) theme is in sectional binary form, and is followed by ten variations that are all short character-pieces: Jig, Wistful and Nostalgic, Scherzo, Bluesy, Arabesque, Bluegrass, Folk Dance, Chorale, Prelude, and a modified Reprise.
            It has been released on CDs by Daniel Bolshoy (McGillicuddy's Rant (Centaur, 2009), which strikes me as an exceptionally good name for a CD), and Sylvie Proulx (Sirocco (Centaur, 2011), which is a fine name for a CD too, I guess). Both are amazing performances, with distinctive and unique touches.

©Clark Winslow Ross

Guitar Picture

(Performed by Daniel Bolshoy, from his CD: "McGillicuddy's Rant")


(Performed by Sylvie Proulx, from her CD: Sirocco)


            *Richard Bradley, a fine guitarist and friend when I lived in Toronto, played an early version of this consisting of the theme plus the first four variations (as well as an ambitious fugue variation that I subsequently deleted from the set) in a recital during "Guitar 84" (or was it "Guitar 87"? I don't remember), a huge international guitar festival held in Toronto. His performance was broadcast nationally on CBC Radio, and I think it may have been the first time I got to hear my music on the radio. Subsequent performances took place in 1990 by Dale Ketcham (Lethbridge, Alberta), 2002 by my brilliant guitar student Andrew Wicks (St. John's, Newfoundland), 2003 by Michael O'Toole (Dublin and Limerick, Ireland), and 2005 by my friend and collegue here at Memorial University, Sylvie Proulx (St. John's, Newfoundland), who subsequently recorded it for her 2011 CD, "Sirocco." I'm not sure who performed the complete set of variations first, but it may have been Andrew Wicks. More recently, this piece had a huge boost when another very fine guitarist and friend, Daniel Bolshoy, recorded it on a CD entitled "McGillicuddy's Rant" (released November, 2007) and performed it over 70 times in 2007-08.


clark ross, composer, contact, contact me, contact page, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian clark ross, composer, bio, biography, long bio, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian clark ross, composer, bio, biography, short bio, contemporary, canada, canadian, performer, list, maracaibo, venezuela, peru clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, piano, voice, violin, cello, strings clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, piano, voice, violin, cello, strings clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, piano, voice, violin, cello, strings clark ross, composer, trumpet, trombone, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, piano, percussion clark ross, MIDI, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, saxophone, alto, Eb clark ross, composer, classical guitar, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, solo, string quartet, strings clark ross, composer, percussion, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, piano, voice, violin, cello, strings clark ross, composer, voice, soprano, high voice, tenor, 9/11, song, despair, solomon, Bible, chamber music, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, piano, voice, violin, cello, strings clark ross, composer, piano solo, solo piano, pedagogical, concert, virtuosic, beginner, short, flute piano, violin piano, trombone piano, soprano piano, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, piano, voice, violin, cello, strings clark ross, composer, saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet, flute, dance, dance music, memory quilt, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, piano, voice, violin, cello, strings clark ross, composer, chamber music, orchestra music, solo music, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, piano, voice, violin, cello, strings clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, canada, canadian, Clark Ross's Links Page clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, jazz, contemporary, canada, canadian, art music, guitar, jazz piano, saxophone, sax, alto sax, dance music, ballet music theory, haromony, handouts, cadential 6/4, mixture, Neapolitan 6th, augmented sixth, chromatic harmony, teaching, class, university, music theory, materials clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, orchestra, string orchestra, lorca, es verdad, cordoba, niño come naranjas clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, piano, piano solo, pedagogical, pedagogy, beginner, intermediate, advanced, learning, solo piano clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, guitar, classical guitar, string quartet, guitar quintet, guitar and string quartet, CBC, Jung clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, guitar, guitar solo, classical guitar, ragtime, blues, variations clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, piano, jazz, bass, string bass, double bass, solo, oscar peterson, walking bass clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, guitar, variations, classical guitar, solo guitar, guitar solo, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, piano, solo, piano solo, solo piano, tango, habanera, habañera, concert, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, piano, percussion, duo, percussion and piano, piano and percussion, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, piano, bass trombone, duo, duck soup, virtuoso, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, orchestra, fanfare, newfoundland, newfound land, overture, Canada, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, lamentations, lament, jeremiah, solo cello, solo, cello, cello solo, bible, destruction, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, lamentations, lament, jeremiah, solo cello, solo, cello, cello solo, bible, destruction, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, memory, quilt, memory quilt, flute, piano, duo, flute and piano, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, band, concert band, wind band, overture, quotation, humorous, humour, humor, mall, shopping mall, wagner, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, soprano, piano, clarinet, psalm, de profundis, despair, trio, bible, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, clarinet, solo, digital delay, echo, ripple, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, song, song of songs, solomon, song of solomon, violin, cello, percussion, soprano, bible, kiss, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, piano, trio, piano trio, violin, cello, sterpping out, penguin, café, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, sax, saxophone, Eb, Eb alto, alto, solo, solo saxophone, urban, dance, jazz, computer, blues, percussion, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, viola, percussion, 2 percussion, trio, CBC, rivka, golani, free clark ross, composer, free download, music, score, classical, contemporary, viola, concerto, solo, viola solo, orchestra, virtuoso, free ClarkRoss.ca Image
image image