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The pieces in the Festival Series were written to provide opportunities for recorder players of different abilities to play together. They can all be played by small groups, even one to a part, but they were originally intended for mass-playing - over 300 players on some occasions. The scoring for the series is:
- an elementary soprano part on a limited number of notes -
- an intermediate soprano part requiring more notes but still rhythmically straightforward -
- an intermediate alto/tenor part using the octave G to G'; rhythmically similar in standard to the soprano part -
- more advanced parts for sopranino, soprano, alto and tenor (and also optional bass). These are more chromatic and use syncopations. The sopranino part is the most challenging.
"States of Mind" was the first piece to be written in this series. The underlying principle is that the most elementary players must have a melody rather than a filler part and that they should not be expected to count rests! Repeated passages are written out to make it easier for them to follow. The aim was to provide a painless introduction to the pleasures of ensemble playing. The ternary structures help with this; conductors should remember that the movements are longer than the average piece encountered by these elementary players.
Details of the technical requirements for each piece are given in the preface of the score:
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