A lyrical guitar meditation on English landscape, history, and timeless summer light.
Difficulty : Advanced
Purchase: The score is available as an ebook via Lulu Publishing.
Tuning: Standard (played with capo as notated)
Duration: ~5’45”
About
This evocative composition was inspired by the English countryside and a summer visit to St Hubert’s Chapel at Idsworth, a 14th-century landmark near Finchdean on the Hampshire/Sussex border. Tremolo passages portray the shimmering wheat fields, bell-like figures suggest the chapel’s historic charm, and the lute-style central section captures the tranquillity of its interior and medieval murals. The piece closes as sunlight fades, leaving the countryside in quiet reflection.
Performance and Repertoire Notes:
- Finchdean is Bruce Paine’s most popular work, performed worldwide in New Zealand, Australia, England, France, the Czech Republic, and Mexico.
- It is a standard choice for advanced University-level guitar exams and has been accepted by Trinity College London as FTCL exam repertoire.
- Includes a bonus simplified version using triplet figures instead of the cross-string tremolo — still challenging, but easier on the right hand.
- Capo required: 3rd fret.
Recordings:
- NAXOS release, June 2017.
- Earlier recording by Bruce Paine on Lateral Lines.
- Also available on YouTube.
Listen on BandCamp...
