Divisions on an Italian Ground

by Robert Carr

From The Delightful Companion, 1686

Continuo for Guitar by Peter Billam

For Flute or Alto Recorder and Guitar

© Peter J Billam, 1980

This score may be freely photocopied, and redistributed

in paper form. It may be freely performed to live audiences;
performing rights are waived. It may not be redistributed in
electronic form, and all other rights, such as those of recording
and broadcast, remain reserved by the composer, Peter Billam,
GPO Box 669, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia.

This printing 1 April 2009.

http://www.pjb.com.au
 Divisions on an Italian Ground

Divisions on an Italian Ground for flute and guitar is one of Peter Billam’s
early compositions. It was written in 1980 when he was living in Biel,
Switzerland, and actively playing both guitar and flute. It is a set of variations on
the theme from Robert Carr’s piece of the same name; there are also references to
Brahms’ Paganini Variations.

The following tempo suggestions are editorial only, and should be

disregarded with a clear conscience. The theme could be taken at around 88, the
second variation Etwas rasch at about 96 crochets per minute, the fifth Immer
staccato at about 63 bars per minute, the eighth Ausdrücksvoll at about 56 crochets
per minute, and the final Etwas langsamer als das Thema at about 80.

Also available is the piece of the same title by Robert Carr, taken from The
Delightful Companion: or, Choice new lessons for the Recorder or Flute published
by John Carr in 1686, with the continuo realised for guitar in 1980 by Peter
Billam. The solo part can be played on Alto Recorder, as foreseen by Robert Carr,
or on Flute, making a companion piece for Peter Billam’s variations. Carr’s
Delightful Companion was initially published in 1682, though no copies of this
first edition are extant. The divisions turn up again in the 1695 edition of The
Division Violin and are also republished in 1708 (with fewer ornaments) in The
Second Part of the Division Flute containing a Collection of Divisions upon
Several Excellent Grounds for the Flute being very Improving and Delightfull to
all Lovers of that Instrument.

© 1980 Peter Billam

http://www.pjb.com.au
Robert Carr, 1686 3
Divisions on an Italian Ground
Flute or Alto recorder
tr tr tr
3
4

9 tr
tr

17 tr tr
tr

25 33
’ tr

41
tr tr

tr

49

tr 57 tr

p
65
tr tr tr

73 tr tr

81 tr

Continuo for guitar (c) 1980 Peter J Billam Free from www.pjb.com.au !
4 Robert Carr, 1686
Divisions on an Italian Ground
4 1
Guitar

3
4
6e en Re 3
2
1 3
1
3 9 2

1
1 1 1
2
4 1
0
17 3

rit . . . tempo

3 4 4
2 1 0
4
0

3
0 4
3 0
3
1 25 4
1 1 1 1 0
1 1 1 1
0 0 2

4 3

33

solo espressivo . . .

1 4
1
3
1

41

cresc . . .

Continuo for guitar (c) 1980 Peter J Billam Free from www.pjb.com.au !
Divisions on an Italian Ground, Robert Carr, 1686 5
3
48 4

4{2 1 4 3 4 2 4{2

1
3 1 2 4
1 2 4 3 4 1 4
1 1 3 1 1 3
3 2 3
56

solo . . .
1
3
1
2 4
0 0
4 3 65

3P 0

73 2 1 0 2

4 3 0
1

81

Continuo for guitar (c) 1980 Peter J Billam Free from www.pjb.com.au !
Peter Billam was born in London in 1948, studied piano, and lived in Switzerland from 1973 to
1983, where he studied composition, classical guitar, flute and voice, worked as Musical Director
of the Théâtre Populaire Romand, and as recording engineer, record producer and computer
programmer. He moved to Tasmania in 1983, lectured in composition at the Conservatorium,
conducted recorder ensembles and choirs, studied recorder, voice and harpsichord. He founded
www.pjb.com.au, becoming the first composer to sell scores on-line, with on-line delivery,
taking scores from Composer to Performer in one immediate step. Www.pjb.com.au offers a new
approach to music publishing. These pieces are written to be read, made to be played !

Compositions at www.pjb.com.au include: Five Short Pieces, guitar, 1979; Divisions on an Italian
Ground, flute and guitar, 1980; Five Rounds, choir, 1986; Go Forth and Multiply, choir, 1986; Three Violin
Duets, 1987; Fable, for piano, 1987; To Erich Jantsch, SAATTB recorders, 1988; A Suite of Curves,
trombone (or horn) and piano, 1990; Two Recorder Duets, alto recorders, or other melody instruments,
1991; Trombone Quintet, trombone, flute, piano, bass, and percussion, 1994; Three Songs, on poems by
Jack Kerouac, Vikram Seth and Dylan Thomas, voice and piano (only the first and third of these are available),
1994; Piano Study, piano, 1994; Four Dances, various ensembles including recorder quartet, string quartet,
1995; The Poet in the Clouds, on a poem by S. T. Coleridge, SATB choir, 1995; Tres Casidas del Diván del
Tamarit, on poems by Federico García Lorca, voice and piano, 1997; Three Suites, for the solo line, piano,
and piano and a solo line, 2000; Die Zeiten, on poems by Kästner, Bachman and Jünger, choir (only the
second and third of these are available), 2000; Three Duets for flutes, 2001; For Four Hands for piano four
hands, 2002; Three Preludes for piano, 2003; Second Solo Suite for flute, violin, viola or cello, 2003;
Guitar Duet for two guitars, 2006; We Who Mourn for choir, 2007; Trio With Guitar for guitar and two
clarinets or two recorders or two violas, 2008.
Arrangements include: By J. S. Bach: Trio BWV 655, piano and flute; Vor deinen Thron BWV 668,
piano; Fugue in F minor BWV 689, SATB recorders; Flute Sonata BWV 1031 transposed into G major for
alto recorder and keyboard; Flute Sonata BWV 1032 completed by Peter Billam for flute and keyboard, also
in C major for alto recorder, and in G major for descant; Ricercare a 3, from the Musikalisches Opfer for
keyboard; Ricercare a 6, for sSATBG recorders, or strings, or two keyboards; Fuga Canonica in
Epidiapente for keyboard and melody instrument; from the Art of Fugue: Contrapuncti 1 and 4 for
keyboard, and Contrapunctus 14 as completed by D. F. Tovey, for keyboard, or for SATB recorders, or for
strings; Passacaglia and Fugue in c for piano four hands; Chorales with Descant for melody instrument
and piano; Cello Suites I, II and III for flute or alto recorder, Forty Chorales for piano, Der Geist hilft for
SATB-SATB recorders. By Johannes Brahms: Fugue in Ab minor for organ, for SATB recorders and
gamba, in A minor; Choralvorspiele for organ with previous settings by Isaac, Bach, Praetorius, recorders.
By Franz Schubert: Four Songs, voice and guitar; Schubert Dances, recorders and guitar, Schubert Dances,
piano 4 hands. By G. F. Händel: Concerto Grosso in A minor op 6 no 4, harpsichord and recorders;
Recorder Sonata in Bb no 5, in G for tenor recorder and keyboard. By other composers: Claudio
Monteverdi, Ecco Mormorar l’Onde, SSATB recorders; Twelve Italian Songs, voice and guitar; John
Wilbye, Draw on sweet Night, SSATTB recorders, and for flute choir; Telemann, Twelve Flute Fantasias,
recorder; John Carr, Divisions on an Italian Ground, flute or recorder and guitar; Fourteen Folk Dance
Tunes, recorder and guitar; Easy Classical Pieces, Bb trumpet and piano.

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