Shoreline Sketches
solo classical ukulele (high ‘g’ tuning)
Alan Bullard wrote ‘Shoreline Sketches’ for Donald Bousted, who first performed it at a concert at St. Mary’s Church, Houghton-on-the-Hill, Norfolk, on 31 July 2021.
Donald Bousted lived, and Alan Bullard lives in different parts of East Anglia, Donald close to the expansive North Norfolk coast, and Alan not far from the crumbling cliffs of the East Suffolk coast. So a set of five movements focussed on the coastline seemed appropriate.
The first movement, Pebbles, depicts the variety of colours and shapes of pebbles on the shore, and, at times, the rasping sound they make as the waves pass over them. The second movement, Rain, probably needs no description – though possibly the sun starts to shine through in the final bars. The undulatingly repetitive but slightly changing patterns of the third movement suggest the Waves of the title, interspersed with passages of harmonics – those points, perhaps, where the waves draw back to reveal the glistening sand beneath. The fourth movement, Horizon, looks into the far distance while visions and colours gradually fade in and out of the line of sight, and finally Harbour represents a safe haven, with gently rocking motion, sometimes modified by the wash of a vessel entering or leaving.
Donald Bousted passed away, after a brief illness, in December 2021, shortly after recording this work for CD and making the YouTube recording below:
Recording on the CD ‘Cross/Over’ available from major streaming platforms such as Spotify here
Llnk to YouTube performance here
Score published by Donald Bousted Ukulele Edition