"SEVERN SUITE"
Composed for Hammered Dulcimer by Holly Gwin
Holly Gwin composed Severn Suite for Hammered Dulcimer in 2015. The
suite was also published by Musica Canis Avem in 2018 as an arrangement for
classical guitar.
Holly wrote Severn Suite to challenge herself on playing the dulcimer. She styled the
first movement, Hommage à Beethoven with a brief reference to a theme from
Beethoven's Sonatina in G. She alludes to other classical pieces as well as themes from
Celtic classics.
The suite's four movements also include a mournful pavane, a lively galliard, and a
rodeo-like bourrée.
Gwin studied dulcimer with Maggie Sansone and Karen Ashbrook. Holly is a life-long
musician and plays piano and recorder as well as hammered dulcimer, and composes
and arranges music in her studio near Annapolis, Maryland. She formerly worked as
general counsel for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and the White
House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
