Mr Pepys' Pavan & Mr Pepys' Pleasure (Duet) - in short and extended versions - Two separate parts: Harp 1 & Harp 2.

Mr Pepys' very first Pavan was a simple ensemble that Stephen Dunstone wrote for some of his students as incidental music for a school production about Samuel Pepys. Later a solo version was made, with an accompaniment written. That version was regularly played by two students.

Stephen was very attracted to the soundscape of this music, and wrote another piece that evoked the same atmosphere, albeit a little more lively. Closer examination of the life of 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys revealed that he was not only smart and talented, but also somewhat addicted to the pleasures of life. Mr Pepys' Pleasure is therefore a logical title for that piece.

"Pavan" is a slow and stately dance that was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. In Mr Pepys' Pleasure we find another dance that was very popular, the Galliard. The Pavan and the Galliard were often performed one after the other.

The "extended versions" are longer (obviously), but are also a bit trickier. In Mr Pepys' extended version of Pavan, the first verse is identical to the very short version. However it becomes more challenging in the second verse, where Harp 1 has a flowing descant and a somewhat trickier left hand part, while Harp 2 plays the music that Harp 1 had in the first verse.

The extended version of Mr Pepys' Pleasure features three continuous sections, all using the same melody and harmony, but with different time signatures, speeds and styles. They’re titled "The Encounter", "The Galliard", and "The Pleasure", imagining three stages of Samuel Pepys’ pursuit of pleasure. "The Encounter" is almost identical to the entire short version on pages 4 and 5; "The Galliard" is a livelier but graceful dance in 6/4, in which the Harp 2 part takes the melody; and "The Pleasure" is a syncopated burst of energy, marked con fuoco. As with the Pavan, therefore, this piece also becomes more challenging after the first section.

"The Encounter" is marked cortesemente, which means "courteous", whereas the short version of Mr Pepys’ Pleasure (which is the same as "The Encounter") is marked con anima. This is because the three sections of the extended version allow for a build up to the energy of "The Pleasure", so it made sense for "The Encounter" to offer a gentler start, but the short version needs to have energy and spirit too.