The seventh in a series of ten String Quartets composed for Naxos Records between 2001 and 2007 this one is a tribute to the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini.
This consists of five short movements. They were written for the Sunday lunchtime magazine programme ‘Not Now I’m Listening’ and were first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 6 November 1977. The work was first performed in concert bythe Fires of London at the 1978 Edinburgh Festival.
Unusually for him Davies starts his Bassoon Concerto not with slow music but with speed and brilliance: the opening is a Presto initiated by the strings and only at the entry of the soloist does the tempo relax to thatof a real introduction. Out of this grow a big dancing Allegro. The slow movement begins and ends with a simple song around fantastical ornamentation from the soloist. The finale…
This work was a test piece for the International string Quartet competition in 2005 Premio Paulo Borciani It was inspired by a keyboard piece of the same name A Sad Paven for these Distracted Tymes by Thomas Tomkins(1572-1656). Tomkins had a long association with Worcester Cathedral where he was organist - appointed magister choristarum in 1596 - and lived within the precincts until shortly be…
Fanfare Salute to Dennis Brain was commissioned with affection admiration and gratitude to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Dennis Brain in 1957. The first performances were given as part of the East MidlandsHorn Festival in the University of Nottingham Music Department and the Djanogly Recital Hall on 25th March 2007. The solo version was premiered by Michael Thompson; the ensemble vers…
A superb cycle of 7 songs depicting the hero's stay on Grandma's farm somewhere in the Orkneys one summer. The songs tell of the farm chores nature and ghosts and are arranged for unison voices piano recorders and pitched or unpitched percussion. The songs can be used individually to link in with topic work or performed as an attractive concert item. Bass Xylophone part.This is a special item w…
