
![]() Sundry Sketches for Flute, Oboe and Piano First Edition flute, oboe, piano Catalogue Number: HV049 Skill level (A-E): E "These four Sketches received their premiere at
a recital that flautist Christopher Britton, oboist Carolyn King and I gave on 9th
March 2008 under the auspices of the Abingdon Arts Festival as part of the monthly
series of Abbey Chamber Music held in the historic church of St Nicolas. I was
delighted when the opportunity arose to perform with two long-standing colleagues
whose musicianship I so much admire and wasted no time in offering to compose
something for our programme of English music. The resulting four short pieces are
diverse in mood and character (hence the work"s title) with a total duration of
approximately 12 minutes in performance. "Malcolm Pearce What people say ... "The highlight [of the concert at
St Nicholas' Church in Abingdon] was the world premiere of Malcolm Pearce's Suite for
flute, oboe and piano, which he wrote specially for this ensemble [flautist
Christopher Britton, oboist Carolyn King and pianist Malcolm Pearce]. In a witty
introductory speech, Pearce said that the four movements were "characterful" —
and how right he was. Each was positively bursting with rhythmic and melodic interest
to create some vivid musical images and wonderfully contrasting moods. The players
seized hold of the piece with relish, delivering an energetic, passionate and fully
committed performance."Nicola Lisle (Oxford Times) "Pearce writes
in what might be termed a polytonal style of none-too-severe dissonance, witfaint
echoes of Debussy, Bartok, Shostakovitch, Kenneth Leighton and (in their abrupt tonal
shifts) the US West Coast minimalists. Although the rhythmic texiure is lithe and
inventive, initial time-signatures remain reassuringly valid throughout each piece.
The flute and oboe duet together, for the most part, in rhythmic unison, but have
moments of rhythmic independence as well as several solos each. There are
well-differentiated and well-sustained contrasts of mood between all four pieces.
None of the three instrumental parts contains technical severity beyond what one
might expect to hear in a chamber-work of, let us say, Martinu. The overall
impression is one of refreshing individuality and assured craftsmanship, with the
emphasis securely on melodic invention."Richard Stagg, (British Flute Society Journal) |
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