Music Chamber

Air and Scherzo                                                                          Henry Cowell

Eremitani Sonata                                                                        Ian Stewart                                                     
Allegro ~  Adagio ~ Allegro

Inflorescence   (world premiere)                                                 Liz Johnson

Sonata: Music Grave and Gay  (premiere of sax version)       John Carmichael
Allegro moderato ~ Lento con moto ~  Allegro

Read about Ian Stewart at his artist page. and watch the video of his sonata below:

Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was one of the foremost American composers and musical thinkers of the first half of the 20^th century. He was also a virtuoso pianist and a great impresario for the contemporary arts of his times, tirelessly promoting not just his own works but also the music of many other composers as well. A close friend of Charles Ives, he was instrumental in bringing Ives’ music to the attention of a wider public. Cowell was at the centre of a group of avant-garde musicians who included Ives, Carl Ruggles, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Edgard Varèse, and Conlon Nancarrow. As a teacher, he played a role in the development of a diverse group of younger composers, including George Gershwin, Lou Harrison, John Cage, and Burt Bacharach. As a young man he pioneered many new ideas in composition, such as tone-cluster technique (which Bela Bartok wrote to him asking his permission to use) and other early explorations of atonality, polytonality, and use of non-western modes. His experimentation with techniques of playing the piano by directly touching the strings pre-figured John Cage’s works for prepared piano; similarly, his writings about complex rhythms and suggestion that the player piano might be an ideal medium for exploring complexities beyond the capability of a human performer provided Nancarrow with an inspiration for his series of works for player piano. Possessed with an unusually eclectic outlook, Cowell was interested in new technological possibilities, playing a role in the invention of a device called the ‘Rhythmicon’; at the same time, from childhood he had been exposed to a wide range of folk and world music, which also had an effect on his music as indicated by his comment “I want to live in the whole world of music”. Later in life, he became less radical in his style: American folk music became a more important inspiration for his compositions from the late 1940s onward. It was during this later period, in 1961, that the Air and Scherzo waswritten for the saxophonist Sigurd Rascher. The two movements are beautifully crafted examples of simplicity. The ‘Air’ is a flowing melody over gently undulating harmonies heard twice, on either side of a jauntier central tune. The ‘Scherzo’, subtitled Gay-Sad-Gay, has two vibrant, gigue-like episodes surrounding a more thoughtful central section.

Born in Hampshire, Liz Johnson studied Music at Kingston Polytechnic and then went into teaching, working as a Primary class teacher. When she had the opportunity to take a “year out” from her full-time job, she gained a distinction for a Masters in Composition at Birmingham Conservatoire. During that year Liz won a number of prizes and was persuaded to leave her teaching career and to continue her studies in composition with Philip Cashian. Since then Liz’s music has received performances all over the world: “captivating …sometimes naturalistic, sometimes ethereal…” (Birmingham Post), "...a refreshing quality, evocative in subtle tonal and textural colours…” (Independent).  Ben Hartley Reflections for cello solo and choir received its première in November 2010 with cellist Tamsy Kaner, “…both exciting and inspiring – really wonderful.” (Simon Ible, Peninsular Arts).  Birmingham Conservatoire research fund has recently commissioned a new work for clarinettist (with 4 clarinets) and string quartet. Liz is currently working on a mini-opera for the Opera Group, being performed at the Linbury Studio, Covent Garden on July 14^th, preceding Luke Bedford’s new work, Seven Angels. Liz teaches composition at Birmingham Conservatoire and also works extensively in the community for organisations including BCMG, WNO Max, Trinity Guildhall, Presteigne Festival and Creative Partnerships. Regarding Inflorescence, written for Kyle Horch in 2011 and receiving its first performance today, Liz writes that the title “is the word used to describe the form of the flowers on a plant, a word I discovered while researching a number of wild flowers mentioned in David Hart’s set of poems Crag Inspector. The poetry presents a man whose job it is to inspect crags, living and working by the “skirts of beaten rock” of Bardsey Island – a wild landscape off the North coast of Wales. He is surrounded by its flora and fauna and the poem explores his relationship with them, with the island, and with himself. As a composer I have been looking for a way to resonate with the poems and this piece represents my first musical exploration of the Crag Inspector. Structural aspects of wild flowers were used in the compositional process: dog daisy, self heal, stonecrop, silverweed, thistle. “…the dog daisy almost losing/ its hold on the overhang/ asks me nothing and I can do nothing.”

One of Australia’s finest musical exports, John Carmichael was born in Melbourne in 1930. He has led a prolific career that has included study at the Paris Conservatoire, being musical director of a Spanish dance company, pioneering work in the field of music therapy, and a long list of compositions. His many concert works range in size from solo piano to full orchestra, including a flute concerto, Phoenix, which was premiered and recorded by James Galway, and a Trumpet Concerto whose CD recording by John Wallace and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra was released in 2005. Other recordings include a collection of duo and chamber pieces, Sea Changes, on ABC Classics.  Of his Sonata: Music Grave and Gay, which receives its first performance as a saxophone work today, John Carmichael writes, “Originally written for oboe, this work was commissioned by the Australian oboist Stephen Robinson, and premiered by him in London in June 2010. The range and character of the music makes it eminently suitable for the soprano saxophone and when Kyle Horch expressed interest in performing it I found the soprano saxophone’s agility and expressive qualities offered opportunities to explore other possibilities within the format of the same work. In the early stages of composing the original version for oboe, a quote I had heard from Alexander Pope in his Essay on Man – “from grave to gay” – gave me both the title and the focus for what I wanted to write: a new piece which explores a wide variety of moods, and allows the players to display how music can be grave, gay, dynamic, lyrical, even comical. In the first movement, saxophone and piano echo each other’s statements until they lead each other into darker territory and a cadenza based on the opening descending scale which returns in upbeat mode in the final section. In the slow movement, there are two centres of gravity – the first sober, somewhat forlorn, the second aspiring and lyrical; they alternate and there is an uneasy truce between the two, unresolved in the final bars. After a boisterous start, in the final Allegro the piano and saxophone insult each other, the piano rudely interrupting the saxophone’s happy musings until a cadenza gives the latter the upper hand. An ‘anything you can do I can do better’ contest ensues until saxophone pronounces itself the winner.”

Kyle Horch studied in Chicago at Northwestern University (B.Mus 1986, M.Mus 1988), where he learned with Frederick Hemke. In 1986-7 he was awarded a BP North America Scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he learned with Stephen Trier and gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Solo Studies. As a student and young professional musician, he won prizes in numerous competitions, including the Coleman Chamber Music Competition (Los Angeles), Music Teachers’ National Association/Wurlitzer Young Artist Competition (Detroit), Park Lane Group Young Artists/20^th Century Music Platform (London), and Jules de Vries International Saxophone Competition (Sweden). He has performed as soloist and chamber musician at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, British and World Saxophone Congresses, and many other venues in Britain and abroad. He has made numerous recordings, including two on the Clarinet Classics label, ChamberSaxand AngloSax. His most recent recording with his own ensemble, Flotilla (Big Shed Music, 2009), focuses on chamber music for unusual combinations of saxophones and keyboards; of it, a reviewer in The Observer wrote, “This CD sparkles with energy and the playing is terrific.” Other recordings include two CDs of music by the composer Ian Stewart on the Music Chamber label, John Carmichael’s Aria and Finale for Carmichael’s Sea Changes CD (ABC Classics), and the 2006-7 Grade 8 Saxophone Syllabus for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. Apart from his own projects, he maintains an active career as a freelance musician, performing in concerts, broadcasts, and CD recordings across a wide range of orchestral, contemporary, chamber, and light music. He works regularly with many well-known ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Bournemouth Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Rambert Dance Company, the contemporary chamber ensemble ‘Counterpoise’, and the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra. He was a jury member at the 5^th Adolphe Sax International Competition in 2010, and has given masterclasses in Britain, France, Holland, Norway, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, and the USA. He has been a saxophone professor at the Royal College of Music since 1991.

Pavel Timofejevsky, pianist, composer, and winner of the BBC/Guardian Young Composer of the Year award, graduated with distinction as a performer from the Royal Academy of Music in 2008.  Recitals, both solo and chamber, brought him to venues such asManchester’s Bridgewater Hall, the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea andQueen Elizabeth Hall, St. James’ Piccadilly, St. John’s Smith Square, and St. Martin’s in the Field in London. Concerts abroad include appearances in Russia, France, Cyprus and India. Pavel is the recipient of several prestigious awards – these include the Musicians Benevolent Fund Award, the 2007 Myra Hess Award, and the Philharmonia Orchestra Martin Musical Scholarship. Since 2007 Pavel gives concerts and leads workshops in a variety of community venues across the UK as part of Live Music Now scheme. Pavel recorded the soundtrack and starred in the US documentary “Tchaikovsky” and has composed for several films including “Le fin de la belle époque” for Russian TV. In late 2010 recently recorded an album of chamber music by composer Ian Stewart which was released on MUSIC-CHAMBER label in January 2011. Pavel is currently the Musician in Residence at St John’s Church, Notting Hill. Recently he has been selected to become Recommended Artist by the Making Music Young Concert Artist Awards 2011.