2008 Season
NEW MUSIC - 2008 Music at Leasowes Commission
Graham Lynch – Premiere of his work for Snapdragon - Wednesday 23rd July 2008
Ever since Graham Lynch’s ‘Tango’ was played by the Bingham String Quartet at Leasowes Bank in 2006 we knew the Festival had to commission him. The Birmingham Post described the piece:
“A sense of subtle rhythmic pulse underpinned these three movements, the first erupting with brooding passion, the second sheerly lovely, the third busy with biting syncopations”
Last year the remarkably talented violinist Sian Philips premiered his beautiful ‘Sonata’ for violin and piano.
The saxophone and marimba duo – Snapdragon – booked for the 2008 season seemed a perfect match for Graham’s inventiveness. Sarah and Mike were delighted at the prospect of a piece being written for them as they knew his work, having played some of his arrangements.
Graham's new work draws together various strands of his writing (including an interest in Southern European music such as flamenco and fado) to produce a piece that combines both slow modal melodic lines, that unfold in the first section of the work, and fiery rhythmic material that speeds the work to its exciting conclusion. Throughout the music there is an atmosphere of melancholy and beauty, especially in the writing for the alto saxophone, and this is underpinned by gradually developing rhythmic motifs on the marimba.
The premiere on 23rd July looks set to be another memorable Leasowes evening.