PROGRAMME NOTES

Tranquillo

TRANQUILLO FOR VIOLIN & PIANO

My Violin Concerto was a BBC commission, written in memory of the great British violinist Ralph Holmes (1937-84), with whom I gave recitals. The first performance was given by Ernst Kovacic, with the BBC Philharmonic under Jack Brymer at Leeds Town Hall on 31 January 1986, and the work was recorded by Chlo Hanslip and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Clark Rundell in 2014. The central section of the work consists of four adagios; this Tranquillo is the third one and an elaborate orchestral texture had to be recast considerably. The melody is a version of the opening theme of Beethoven’s Spring Sonata, recorded by Holmes and me, transformed into a 1930s popular song. Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Roderick have recorded Tranquillo. PD