| |
|
Duo and Solo works |
|
|
|
Click on work titles
for details
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Written in 2003 in response to a commission from the guitarist Craig Ogden, who writes of the work::
"Lionel Sainsbury's Five Fantasias for guitar are a substantial and valuable addition to the repertoire. The work exploits the full range of guitaristic sonorities and despite this being Sainsbury's first venture into guitar writing, the pieces are eminently playable but also highly original. The set is worthy of the attention of any concert guitarist and should stand alongside other great works of the 20th and 21st century in its scope and depth."
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
.......Fiesta for two pianos |
|
|
| |
"… a future two-piano classic"
(Musique et Concerts, Paris)
"… displays wit and ingenuity in its kaleidoscopic dance rhythms…" (Hampshire Chronicle)
|
This exuberant piece is the earliest example of the composer's enthusiasm for the rhythms of Spain. It is a veritable riot of sparkling writing for both pianos, with a subtle wit reminiscent of the world of Walton’s Façade.
Fiesta dates from Sainsbury's student days. It was written at the request of Geraldine Peppin, a professor of piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London who enjoyed a distinguished piano duo career with her twin sister Mary.
The work has been widely performed in the UK, particularly by Jeremy Filsell with the pianist and composer Francis Pott, and by twin sisters Claire & Antoinette Cann.
Fiesta has also been played in Paris and South West France (Château de Jonzac) by François and the late Marie-Christine Doublier; in Japan (Chudon Hall, Nagoya) by Christopher Black and Yoko Katayama; and on BBC Radio 3 by David Johns and Jeremy Brown.
Further performances are planned in France by French sisters Gisèle and Chantal Andranian.
Fiesta is published by Novello. |
|
| |
|
|
|
........Caprice for solo flute |
| |
A piece written while the composer was a student at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and first performed by Philip Rowson, presently co-principal piccolo with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
Flautist Christopher Britton, who has performed and recorded the work, has described it as
|
| |
"… posing a number of technical challenges to the flute player with its extraordinary athleticism. Even in the two slower, more lyrical sections there is considerable flamboyance, rather in the style of Honegger's Danse de la Chèvre".
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
.......Sonata for violin and piano |
| |
An early work, recently performed by violinist Oliver Lewis and pianist Jeremy Filsell. Its three movements are Largo appassionato, a short, volatile Scherzo (Presto), and a concluding Allegro con fuoco.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
......Prelude, Blues and Postlude for clarinet and piano |
| |
An early work written while the composer was living and working in Paris. The Blues is the centre-piece of the work. Ranging in mood from languid to bold and extrovert, it is framed by a brief lyrical Prelude and a scuttling scherzando Postlude, (the latter perhaps showing a Parisian influence!). |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
......Cuban Dance No.2 for violin and piano |
|
|
| |
In 1991 Lionel composed his Two Cuban Dances for piano, making this arrangement of No.2 for violin and piano the following year.
It was immediately taken up by the violinist Tasmin Little, who gave the world premiere with pianist Piers Lane at Music at Leamington Hastings in 1992.
Little subsequently gave the piece as an encore at the Wigmore Hall, and has since performed it all over the world. In 2004 she programmed it on a tour of Japan with Akira Eguchi, including a performance at Toppan Hall, Tokyo, recorded and filmed by NHK Radio/TV.
In 2003 she and John Lenehan recorded the Cuban Dance as part of Tchaikovskiana, a CD of popular virtuoso pieces for EMI Classics for Pleasure. By popular request this recording of the piece was featured on Radio 3's '3 For All' in April 2006.
The Scottish violinist Lorraine McAslan, who has championed Sainsbury's Violin Concerto, has also featured the Cuban Dance as an encore at the Wigmore Hall with pianist Nigel Clayton.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
.......Soliloquy for solo violin |
| |
Soliloquy was premiered by the violinist Oliver Lewis in the Great Hall, Dartington, at the 1998 Dartington International Summer School. In the words of Lewis’s programme note for a performance at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival:
‘… it is an eloquent and dramatic work, exploiting the sonorous qualities of the violin to the full’.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
.......Mirage for violin and piano |
| |
An atmospheric, even impressionistic piece, with a hypnotic, almost trance-like feel. There is an equal partnership between the instruments throughout; the violin's haunting themes interweaving with richly glinting harmonies and textures in the piano. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
.......Two Cuban Dances for piano duet |
| |
An arrangement of the Two Cuban Dances (originally composed for piano solo) made at the suggestion of the French pianist François Doublier.
It was premiered in France by Christopher Black and Yoko Katayama in the spectacular setting of the Eglise de Beynac, as part of the 1998 Nuits Musicales de Beynac-en-Périgord.
In 2006 Black and Katayama included the pieces in their 20th Anniversary Tour as a duo, with performances in Tokyo (Piano Art Salon), Osaka (Ishihara Hall, Izumi Hall) and Fukuoka (Yukuhashi Cultural Hall).
The arrangement has also been widely performed by Claire and Antoinette Cann in the UK, and by Gisèle and Chantal Andranian in France.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
