John Rutter (b.1945)                                                 Suite Antique

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)                                   Le Grand Tango

Mike Mower   (b.1958)                                             Sonata Latino

I am delighted to be performing with flautist Elżbieta Wolenska. Based in China, she appears as a soloist with orchestras and as a chamber musician in the Far East, Europe, and the United States. She is a versatile artist who embraces both traditional and contemporary classical music. She champions the work of many contemporary composers including the music of British composer Mike Mower who introduced us. Our programme includes Mower’s “Sonata Latino”, commissioned by myself and my then flautist partner, Kirsten Spratt, in October 1994. It was premièred by us exactly 30 years ago in 1995. It is, in fact, the only piece in this programme originally composed for flute and piano!

 Our programme opens with a tribute to the well-known English composer and conductor, John Rutter CBE, who is celebrating his 80th birthday this year. “Suite Antique” was composed in 1979 specifically for a concert featuring the flautist Duke Dobing and the London Baroque Soloists, as part of the Cookham Festival. Bach’s“Brandenburg Concerto No. 5” was also on the programme, so Rutter scored “Suite Antique” for the same combination of instruments – paying homage to the forms and styles of Bach’s day.

 The Argentinian composer and bandoneon player, Astor Piazzolla, originally wrote “Le Grand Tango” in 1982 for cello and piano, specifically for Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich who did not actually play it till 1990. Even though it is a one movement piece, it has three distinct sections. The fusion of tango, jazz and classical music is typical of Piazzolla’s music and is much loved all over the world.

 In the mid 90’s flautist Kirsten Spratt visited South America and was absolutely smitten with the music there. She asked Mike Mower to compose something for us in South American style incorporating Latin rhythms. It was not intended to be a purist representation of the idiom, but to sound how a contemporary latin/jazz improvising duo might play at a gig.

“Salsa Montunate”, the first movement, draws from the Cuban/Venezuelan Salsa. The 2nd movement, “Rumbango” is a mixture of Rumba and Tango type rhythms as found in Columbia and Argentina. The final movement, “Bossa Merengova” borrows from Bossa Nova hybrid rhythms from Brazil.