Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
PSAPPHA ENSEMBLE
Benedict Holland - violin
Benjamin Powell - piano
This performance was streamed live on 10th December 2020 from Hallé St Peter's in Manchester (UK) without an audience. This is a new edit of the original livestream and presented in 4K. To view the 4K version we recommend you use Google Chrome or the Firefox browser.
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My 3 violin and piano pieces were commissioned as a set by violinist Beatrice Philips. I first played with Beatrice last Easter at Prussia Cove where we played Janáček’s Violin Sonata together, and I wanted to write something for her which echoed the tense and fragmentary nature of the Janáček. This is what brought me to the idea of writing a string of 3 character pieces, with every movement self-contained and isolated from each other.
My initial draft of the first piece was less than a minute long; with the opening muffled bars (where the pianist has to dampen the piano strings by hand to match the pizzicato sound of the violin) leading to an explosive middle section, and then dissipating almost instantly. Stuck with where to proceed from this short but complete, self-contained structure, I eventually decided to simply repeat the music in full from the beginning. This feature, of the music ‘happening twice’, became the focus for the work and recurs in the other pieces in the set.
The second is a sad song in three verses, which is broken at the climax by a disjunct coda of repeated hit chords. These chords lead straight into into the third movement - of fast scrubbing tremolos - where the violin and piano vie against each other's lines and collide only in the final few bars.
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Psappha is grateful for the support we receive from funders which enables us to reach a wider audience. With thanks to Arts Council England; PRS Foundation; Foyle Foundation; Granada Foundation; and the RVW Trust.
Please support Psappha's work: psappha.com/support-us
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LEARN MORE AND FOLLOW PSAPPHA
Website: psappha.com
Subscribe to Psappha's Enewsletter: buff.ly/31HjEHV
Twitter: twitter.com/PsapphaEnsemble
Facebook: facebook.com/psappha.ensemble
Instagram: instagram.com/psapphaensemble
FILM PRODUCTION
Rob Kelledy - Sound Recording and Mastering
Soup Collective - Cameras
Tim Williams - Editor and Producer
PSAPPHA ENSEMBLE
Benedict Holland - violin
Benjamin Powell - piano
This performance was streamed live on 10th December 2020 from Hallé St Peter's in Manchester (UK) without an audience. This is a new edit of the original livestream and presented in 4K. To view the 4K version we recommend you use Google Chrome or the Firefox browser.
----
My 3 violin and piano pieces were commissioned as a set by violinist Beatrice Philips. I first played with Beatrice last Easter at Prussia Cove where we played Janáček’s Violin Sonata together, and I wanted to write something for her which echoed the tense and fragmentary nature of the Janáček. This is what brought me to the idea of writing a string of 3 character pieces, with every movement self-contained and isolated from each other.
My initial draft of the first piece was less than a minute long; with the opening muffled bars (where the pianist has to dampen the piano strings by hand to match the pizzicato sound of the violin) leading to an explosive middle section, and then dissipating almost instantly. Stuck with where to proceed from this short but complete, self-contained structure, I eventually decided to simply repeat the music in full from the beginning. This feature, of the music ‘happening twice’, became the focus for the work and recurs in the other pieces in the set.
The second is a sad song in three verses, which is broken at the climax by a disjunct coda of repeated hit chords. These chords lead straight into into the third movement - of fast scrubbing tremolos - where the violin and piano vie against each other's lines and collide only in the final few bars.
-----
Psappha is grateful for the support we receive from funders which enables us to reach a wider audience. With thanks to Arts Council England; PRS Foundation; Foyle Foundation; Granada Foundation; and the RVW Trust.
Please support Psappha's work: psappha.com/support-us
-----
LEARN MORE AND FOLLOW PSAPPHA
Website: psappha.com
Subscribe to Psappha's Enewsletter: buff.ly/31HjEHV
Twitter: twitter.com/PsapphaEnsemble
Facebook: facebook.com/psappha.ensemble
Instagram: instagram.com/psapphaensemble
FILM PRODUCTION
Rob Kelledy - Sound Recording and Mastering
Soup Collective - Cameras
Tim Williams - Editor and Producer
