Freckleton/ Ward - Landscape & Longing

Of the Eight Intermezzi, the composer writes: "The inspiration for these pieces stems from the late piano intermezzi of Brahms. Some of the textures deliberately correspond. For example, the arpeggiated flow of No 2 mimics a comparable feel in Brahms's Op 117 No 2. The repeated upper notes of No 3, with the melody in the middle of the chords, nod towards a similar, if faster, manner in Op 119 No 3 [likewise the earlier same-key middle section of Chopin's first Nocturne from Op 48]. Pianistically and emotionally, No 8 is intentionally larger scaled." Of the Suite the composer writes: "This is a collection of miniatures with differing inspirations but designed to be played as a continuous set. One or two (No 1 particularly) were meant to be of interest to my younger sister, Lucy, who at the time of their composition, in the mid-80s, was working towards her Grade 7. Others are intended to be descriptive. For example No 6, which recalls listening to the bells of Romsey Abbey in Hampshire from a few miles away in the Test Valley; and No 5, which imagines a spot along the Jurassic coastline between Swanage and Weymouth. Nos 3 and 7, the Studies in Fifths and Sevenths, were born out of a curiosity as to why Debussy didn't include these intervals in his piano Études." Samantha Ward puts a virtuosic spin on these compositions.