Suite for Cello

i. Prelude
ii. Moto Perpetuo
iii. Interlude
iv. Sarabande (i)
v. Capriccio
vi. Sarabande (ii)
vii. Lamento
viii. Postlude

Written for Guy Johnston and commissioned by HHCMF, my Cello Suite links directly to Hatfield House and its rich musical history, with a quotation from Orlando Gibbons’s The Lord Salisbury Pavane (written for Robert Cecil) embedded within the opening theme of its Prelude. Also looking to the past, the form of the work is a reinterpretation of the baroque dance suite after Bach, covering a range of contrasting moods and styles in each of its eight movements, but with much of the music reappearing again later, often in a transformed light.

Composed during the height of lockdown in 2020, the suite captures something of the unease, uncertainty and even melancholy I felt at a time that had such a devastating impact on so many people’s lives. Yet there are also moments of hope and anticipation, prompted by the imminent arrival of my (now one-year old) son, who was born not long after the piece was completed. Ultimately the piece was, in no small part, inspired by the exquisite lyricism and remarkable range of expressive colours that Guy conjures so beautifully with his playing.