Krassimir Kyurkchiysky (1936 – 2011)                                              Sonata for violin and piano

1. Andante – Allegro Moderato
2. Andante
3. Allegro Vivo

 Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958)                                            Lark Ascending

 Mike Mower (b.1958)                                                                              Mes-Merengue

 For Bulgarian violinist Krassimira Jeliazkova and myself, a concert at Waltham Abbey has become a regular fixture in our diaries. This year we return with a programme of Bulgarian and British music celebrating our respective heritages.

Our programme opens with a sonata in three movements by Krassimir Kyurkchiysky, a composer known in Bulgaria mainly for his work as an innovative folksong arranger and for his association with the Philip Koutev National Folklore Ensemble. However, after graduating from the Bulgarian State Academy of Music in 1962, he continued his studies with Dmitri Shostakovich at the Moscow Conservatoire, and it is this influence which one hears very strongly in this sonata.

The second piece in our programme needs very little introduction for a British audience. “Lark Ascending” by Ralph Vaughan Williams is regularly voted as being one of the nation’s favourite pieces of classical music. What is less known though is that it was originally composed for violin and piano rather than the orchestral version we are used to hearing. Vaughan Williams started composing “Lark Ascending” in 1914 at the beginning of the Great War and completed it only after his life-changing experiences as a stretcher-bearer at the front. The premiere was given in 1920 by English violinist, Marie Hall, to whom it was dedicated. Vaughan Williams was inspired by George Meredith’s 1881 poem of the same name, which describes the wonder of the flight and song of the skylark.

My association with British composer Mike Mower goes back to the 1990s when I first recorded several of his works for flute and piano. His “Sonata Latino”, commissioned by flautist Kirsten Spratt and myself, is considered a cornerstone of the modern flute repertoire. He is particularly known in the flute and jazz world as he founded and led “Itchy Fingers”, an internationally acclaimed saxophone quartet. As I’m a great fan of his music, imagine my delight when I discovered “Mes-Merengue” arranged for violin!

Composed in 1999, it was originally part of a suite of three pieces, commissioned by flautist James Galway and the Safri percussion duo from Denmark. Mike then re-arranged it for flute and later for violin. It is inspired by ‘Merengue’ music which originated in the Dominican Republic and is now popular throughout Latin America. The style of Merengue music is repetitive and mesmerising, hence the title, Mes-Merengue!