(2017) – Solo Violin & Double String Orchestra
First planned as a lyrical piece for solo violin and strings, my initial concepts for the music soon accompanied the experience of becoming a father. The piece then became a lullaby, and soon grew to reflect the particular fatigued and emotional state of those first few weeks.
The music elaborates on a sense of growth. The first few bars of solo violin present the thematic seed from which the rest of the piece is grown, and this soon develops into a slow, lulling ostinato in the accompaniment. The soloist weaves lyrical, improvisatory lines through the cushioning harmonies, steering and responding to the accompaniment. I thought of the overall developmental process of the piece as being something akin to foetal development, or to the relationship between parent and child.
The title is taken from a Middle English lyric poem which begins:
Lullay, myn lykyng,
My dere sone, myn swetying,
Lullay, my dere herte,
Myn owyn dere derlyng.
Lullay is dedicated to Laura Rickard and the Hereford String Orchestra, and was premiered on 24th March in Whitecross Church, Hereford, conducted by Thomas Payne.