Summer Music

Richard Rodney Bennett wrote that he composed this piece as a way of bridging the gap between starting to learn an instrument and 'real' music. It is in three movements with the feeling of a sonata, but each movement has it's own contrasting mood and style. The first movement uses two themes, one scalic and one based on arpeggio patterns to create a fluid and flowing feel. The second movement, titled 'Siesta' is lazy and languid rising to an impassioned climax in the middle of the movement, before dying away again. The final movement, called 'Games', is a riotous game of tag between the instruments in the ensemble and the soloist. The themes from the first two movements are heardagain interspersed by the chasing motifs, before all the instruments join forces to rush headlong to a breathless and triumphant conclusion!