Rohan de Saram - Gregers Brinch, Vol. 1 (2012/2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Sonata for Cello and Piano No.1: The first movement ‘Quasi un Fantasia’ was composed in Hamburg in 1989/1990 with dance choreography in mind. The opening theme is catapulted forward for a short burst going through a number of distantly related keys, before a strongly contrasting theme appears in response. I was particularly keen on exploring the circle of mediants as can be heard in the waltz-like theme in the middle of the movement. In 2006 I made major revisions to the work, adding strong passages with much freer writing and ruthlessly cutting out other themes and passages.

The second movement Largo e Mesto brings an air of simplicity and depth to balance the complex form of the first movement. Finding the power in the combination of tempo, melodic gesture and sense of creating space was very exciting. It was a real relief to compose such a piece and it remains one of my personal favourites.

The last movement Allegro con Brio came about under pressure, I had less than two days to complete the Sonata before the performance and wanted to contrast the first two movements with a strong sense of forward driving movement in the finale. So I took up the challenge of creating a duo out of a solo piece (the finale for the Suite for Solo Cello) as I had felt for some time that a rendition of that movement would be possible for two instruments.

String Quartet no.2 ‘Good and Evil’

All of the movements of the Quartet No. 2 started life in other works. However, the quartet is dedicated to the Bergersen Quartet (Jonathan Truscott, Craig Stratton, Elisa Bergersen and Rachel Firmager) in May 2009.

The first movement ‘Grave, Allegretto, Grave’ was originally for double bass, cello, viola and violin. In this movement there is a deliberate attempt to deal with the question of how evil can arise out of good, hence the name.

The second movement ‘Mysterioso’ is taken from a short piece for choir, solo-soprano and string quartet to a poem by the Danish Poet Halfdan Rasmussen. The poem paints a vivid picture of the sound of soldiers at night marching in the distance where the cities are burning, and how a spark from one of the boots becomes a star in the night-sky.

The third movement Allegro ma non troppo was originally scored for three violins and a French horn, but fares just as well as a string-quartet. The piece was inspired by the Christian festival of Ascension and simply attempts to evoke a feeling of ascending into the clouds on an up-surging current of pentatonic simplicity.

The last movement Lento was in another life the second movement of the Flute-quartet. This movement gives the first violin a great deal of scope for individual expression with many solo passages.

Sonata for Cello and Piano No.2

I have dedicated this Sonata to cellist Rohan de Saram and pianist William Hancox. William and I had been working for a couple of years on my Lieder-repertoire, and he suggested taking the compositional aspect of our collaboration a step further. I invited Rohan de Saram to join this venture and upon his agreement the music just flowed with a freedom I have seldom experienced.

The first movement Moderato con Espressione is built upon a theme of seventh, prime and third (BCE) which is a warm-up exercise for Eurythmy (a form of expressive dance). It is an exercise to help the Eurythmist tune their soul-body configuration by moving from the tension of the seventh, through the stability of the prime to the clear direction of the major third. The music unfolds by repeatedly moving through the theme. In the middle of the movement the voices come into a passage which contains a quality of ease and simplicity out of which there is a breakthrough into a different dimension, before finally returning to the opening theme with exchanged parts.

The Second movement ‘Lento Ostinato’ slowly evolves its theme out of a complex polyrhythmic interplay. The theme is almost hidden in the texture. I always felt it had an Indian feel to it, which no doubt was inspired by Rohan. Again the tempo is vital to the tranquillity of the music and the unison passages within the complex rhythmical framework create a combination of tension with a sense of ease.

The third movement is an adagio. An ‘Interlude’ which breathes an air of delicacy at first and depth later in the unison passage before launching into the ‘Finale’. The urgency of this last movement provides a contrast to the introspective and relaxed moods of the preceding movements. Again the theme is based on a Eurythmy exercise called the Tao. This exercise uses the notes BAED in a descending order, where the first two notes are played in quick succession and the lower two come more slowly leaving the tonic C to be anticipated rather than heard. This can be experienced most strongly at the end of the movement, which should leave the listener hearing the resolution. Inwardly – hence the listener performs the final note!

Tracklist:
01. Brinch- Sonata for Cello and Piano No.1- Quasi Un Fantasia
02. Brinch- Sonata for Cello and Piano No.1- Largo e masto
03. Brinch- Sonata for Cello and Piano No.1- Allegro con Brio
04. Brinch- String Quartet No. 2 ‘Good and Evil’- Grave, Allegretto, Grave
05. Brinch- String Quartet No. 2 ‘Good and Evil’- Mysterioso
06. Brinch- String Quartet No. 2 ‘Good and Evil’- Allegro ma non troppo
07. Brinch- String Quartet No. 2 ‘Good and Evil’- Lento
08. Brinch- Sonata for Cello and Piano No.2- Moderato con espressione
09. Brinch- Sonata for Cello and Piano No.2- Lento Ostinato
10. Brinch- Sonata for Cello and Piano No.2- Interlude Adagio
11. Brinch- Sonata for Cello and Piano No.2- Finale


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