Instrumentation: Cello and Piano
Composition date: 2024
Duration: 20 minutes
First performance: given by AbiHyde-Smith, cello and Jocelyn Freeman, piano on the 13th January, 2025 at 1901 Arts Club, London
Five Solos (Rhythm/Changes) is a nod to my formative music education, studying jazz, especially the jazz guitar of my heroes Pat Metheny and Wes Montgomery.
Five Solos isn’t a jazz piece as such; neither the cello or piano are required to improvise, but it does use elements of jazz: repetition of chordal patterns, a soloist exploring musical motifs on top of those chords, and a strong rhythmic pulse.
Five Solos is also a salute to Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata, 90 years old in 2024, with reference in the third and fifth movements to this cornerstone of the cello repertoire.
