Lyell Cresswell's 2016 commision for violin and cello, Ricercari, was premiered by Max Baillie (violin) and Alexander Baillie (cello) in the University Concert Hall on Thursday October 20th 2016. The piece's nine short movements are arranged symmetrically around a central melancholic theme.
Ruvido, the final movement of Ricercari
Watch Max & Alexander Baillie perform Ruvido, the final movement of Ricercari
Listen to… the Ricercari premiere
Programme note
Lyell Cresswell (1944–2022) - Ricercari
Ricercari is a set of nine short, but related, pieces for violin and 'cello. It's structure is symmetrical; five variations alternate with either a scherzo or caccia. The pieces are played without a break. The fifth piece - Mesto - can be seen as the theme for the variations.
1. Invocazione - variation 1
2. Scherzo 1
3. Pensoso - variation 2 (thoughtful, pensive)
4. Caccia 1 (chase)
5. Mesto - variation 3 (sad, melancholy)
6. Caccia 2
7. Alla Turca - variation 4
8. Scherzo 2
9. Ruvido - variation 5 (rough, coarse)
The noun 'ricercare' (from the verb 'ricercare' - to seek or look for) has been used for a wide variety of types of instrumental music. However, I have taken this title from a booklet of five small prints by the Italian painter Maurizio Bottarelli and written five corresponding variations.
Lyell Cresswell 2016
Performer biographies & full details of the Ricercari premiere can be found in the McEwen concert programme 2016.
Lyell Cresswell
Lyell Cresswell was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He studied in Wellington, Toronto, Aberdeen and Utrecht. From 1978-80 he was Music Organiser at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff; from 1980-82 Forman Fellow in Composition at Edinburgh University, and from 1982-85 Cramb Fellow in Composition at Glasgow University. Since then he has been a full-time composer based in Edinburgh. Lyell Cresswell's music is widely performed and broadcast. It has been played at many festivals around the world including the Warsw Autumn, BBC Proms, Edinburgh Festival, Musica Insieme - Bologna, Asian Music Festival - Tokyo, New Zealand International Festival of the Arts and so on... The numerous awards he has received include recommendations by the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, the Ian Whyte Award, a Scottish Arts Council Creative Scotland Award, an honorary D.Mus from Victoria University of Wellington, the inaugural Elgar Bursary, and the Sounz Contemporary Award for his Piano Concerto. In 2006–7 he was Creative New Zealand/New Zealand School of Music Composer in Residence.
His orchestral music is recorded on Naxos (8.570824 and 8.573199) and Continuum (CCD 1033 and 1034), and other works on NMC, Delphian, Metier, and Rattle.