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        Commissioned by Goldsmiths' College, University of London with the assistant of Lewisham Arts Council

        • 1111/2000/str
        • 7 min

        Programme Note

        In 1967 I wrote a piece for chamber orchestra called Preludio. It was in every sense a piece about beginnings: in character it is like an aubade, or song for dawn, and it was my first piece for orchestra. Last year I revised and expanded it especially for Goldsmiths' Orchestra, calling the new work Preludio II. It is scored for string orchestra with Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and two Horns. It is a short piece with a simple ternary (ABA) shape. It begins with the 'dawn music' - soft string trills and the first hints of wind solos. This first section is a gradual growth, gaining in strength, to the second section which by contrast is fast and assertive. The music accelerates and gathers itself up into a climax recalling the opening string trills. Out of the silence which follows the double basses emerge; then horn and bassoon; and in the succeeding gentle melodies the opening mood is re-established and the piece brought to its cadence.
        © Nicola LeFanu

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