April 21st

April 21st for Horn and Piano by Charlotte Bray (2022).

Commissioned by Alexei Watkins and first performed on 25 August 2023 at Presteigne Festival by Alexei Watkins and Ivana Gavrić.

Programme Notes

This piece was written for Richard Watkins in celebration of his 60th birthday. The opening is calm and spacious. Both instruments hold an expansive, focused presence. To contrast, a lively, spirited section follows, the piano and horn musically dancing around one another. Through-composed, the final section is slow, reflective and hopeful, with a dreamy, eternal quality. I focused on the beauty and lyricism of the sound of the sustained horn, accompanied by a delicate, pulsating and harmonically slow-moving piano part.

© Charlotte Bray

Duration: 5 minutes