David Sawer has written extensively and with great imagination for harp for many years, but always in ensemble. This short work is his first for solo harp – and indeed, it’s one of a tiny handful of works he’s composed for any solo instrument in an otherwise prodigious output, giving it a special place in the repertoire.
Between was composed in 1998 for the distinguished harpist Osian Ellis, then celebrating his 70th birthday year. Far from a virtuosic showpiece, it’s a gentle, beautifully ethereal work which captures a kind of otherworldly essence of the harp completely without sentimentalism.
Rolling, enigmatic harmonies support a loping triplet melody that emerges like a half-remembered song from fluid, contrary motion arpeggios. The phrases are like breaths; sometimes long, sometimes short, with pauses in between and a rising and falling dynamic. The feel is dream-like with traces of uncertainty that never quite become discomfort: a ‘wrong’ note here, a truncated or lopsided rhythm there suggest the ambivalence of the title.
Between what and what are we held? Or between where and where? The harp strings, the notes – the silences? Sawer enraptures us for just six, earthly minutes, but his music haunts us in after-echoes for a good while longer.
All purchases of the Sawer album Rumpelstiltskin will include a free download code for this track in the accompanying booklet.
Anne Denholm harp
FUNDERS
Between was commissioned for the Aldeburgh Autumn Britten Festival with funds provided by the Britten-Pears Foundation and first performed by Osian Ellis at the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh, 20 November 1998.
RECORDING CREDITS
Between was recorded at CBSO Centre, Birmingham on 13 April 2019.
DAVID LEFEBER Recording Engineer and Producer
SUSANNE STANZELEIT Digital Editing