David Matthews

Journeying Songs

1. Song for Judith
2. Song for Elaine
3. Song for Gemma

Journeying Songs began as a single piece which was composed in the autumn of 2004, much of it conceived on a long walk along the Suffolk coast in September that year. The opening tune is a 'walking tune' in C minor, and has a folkish character; in fact there is a kinship with the Spanish/Arabic folksong 'El Rey de Francia', a setting of which for piano quartet Judith Weir wrote as a fiftieth birthday present to me in 1993; so in return I dedicated this piece to her in her own fiftieth birthday year. There are two distinct sections, played without a break: the first is a set of variations on the 'walking tune'; the second, a further series of variations on the first part, but Molto energico. The coda returns to a slow tempo, and is a little Pastoral, with another version of the opening tune accompanied by distant horn-like calls. ‘Song for Elaine’ was composed in July 2007 for Elaine Gould in celebration of her twenty years as chief editor for Faber Music. Elaine is also a cellist and the piece was written for her to play. ‘Song for Gemma’ was written for Gemma Rosefield in the summer of 2008. It was composed during several journeys: begun at home in London, it was continued on a holiday in Crete, was resumed at my seaside house in Deal, and finished on a trip to Helsinki. Whether all those places affected the character of the music I don’t know. The first part of the piece alternates Andante trasognato (‘dreaming’) and Allegro appassionato sections; the andante opening in fact emerged out of a dream. The culmination of the third Allegro section is a broad, song-like tune which while not intended as a direct portrait of Gemma is certainly a tribute to her intensely expressive playing, which I could hear in my mind all the time I was writing her piece. It was while I was writing ‘Song for Gemma’ that I decided to put the three pieces together, and ideally they should be played as a group, though each piece can also be performed separately. No. 1 of Journeying Songs was commissioned by the Hampstead and Highgate Festival with funds provided by the John S.Cohen Foundation. Song for Gemma (No. 3 of Journeying Songs) was commissioned by Gemma Rosefield and the Presteigne Festival.
David Matthews