Edward Gregson

Serenata Notturna

As the title suggests, my Serenata Notturna evokes the atmosphere of night music. Following a reflective opening where the pitch development outlines a twelve-note series, the music gradually becomes more agitated, developing into a kind of danse macabre, eventually reaching a powerful climax. The music then subsides into a much more tranquil atmosphere and the previous dissonant material transposes itself into a simple melody (like a lullaby), uttered by the cello, the outline of which, both melodically and in terms of the accompaniment figuration, has already been present in the piece since the beginning. Thus, the turmoil of the first part of the work becomes transfigured into something much more peaceful - hence the quotation that prefaces the score: 'out of darkness cometh light'. ' Edward Gregson