Simon Holt

Amistad

Amistad (the Spanish word for friendship) is a brief set of three pieces for two Flutes composed by Simon Holt in May 2013. It takes its form from the three syllables of the word a-mi-stad. The first piece begins on the note A and the second piece on E (-mi-) and the final movement has four sections of equal length which take the individual letters as their respective starting points; S (Eb/D#), T (B), the return of A and then D. Simon Holt has won numerous awards throughout his career for his compositions, such as the Ivor Novello Classical Award, and the British Composer Award. Having collaborated with the London Sinfonietta and the Nash Ensemble, Amistad is one in a long line of expertly composed and musically brilliant works. The piece as a whole is about 6 minutes long.