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DAVID BRAID (b. 1970) – SONGS SOLOS + DUOS 1 Upon Silver Trees, Op. 34 3:26 Invocation and Continuum, Op. 38 6:11 2 I. Invocation 3:13 3 II. Continuum 2:57 Sonata for Archtop Guitar and Piano, Op. 19 10:29 4 I. Invocation 4:01 5 II. Waltz 3:29 6 III. Fugue 2:58 Invention and Fugue, Op. 36 4:33 7 I. Invention 2:43 8 II. Fugue 1:49 Songs of Contrasting Subjects, Op. 47 22:29 9 I. She goes but softly 4:42 10 II. Fear No More 5:27 11 III.Music to Hear 4:26 12 IV. How Can I Then Return 3:21 13 V. Is it Thy Will 4:32 Four Intimate Pieces for Archtop Guitar, Op. 21 8:59 T o 14 I. Lirico 2:01 t a l 15 II. February Lament 2:09 d 16 III.Valse Triste 1:44 u r 17 IV. Tomorrow’s Daydream 3:04 a t i o First Piano Sonata, Op. 14 14:17 n 18 I. Stabile con calma 6:09 7 19 II. Poco melancholia e tranquillo 3:43 6 : 3 20 III.Ossessivo 4:24 5 Two Solos for Archtop Guitar 06:09 21 I. Wordless Song, Op. 45 3:46 22 II. For Alex, Op. 43 2:22 THE MUSIC notes by the composer On Silver Trees – mezzo-soprano/archtop guitar/piano (2014) Emily Gray / David Braid / Sergei Podobedov A short, single movement setting of Walter de la Mare’s wonderfully descriptive poem Silver describing the silvering of a landscape and its inhabitants by the moon’s reflected light. The ‘bright’ harmony (based directly on the harmonic series with plenty of major thirds) together with the slight metallic edge the electric guitar adds to the piano (used especially in its most clear, brilliant range) serves to highlight the text. Invocation and Continuum – a duo for flute/classical guitar (2014) ‘Rouge’ : Claire Overbury / Elena Zucchini A two-movement work; the first highly melodic with the flute always to the fore and the guitar providing a sparse and varied rhythmical counterpart (using ‘broken’ waltzes, etc.). The second movement has a quiet rhythmic insistence, that throbs away (in additive rhythm) while the flute has highly contrasting very long notes (making a large-scale, immensely slow melodic structure lasting minutes). The coda brings these two together in rhythms first introduced in the first movement, rounding off and unifying the work. Sonata for archtop guitar and piano, Op. 19 (2013) David Braid / Sergei Podobedov Written specifically for myself to play with Sergei Podobedov (which we performed numerous times around London in recent years), the work is in three movements: Invocation, Waltz and Fugue. The first movement is highly linear and rather guitar-led to begin, this movement, like the final one, is primarily countrapuntal, making a virtue of the very natural blend of the two instruments, where lines can cross and interweave – the tonal colour of the guitar and the different piano registers ensuring that the listener can easily follow each line. The Waltz, based on the classic waltz rhythm - with the occasional missing beat to shift the metre out here and there - functions as a calm central point of the work, it makes use of orchestral-type figurations at the end, with a reference to my favourite composer Sibelius. The three-part Fugue that rounds off the Sonata makes use of additive rhythms (as used in much of my work) and such as are common in Balkan and Greek folk music and some Indian classical music. Invention and Fugue – a duo for clarinet and piano (2014) Peter Cigleris / Rossitza Stoycheva As the title indicates, this is a two-movement work that contrasts a free flowing, lyrical first movement with a jaunty rhythmical fugue; as with most of my quicker works the fugue makes use of additive rhythms (i.e. 2+3; 2+2+3, etc.) to keep a constantly shifting downbeat. This allows the rhythmic aspect to serve the melodic; the strong beats reinforce the important pitches, the weak the less important. In this way the pitch aspect (for me the most important of all musical factors) is always in the foreground, making for very clear harmonic movement. Songs of contrasting subjects – mezzo-soprano/archtop guitar (2015) Emily Gray / David Braid The five songs in this cycle are settings of four poems of Shakespeare and one of Bunyan, they all deal with subjects of contrast, either through distance such as in Is it thy will? –where the writer asks the distant lover does she really want to disturb his sleep/repose/peace of mind, or Fear no more which contrasts the freedom of death with the responsibilities of the living. How can I then return is an example of the classic Elizabethan contrasting of day and night “Each enemies to each others’ realm”. In Music to hear The Bard uses the analogy of musical tones that can only exist harmoniously when in the company of others to highlight the importance of human interaction and, ideally, family. Bunyan’s She goes but softly is a celebration of the slow, determined and ultimately successful way of the snail: “the prize they do aim at, they do procure”. As with much of this ancient writing it has a lot to tell us about our own lives now; one thinks of recent books such as In praise of slow as a contemporary partner to Bunyan’s argument. In this recording I have used the electric archtop guitar (more usually found in the jazz world) as the accompanying instrument. It’s warm, mellow sound suits the mezzo voice perfectly and provides a sustaining power unavailable on its classical cousin that allows for a sparse and minimal accompaniment. For me this is the ideal – so that one can clearly hear the text. Four Intimate Pieces for electric archtop guitar (2013-4) David Braid I Lirico It originally began as an improvisation one evening from Bach’s first lute suite (the first 7 notes of which are used to open the piece). This short (2 minute) solo can be played on any kind of guitar, as it is essentially a single line with an occasional slow-moving bass part as accompaniment. The harmonic movement is implied by the line, rather than being overtly stated; just as with J.S. Bach’s unaccompanied violin/cello works. There is a certain freedom present in this piece for the performer; it can be played as a slow lyrical song-like work or as a quick, more insistent piece – or anything in between – depending on the mood/inclination of the player. II February Lament This short solo is open to interpretation by both player and listener – it was written in February – the ‘lament’ could refer to the dark (seemingly endless) winter – or any other appropriate factor. The mode it uses of semitone/tone has hints of Sibelius/Britten and many others. Played here, as it is on the electric archtop guitar, gives a touch of the vernacular also. III Valse Triste Unashamedly stealing the title of one of Sibelius’ most famous orchestral works this ‘sad waltz’ only makes musical reference to him in its last two chords (the IV-I) he so often used. An entirely line-led work it makes use of the lengthy sustain of the electric guitar to allow for a slow long lines, from which the harmony is implied more than stated. IV Tomorrow’s Daydream A different work from the others in harmonic language – making use of open whole-tone based chords with flitting running lines between them – giving a sonic impression of the way daydreams leap around in time and speed. It is ‘tomorrow’s’ daydream as that is yet to come and is therefore the most enticing = the most interesting book in the world is the one full of empty pages! 1st Piano Sonata, Op. 14 (2012) Rossitza Stoycheva The Piano Sonata, Op.14 is my first of my two piano sonatas. It is in three movements: Stabile con Calma; Poco melancholia e tranquillo and Ossessivo. The musical material in all three movements; harmony, lines (themes, motifs, etc.) is limited by each hand/part having either only white or only black notes of the keyboard. This swaps over as required and occasionally both hands have either only white or black notes simultaneously. There is historical precedence for similar limitations in piano repertoire: Chopin's black-note study, Ligeti's White on white (the first of his piano studies in Book 3) and others. A fascinating by-product of working in this way was getting this constraint entirely embedded into my thinking so it becomes as natural as my vernacular, or inherited sound- world, allowing me to compose freely and instinctively. The Sonata's first movement has an arch structure, starting slowly and simply in just two-part, unison crotchet motion, it builds up to a more complex and considerably quicker middle section before reverting to near-stasis to finish. The second movement has the following performance direction written in the score: "Imagine a slightly broken, white, very beautiful, highly advanced and slender android trying to waltz alone in a large, empty, slightly darkened room, late in the afternoon". The movement is rather slow and is built-up from a simple thematic motion and a quasi-waltz (the 'broken' aspect of the dancing android) accompaniment. As is the case throughout the entire sonata, it also makes use of the white/black note separation between the hands. The third movement, as the title 'Obsessivo' suggests, is a moto perpetuo, with a high tempo and a rhythmic grouping of threes (and occasional twos) between the hands.

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