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The Bliss of Sexual Ignorance
Bliss was written in the spring of 1988 in Dundee, and was inspired by the correspondence between Brahms and Clara Wieck and the short story “Bliss” by Katherine Mansfield. It was from a planned ballet about the Brahms, Schumann, Wieck triangle which was put on hold – kind of like most of the chords in this piece.
It is built up from the short passing note suspensions from Schumann song, mainly Dichterliebe, which are elongated out of recognition creating the impression of unresolved fermata. Its something I’ve occasionally come back to – taking the context out of context.
It we commissioned by Roger Montgomery who gave the premiere along with Dominic Saunders and Damien Le Gassick at the University of York.
Instrumentation
horn, piano and celeste
First Performance
University of York Roger Montgomery (horn), Dominic Saunders (piano)
Damian Le Gassick (celeste)