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Programme Note

'Amapolas' is a brief piece for string trio. How did it come about? I was driving in Spain towards one of my favourite places close to where I live; half an hour south of Granada; a reservoir called Los Bermejales. Turning a bend in the road I came upon a field exploding with poppies (amapolas). The sudden vividness of the red and the profusion of it was astonishing. A field of one thing, yet full of individuals all being affected by the breeze and the elements in different ways. The piece is lead by the violist who brings the other two players in 'on the nod' and they play related material; sometimes in a slightly different tempo, but independently; never synchronised. When they get to the end of that section, they stop and wait for the next cue from the viola to begin again. It's a kind of controlled and contained chaos, not unlike the field of Spanish poppies. It's dedicated to Julia Bardsley and her partner, Andrew Poppy. It lasts approximately 9 minutes.

S.H.
(January 2009)