Lyell Cresswell

Programme Note

`And Every sparkle shivering to new blaze, / In number did outmillion the account / Reduplicate upon the chequer'd board' (Dante, The Divine Comedy, Paradise XXVIII, trans Reverend H F Cary)
The quintet, which is in one continuous movement, revolves around five central ideas. These ideas are moved around continuously, like the pieces on a chess board, each trying to gain some strategic advantage in pursuit of a single objective. The first, hesitant, but gathering speed and rising in pitch, is introduced by the viola at the beginning. The second, direct and syncopated, is announced by all string instruments when they play together for the first time, before being taken up by the piano. The main source of melodic material is a quiet tune played first by the two violins and the viola. The full version is heard in a piano solo played simply in octaves. In another guise this tune becomes the fourth idea, a fast dance which gathers momentum as the piece reaches its climax. The fifth idea, fast ribbons of notes, links the melodic and rhythmic elements and helps provide energy. The piece begins with a piano chord which becomes a pivot for all these ideas and crops up in a variety of ways at crucial points.
And Every Sparkle Shivering is something like a mosaic composed by inlaying many small tesserae of coloured stone or glass to create a sparkling overall design. But for a different perspective perhaps we could follow the advice give to the pilgrim, Dante, when he is faced with a point of unbearably piercing light around which nine circles glow:
`Observe the circle nearest it, and know / the reason for its spinning at such speed / is that Love's fire burns it into motion' (Paradise XXVIII, trans Mark Musa).
This piece is intended to sparkle in celebration of Chamber Music New Zealand's fiftieth birthday. During my school and university days in Wellington I went to practically every Chamber Music New Zealand concert. They were an enormously influential and inspirational part of my musical development - one of the sparks that set it in motion.
Lyell Cresswell