Description
After the first performance of the orchestral suite on November 10th, 1989, in St. Augustine's Church, Hedon, East Yorkshire (also available here on musicaneo, with sound sample), the composer was asked to make this arrangement for piano by Mrs. Christine MacLaren, the wife of the Vicar of St. Augustine’s.
[note regarding the original orchestral suite:
This piece was written in response to a request from Professor Brian Newbould for a dance suite for the University of Hull orchestra.
Like the earlier chamber symphony "The Children of Prague" (B6), which was written for Charter 77, this work reflects the composer's admiration for those elements of society under a repressive regime who strive to preserve their cultural and national identity; hence the choice of folk tunes from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, overrun by Stalin in 1940, and Finland, which lost its Karelian provinces to the USSR after World War II.
The first performance was given by Professor Newbould and the University of Hull orchestra at a charity concert on November 10th, 1989, in St. Augustine's Church, Hedon, East Yorkshire, the day following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The music is deliberately simple to reflect the nature of the original melodies. To give a feeling of unity, a linking passage is used between each section based on the short introduction, and a motif is also used in each dance which is adapted to suit the mood of that piece.]