Frozen Time

Elena Firsova's Frozen Time for Piano Quartet.

This was commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble for their project to create contemporary repertoire for teenage children, hence quite a simple texture is used. It was written in 1999 and the premiere was given by pupils of the Purcell School in the Wigmore Hall in May that year. The musical material first appeared in 1996 with the short piano piece, Evening Music. However I was so preoccupied with this material that soon after I made an orchestral version of the piece. I then composed the Chamber Concerto No.5 for cello and strings, based on the same musical idea but with a completely different development. When Ireceived the commission for a Piano Quartet I returned again to this idea, for I decided that its quasi-romantic material treated in a contemporary manner would be ideal for the purpose, and could ease the young musician’s path to contemporary music. - Elena Firsova

Commission made possible by Bain & Co.