Description

This is Book One of four, each of which will be performed on Sunday afternoons in October 2022. Tickets available in advance for individual concerts or for all four (buy three, get one free! See below).

Composer and performer, Sam Richards writes:
?Some months ago I experimented with cutting up a song from English oral tradition. It was Seventeen Come Sunday ? a song which the early folksong collectors and composers loved. I divided it into fragments (phrases), composed chords and more little phrases that seemed to "go with" the melody, made a few inversions and so on. All these factors mostly preserved the Dorian mode of the original. It was for piano and lasted only a few minutes. I played it to an (adult) composition student of mine who liked it too. I liked what I had written so I tried the same kind of thing again, this time with a Spanish melody ? thinking of this same student who, as it happens, has a Spanish background. Same result. We both liked it.
?To cut a long story short I got into the idea big time, and ended up with 48 pieces, each derived from a melody from oral tradition and using many countries ? many African countries, China, Japan, all over Europe, South America, USA? and so on. The 48 pieces are divided into four books of 12 each and are called ?Echoes and Traces? and are like a Cook's tour of musical modes, idioms and fragments from around the world. I've also added some drawings?
?I've written a lot of piano music in the last few years ? more than usual. (Lockdown?) But with these pieces I really have the strong urge to play them to people. A major problem is that it would take a little over four hours to play them all. I approached Ashburton Arts Centre, and between us we hatched the plan of playing one book (that's one hour) every Sunday afternoon in October at 4 pm ? four weekly concerts beginning on 2 October 2022. This is the backstory??

Description

Ashburton Arts Centre is a community-owned and run place where the arts of all kinds happen.

It opened in 2018 in the town's old Methodist Church. Come see world-class live music, theatre, etc plus local performers, classes and community events.

15 West Street,

Ashburton,

Devon,

England,

TQ13 7DT.

07980 680052