£7.95
Two Portraits are musical pictures of the composer's erstwhile partner harpist Elizabeth Jane Baldry's sons, composed in 2003 when they were in their early teens. Edmund was serene, loving and spiritual, a cathedral chorister and sensitive harpist. Alex, also a chorister, was by contrast energetic and extrovert - a true bringer of joy and happiness, he played the French horn and was given to spontaneous jazz improvisations on the piano. The two movements are therefore contrasting melodic pieces, the first serene and lyrical with the opportunity for some legato playing, and the second unexpectedly lively and jazzy and a chance to let the musical hair down!