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Written as a commission from Duo Dunamis for classical recitals. Each movement draws upon different idioms of jazz styles and requires a wide range of sounds and effects from the violin. The opening Dance contains cross rhythms of 2's and 3's with the middle section making much of the interval of the perfect 5th. Quasi Rag borrows from 1930's ragtime, while The Ballad of an Original Theme opens with an expressive improvisory violin solo. Blues Plus One, named after the 13 bar pattern (the standard blues is 12 bars) makes much use of stride piano and there is much interplay between violin and piano.
Alfonso Cavallaro's Serenade, like its sister composition Tango (also published by Broadbent & Dunn), is essentially a very tonal concert piece, loosely modelled after those of Fritz Kreisler. The composition assumes the familiar 'three-part song form' and is usually performed with Tango.
Alfonso Cavallaro's Tango, like its sister composition Serenade (also published by Broadbent & Dunn), is essentially a very tonal concert piece, loosely modelled after those of Fritz Kreisler. The composition assumes the familiar 'three-part song form' and is usually performed with Serenade.
These lyrical pieces are essentially nostalgic, although never sad. They appeal to all audiences.
Short modern violin and piano pieces are rare, but these can take their place amongst examples from Elgar and the like. Unpretentious and good at making friends Two Idylls attempts to capture the sense of delight in the contemplation of pastoral landscapes, and the perceived serenity of the countryside. For the city dweller passing through such vistas speak of more relaxed times and freedom from constant pressures. There is, however, an underlying sense of not belonging, and in these pieces the tranquil settings are shot through with tensions that will not go away. No specific times or places are depicted, but the composers own recall of a period spent living in the country and his feeling of loss as he looks back to those years, perhaps account for the mixed moods of these pieces.
"Raindrops" Fantasia, Opus 5, is essentially a set of free variations in early Romantic style. The work develops a simple three-note motif (E-D#-E) in both the minor and major modes. Each variation is quite different, with one taking the form of the Classical minuet and trio. This composition was hailed by a critic as "a throwback to Schubert", which is certainly somewhat unusual for a 21st Century publication, although Cavallaro audaciously adheres to 18th and 19th century forms, harmonic language, and structure. In this sense Lenny is a 'cultural missionary' who hopes that his compositions will encourage other composers to return to our common heritage. "Raindrops Fantasia" can be heard on YouTube with Bobby Portney on violin and Lenny Cavallaro on piano at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ8PRH9n2AM
This 2014 publication might well have been composed 300 years earlier, being a truly baroque sonata in four movements (slow-fast-slow-fast). The composer has adhered not only to the harmonic and structural idioms of the time, but also to many of the other "unwritten" conventions. The work invites a great deal of freedom, and even leaves room for some improvisation. In the third movement the violin enters on a long, held note - this pattern recurs throughout, and in some ways appears to echo similar long notes in Bach's B Minor Sonata. The last movement is a set of variations, though neither chaconne nor passacaglia - these are melodic, in the Italian manner, and clearly sound less baroque. The thematic material derives from the opening of Papageno's aria Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen from Mozart's Magic Flute, but transposed from F Major to D Minor. This sonata was premiered at the Lincoln Center by Bobby Portney and has subsequently been recorded by Sarah Darling and can be heard on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UigLnCPNYSw
The last movement Langport March is a Trinity College London Grade 5 Exam Piece for Flute until the end of 2020
Arrangements of Somerset folk songs to give them a new lease of life and introduce them to audiences who might never otherwise hear them. Very popular with audiences, its individual movements are useful as fillers or encores. Martock Jig and Langport March are also playable on Piccolo. It is a very direct and enjoyable work and is also versatile, with versions for flute, violin or harmonica with piano accompaniment. The original harmonica version is very idiomatically written by the composer, who was long associated with the late great virtuoso Tommy Reilly. It is folk material very well suited to the instrument. For teaching studios, conservatories, libraries, amateurs and professionals. The last movement of this work Langport March has been a Trinity College London Grade 5 Exam Piece for Flute since 2007.
Another piece in the Blue series for solo instruments and piano, this time for violin and piano. Slow, dreamy and written in the high register of the violin, it has a soft fluid middle section suggestive of bird song. It was first performed by Alisdair Savage at the Little Venice Music Festival in London in 2004 and since then at the BBC in Glasgow and the Elgar Society's concerts in Edinburgh. A difficult piece that needs a secure high register.
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