H85 Serra-Sierra (2018)

Programme note:

ʻSerra-Sierraʼ for cello and piano was written in the summer of 2018 in the south of Spain. I have long admired the passionate and powerful playing of both Adrian Brendel and Alasdair Beatson and wrote the piece with them in mind. The dedication is ʻfor Harryʼ and Iʼm now very sad that Harrison Birtwistle wonʼt hear it. He was a great admirer and friend of Adrianʼs. The Serra part of the title refers to the artist Richard Serra who constructs enormous planes of rusting metal into vast curves or high spires. Serra and Harry have a certain kind of monumentality in common as Harry created rough hewn harmony that seemed to erupt volcanically up through the Earth. The Sierra in the title refers to the Sierra Nevada where I walk, work and live for much of the year. These three influences became fused in my imagination whilst writing this piece. I felt I needed to make something that had a strong sense of line and space that could evoke the mountain range which I see every day when Iʼm down there. The piece is in four sections each connected with elements from the Andalusian landscape in which it was written: 1 . ʻAcebucheʼ - Spanish for wild olive tree. 2. ʻCaminoʼ - path or track. 3. ʻLuceroʼ - bright star or more specifically Venus, the brightest planet in the night sky. 4. ʻSuspiroʼ - sigh, a slow coda of about thirty seconds. On 2 January 1492 the last Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada, Boabdil, handed the keys of the city to the catholic monarchs, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille. Leaving in despair, with his back to Granada, he journeyed south to the coast. He turned to see the great city for one last time at the place now known as Suspiro del Moro. He wept and sighed. When I revised and edited the piece five years later, it seemed to be engulfed by a kind of fathomless sorrow and mostly contemplative. 

S.H.
27 November 2023

Reviews:

. . . a substantial piece in four sections, fiercely explosive and wonderingly expansive in turn, and fiercely demanding on both players.

Andrew Clements in the Guardian, March 27th 2024

The sculptural aspects of the four-movement piece emerged through dense and rugged harmonies, and in the physical gestures of Adrian Brendel (cello) and Alasdair Beatson (piano). Holt also evokes the materiality of the Andalusian landscape(…) Here the writing, and the playing, was indeed sinuous and luminous; the touch of both players responded magnificently to Holt’s fine sense of line, colour and texture.

Christopher Woodley on Bachtrack, March 27th 2024