PROGRAMME NOTES

Five Diversions

Orchestra 2222/2220/timp.perc/str (1963/1969)
Also clavichord (recorded); piano (recorded) or harpsichord
Prelude – Aria – Ragtime – Saraband - Finale

In 1963 I had just acquired a Hugh Gough clavichord and thought the instrument, with its unique characteristics, ought not to be confined to old music. In 1989 I took this idea further and even included Ellington tunes as well as the Five Diversions in some clavichord recitals for BBC Radio 3, now recorded as Blue Clavichord on Heritage. These light Diversions in various styles were published as ‘for keyboard instruments’ and I dedicated the set to my wife Bridget. I gave the first public performance on the harpsichord on 18 January 1966 at the College of St Mark and St John and the first performance of the orchestral version was given in Leamington Spa Town Hall by the Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra under Timothy Reynish on 22 November 1970. The first broadcast was on 23 February 1971 with the BBC Concert Orchestra/Ashley Lawrence. The first recording was made by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Clark Rundell at Hoddinott Hall in 2015, released on Heritage the following year.