Oliver Knussen

'Prayer Bell Sketch' was commissioned by Ms. Masako Okamura and Mr. Motoyuki Nakagawa in memory of Toru Takemitsu. Here is the 'prayer Bell Sketch' for the solo piano.

The piano score and solo part to Oliver Knussen's Horn Concerto Op.28. Piano reduction by Lionel Friend.

'A tightly constructed work inspired by Shakespeare's description of Ophelia's madness it blends wind string and keyboard timbres superbly and moves easily between sprightliness and dreamy introspection.'Allan Kozinn The New York Times 20 April 1991

'Knussens wastes not a note and though the work lasts only for seven minutes its density of thought suggests something of sonata structure.'Paul Griffiths Musical Times January 1981

This enchanting 8-minute piece for violin and piano – Oliver Knussen’s penultimate work – is made up of various kinds of musical reflection: melody reflected in its inversion; a six-note mode reflected in its complement; and the relationships between the three main parts of the piece which are in a way varied reflections of each other. There are some reflections in water too the work’s opus number (31a) demonstrating a relationship to Knussen’s unfinished Cleveland Pictures: ‘The main melody began as a response to Gauguin’s painting of a Breton woman swimming’ Knussen wrote ‘and there is also perhaps anecho of the lonely underwater world of an ondine eventually breaking the surface at the end of the piece.’

For Soprano and Orchestra. Andrew Clements says 'None of the four songs lasts more than a few minutes yet they pack in an astonishing range of emotional and vocal nuance. . .with wonderfully lucid colours drawn from a vast ensemble; each song seems to define its sound world within a couple of bars compressed into a phrase or a couple of chords. They are beautifully achieved little songs brought off with the lightest of touches'. Financial Times 10 March 1992

'. . .creates a shimmering tapestry of sound that ranges satisfyingly wide within a brief-span - a fine display piece for conductor and every section of the orchestra.'The Guardian 17 September 1988

'. . .a stunning palette of orchestral colour which transforms the 16th-century material without abusing its essential character.'Michael John White The Independent 1 April 1988