1. Sundial (Prelude): Townhouse
2. The Charge of the Light Brigade: Penn House
3. Backlands: Garden Lane
4. Bossa di Gelato: Greco’s Close
5. Introduction to Craw Blaw
6. Craw Blaw: Cossar’s Wynd
Rob Hall studied music on the joint course at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music, prioritising composition and clarinet, and later, saxophone. In his first term he won a composition competition judged by Sir James MacMillan. Gaining further awards including the Proctor Gregg Performance Award and the Terence Greaves Award for Big Band Writing, he then won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music USA, primarily to study jazz.
He has built a diverse catalogue with many commissions, writing for choirs, chamber and jazz orchestras solo works, small groups, and multi-media work. His music has been performed in such venues as the Royal Festival Hall and Barbican in London, the Martin Harris Centre and RNCM Concert Hall in Manchester, and the Royal Concert Hall and University Concert Hall in Glasgow, and in settings such as Edinburgh Jazz Festival and Glastonbury Festival.
Following his first publication, a commission from ABRSM, he has since had music published by BrassWind, Trinity College, Forton Music and Clifton Edition (who have republished his piano volumes formerly with Spartan Press).
As a leader and co-leader he has released nine albums of original and improvised music for the British contemporary music label FMR, also the main recording outlet for a longstanding partnership with Scottish pianist and composer Chick Lyall.
Details courtesy of Clifton Edition
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS for Flute & Piano draws on historic themes connected to the medieval closes of the Scottish burgh town of Dunbar, a fishing port…
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS for Flute & Piano draws on historic themes connected to the medieval closes of the Scottish burgh town of Dunbar, a fishing port situated on the East Lothian coast, known locally as Sunny Dunny. Often named after prominent resident business owners, these otherwise unremarkable narrow lanes are given life by the records of their occupiers or through local tales.
Sundial (Prelude) sets the scene with the Townhouse timepiece presiding over the old High Street. The chaotic Charge of the Light Brigade was miraculously survived by local horseman John Penn in the Crimean war at Balaclava in 1854. Bossa di Gelato depicts the longstanding ice-cream factory of Pietroangelo Greco, whilst Craw Blaw (colloquial dialect for Crow Blow) stems from Craw’s Wynd, the former name of Cossar’s Wynd.
Suitable for intermediate to advanced flautists.
Close Encounters for Flute & Piano is a terrific set of short character pieces for an imaginative and energetic flute player! The technical demands sit comfortably within the range of an intermediate to advanced player, with lots of quirky, sometimes unpredictable and always engaging rhythms to excite both player and audience alike. Players could choose to play the whole set or just include a number which would give any recital an extra zing!
Paul Harris (composer)
