For Chamber Ensemble.Commissioned by the Hebrides Ensemble and first performed on their Scottish tour in March 2010.In Seven Pierrot Miniatures I took the Commedia dell’arte character Pierrot as my primary sourceof inspiration. Other more tenuous links to Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire also served as a starting point in forming the general shape of the work. The piece is cast in seven short movements whereas the Schoenberg comprises threesets of seven movements. Although there is no part for voice I have taken seven poems by Albert Giraud (none of them set in Pierrot Lunaire) as points of departure:1. The Clouds2. Decor3. Absinthe4.Suicide5. The Church6. Sunset7. The HarpEach movement takes its impetus from the corresponding poem but in the piece as a whole I wanted to explore the extreme contrasts of the multi-faceted character ofPierrot in a musical setting. There is an almost mirror-like quality to the form of the piece and a sense of ending where it has begun: movements 1 3 5 and 7 are closely linked both in terms of their musical material and asense of melancholy dream-like quality and longing. Movements 2 and 6 are also strongly connected with allusions to the more mischievous violent side of Pierrot. Movement 4 serves as a sort-of pivotal point within the work juxtaposing a surreal shimmering calm with brutal outbursts. There is never any direct repetition yet there is a strong sense of material returning and mutating as the workunfolds.InstrumentationFlute doubling piccoloClarinet in Bb doubling Bass Clarinet in BbViolin doubling ViolaCelloPiano

'...The present collection has been conceived right from the outset so as to form an organic component of and a supplement to the teaching of solfeggio. The original text and their relevant translations have been omitted with the intention that the pedagogical aim namely that which is achieved through solmization could be proprely emphasized. There is hardly any need to recommend these pieces for cultivation. Luckily enough solfeggio has become so wide-spread and in particular singing canons has gained such popularity that its praise would suggest an irony of the same kind as Erasmus' eulogy of foolishness. Nevertheless it cannot be left unsaid how immensely this domaincontributes to raising the musical standards of the greatest number of people possibile.' (Antal Molnár)