New works for soprano saxophone and string quartet by Ciarán Farrell and Greg Caffrey are to be heard for the first time at Wigmore Hall in London on September 15.

Influenced by Bulgarian and Greek folk music, Ciarán Farrell’s three-movement The Pilgrim’s Return ‘reflects on the feelings associated with coming home from a long journey and being filled with the joy associated with the repatriation of loved ones in familiar surroundings’.

Lapse, by Greg Caffrey, challenges the dictionary definition of its title (‘To drop in standard or fail to maintain a norm’) by deliberately venturing into ‘less expected musical areas: a tango, an Irish Jig and plagiarised/butchered Bach and Chopin are all visited throughout what is otherwise, by contrast, an extremely focused and unified composition’.

Gerard McChrystal, who commissioned both works, will perform them with The Smith Quartet (whose line-up includes violinist Darragh Morgan) alongside music by Graham Fitkin, Iain Ballamy and others.

For further details, see the Calendar or visit www.wigmore-hall.org.uk.

Posted: 21 July 2007