Moon Shadows

When Sally Beamish wrote her duo Tracing for [Martin Roscoe and me] to perform at London's Wigmore Hall, we knew we wanted to share it with as many people as possible. As we were considering how best to programme Tracing, I kept thinking of more nocturnes, cradle songs, and works with a nighttime theme or feel that I love playing. There were pieces central to my childhood that made me fall in love with music and the violin, such as Lili Boulanger's Nocturne and Faure's Berceuse. There were also pieces which I came across later, such as the beautiful Nocturne by Johannes Röntgen, a manuscript of which was recently sent to me. Martin and I arrived at a selection that takes us on a colourful journey through many different characteristics of the nighttime, portrayed by a range of wonderful composers: the music is by turns gentle, passionate, despairing, joyful, cocooning - with surprises hidden in every shadow. - Fenella Humphreys