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Dance. CD Recording of new music for choreography by the Smith Quartet. Nic Pendlebury (viola).

This album is unified by approaches to the writing of new music for choreography.. Featuring ten commissioned world premieres, alongside existing works, the album represents much of the ethos behind the work of the Smith Quartet in bringing new music to new audiences through a process of commissioning, performing and recording work from an eclectic range of leading composers. The works presented here offer variety and contrast, providing challenges and stimuli to our audience, and progressing a compositional form already well established in contemporary music. Some of the results were in some cases rather unexpected, including a quaint pastoral Sarabande from rock giant Jon Lord (sadly his last ever composition) and Joe Cutler’s Folk Music (a Dumka influenced by Polish “Goralski” folk music), winner of the 2008 British Composer’s Award. More unfamiliar dance forms came from Donnacha Dennehy, with his work Stamp, a modern day version of a 14th century Italian Salterello, switching between 7/8 and 6/8 groupings. Gabriel Prokofiev's Bogle Move is derived from Jamaican Dance Hall (Ragga) music, and is characterized by driving syncopated charismatic grooves. Andrew Poppy’s Disco reflects one of the most recent popular dance forms. Throughout the research process, the quartet's main challenge was both to research the histories of particular dance idioms, work collaboratively with the composers' themselves, and also to research ways to facilitate notable instrumental switches, from modern electronic drum machines and synthesizers onto conventional stringed instruments.