Shostakovich’s career was linked to his complex relationship with the Soviet government who tried several times to dictate the style of music he should write. He was initially influenced by Prokofiev and Stravinsky before finding his own unique sound that mixed elements of neo-classicism, modernism and occasionally the grotesque. This piece was written whilst he was still a student. For eight musicians and inspired by Mendelssohn’s piece with the same lineup, Shostakovich encourages his players to play in a symphonic style. The first movement, Elegy, is in simple ABA ternary form. The outer sections are slow and thoughtful with room for passionate solos from several players. The contrasting middle is faster and spiky. The second movement, Polka, is a scherzo which hints at the angry scherzos that were to follow. In 1925, aged 19, Shostakovich said ‘it’s the best thing I’ve ever written’.

_{Note by Rachel Leach}

Anderson is an American bassist and composer. His father was principal bass trombone with the Cleveland Orchestra and, almost following in his footsteps, Dave has been principal bass with Louisiana Philharmonic since 1996. Much like Berio and in the mould of Bartók, Anderson wrote these duets when he found a shortage of pieces to play. He says they are written with humour because, as he says in the programme notes, it's funny to think of the double bass as a solo instrument. Within the seven short duets he uses the whole, large range of the instrument and covers many different styles. Today we will hear Blew Cheese, described by the composer as ‘cheesy blues mixed with I dream of Jeannie and Led Zeppelin’, Schgweik Fahrt, which is dedicated, in jest, to his more serious composer colleagues and Gustav’s 11 o’clock dance, which describes Anderson’s cat zooming around the house at night.

_{Note by Rachel Leach}

Shaw is a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. She began her music studies with violin lessons at just two years old. Eight years later she began writing music, mostly imitating Mozart and Brahms, before studying formally at Yale University and for a PhD at Princeton. In 2010 she became the youngest ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize with her composition Partita for Eight Voices. Entr’acte was written in 2011 for string quartet and then rescored for string orchestra three years later. It features several extended techniques such as rubbing the bow on the strings to make a swishing sound and left-hand pizzicato. Shaw says, ‘It is structured like a minuet and trio riffing on the classical form but taking it a little further. I love the way some music suddenly takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolour transition.'

_{Note by Rachel Leach}