Listen & Watch

An excerpt from Jonathan Cole's Testament, which features on the 3rd CD in the London Sinfonietta's Jerwood Series.

In Testament, a melodic line is gently spun out accross the musical landscape. Jonathan calls the piece "a tribute to the memopry of Sue Knussen, a tireless advocate of music education in all it's forms. I was lucky enough to get to know Sue in the last year of her life," he continues, "and her generous support and interest in my work was hugely important to me at that time."

Testament was a joint commission from the Sue Knussen Commissioning Fund, the London Sinfonietta and the Ojai Festival. At its first performance in Ojai in 2005 (conducted by Brad Lubman) the piece was performed outside where the gentle rustling of leaves and distant nocturnal cries of nature created an apt counterpoint to the score.

This European premiere performance was recorded live on the 5 December 2005 at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall.

London Sinfonietta
Oliver Knussen conductor