Listen & Watch

London Sinfonietta Music Streams: complete recordings from live performances exclusively for listening to online.

Shiva Feshareki Valentine's Rhapsody

Helen Keen piccolo
Mark van de Wiel bass clarinet
Michael Thompson horn
Jonathan Morton violin
Tim Gill cello

Valentine's Rhapsody is a London Sinfonietta commission generated through the London Sinfonietta's Writing the Future scheme.

This recording features the world premiere performance of Valentine's Rhapsody, recorded live at Southbank Centre on Saturday 5 November 2011.

Writing the Future is generously supported by The Boltini Trust, The John S Cohen Foundation, Anthony Mackintosh and Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner.

Part 1: “I’m done with my dying.”
Part 2: “Clouds parts just to give us a little sun.”

This piece represents a journey and personifies the feeling of triumph and self-development after a period of hardship. Valentine’s Rhapsody is inspired by a person who has had a massive impact on its creator, and moreso, helped her help herself. Both parts are similar tempi, however they are predominantly contrasting in terms of harmonic intensity, timbral aesthetic, texture and mood. Although this is a piece about something beautifully positive, the only obvious release is in the final bars of the piece, to emphasise the challenging journey to this point of self-awareness. The titles are taken from songs recently listened to by the composer; Part 1 is a Johnny Flynn lyric, and Part 2 is by Feist.

This piece is dedicated to Valentine Davies, with love.

Programme note © Shiva Feshareki.