Echoes

Echoes for solo cello by Marco Galvani.

This short prelude was commissioned by Rebecca Hepplewhite for the Borough New Music Festival, for performance in Summer 2019.

Programme Notes

This short work for solo cello draws its inspiration from distant bells heard in the village of Menaggio on Lake Como, in Italy. This sound has been a constant point of return since my childhood, and always brings back happy memories for me. I wanted the individual sets of bell chimes, which are presented in the piece echoing into silence, to be enveloped by gentle murmurations and moments of lyrical expressivity. These bell sounds echo around the lake throughout the day, creating a tranquil and pensive atmosphere, and the different harmonic resonances conjure all manner of intriguing tonalities. I aimed to encapsulate at least some of this feeling in this brief work. 

• Marco Galvani

Duration: 5 minutes