Lee Bradshaw Releases "The Ties That Bind" Album

The Australian composer's newest album is a collection of chamber music for strings

Recorded by violinist Baiba Skide, violist Ivan Vukčević, and cellist Harriet Krijgh, the album features a combination of works for solo instrument, duo, and trio. Baiba Skride premiered the first work in the album, “Via Crucis” for solo violin on March 22, 2020, at the 360 Concert Series in Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (2020).

The second work is a piano trio entitled  "Trigon," followed by "Sarabande for Cello," "Concerto for Two" for violin and cello, and "Duo Sonata for Viola & Cello." The disc ends with a "Rhapsody for Viola Solo."

"The disc includes music dating back to 2003," Lee told The Violin Channel. "I wanted to make this first release as representative as possible of my string chamber music."

"My composition method utilizes a kind of 'distortion' or a process of stretching and contracting harmony. The same idea is present in my treatment of melody as well. The idea of exploiting tonal expectations enables me to lean into certain emotional targets and try to draw out the expressive possibilities. As a consequence of this approach, it's very important to me to have relatable structures, and so I find myself often using traditional structures ie Sonata form etc."

"I hope my work enables a person to express feelings they may not have expressed otherwise."

 

Lee Bradshaw is a Melbourne-born Australian composer. Lee was Composer-in-Residence for the 2021 edition of the Mediterranean Notes Festival in Tivat, Montenegro.

He is the creative director and producer of “The Death of Beethoven” - a recording cycle of the late-Beethoven String Quartets performed by Quartetto Energie Nove, in collaboration with Radio Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland. His work with Beethoven’s music continued with his 2021 arrangement of the 5th Symphony for String Quintet entitled “Beethoven 545” commissioned (and premiered) by Wilma Smith.