Margaret Preston

Amadeus Duo

Margaret Preston — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:45:30 +0000

Amadeus Duo – Margaret Preston on flute and Alina Bzhezhinska on harp present a programme of Chopin’s music. Their arrangements give an interesting slant on Chopin’s piano music, as the evocative and sensuous combination of flute and harp take a fresh look at some of the most popular piano repertoire. They will also play the works of composers who influenced Chopin on his travels in Scotland.

The girls have toured this concert to many venues in UK and in Ukraine as part of the international celebration of Chopin’s 200th Anniversary (1810-1849). The tour will end in October with a concert at RSAMD where Alina was appointed Harp Lecturer in 2008. The programme which is designed to be audience friendly is narrated by Margaret and Alina who as well as playing their special arrangements, present amusing and revealing extracts from letters and commentaries from the last year of Chopin’s life.

Press report

Songs of the Sea

Margaret Preston — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 05:42:25 +0000

The Mermaid

Songs of the Sea Programme

These pieces came about as a response to the Scottish Centres of Excellence invitation to composers to write a ten-minute piece suitable for performance in their establishments. Special mention was made of the possibilities of using traditional instruments that are studied in the centres including flute, harp, accordion and bagpipes As these instruments have strong associations with the folklore and traditions of Scotland, I felt compelled to write something that was reflective of that part of our musical culture. I have selected ‘the sea’ as my focus. I have always been interested in the ballade as a form of entertainment, from my time spent singing early music. As I was introduced to more of these songs through folk music, I realised that this was a very rich source of culture and entertainment that spanned everything from the more serious tragedy of Greek proportions to something more akin to the “soap opera” of the day.The Mermaid was my attempt to write something similar to Romeo and Juliet in the tragic mistiming of a romance between a fisherman and a mermaid. It is mythological in flavour, hence the use of evocative instrumentation such as the Celeste. The singer narrates the romance of Davie and the mermaid: the chorus is a comment on the unfolding story.

The Tale of the Royal River

Margaret Preston — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:00:46 +0000

The Tale of the Royal River from Olav Vennemann on Vimeo.

Composed soundtrack for Olav Venneman’s Film.

This soundtrack came about after Jane Frazer suggested to Olav Venneman that he might approach me to play some music as backing for his tourism/history film. Olav had made the film as an illustration of Alan Glendinning’s poem “The Tale of the Royal River”

Having had a couple of viewings of this film I really liked the fresh and flowing feel of the story and felt it might benefit from an original score -I couldn’t light on one tune that would complement some of the lovely and diverse natural images of the river, trees, wildlife and flowers as well as the Scottish heritage and more industrial aspects of the later scenes. Olav gave me some suggestions as to things he liked and then more or less let me have a free hand. It was a very quick process, the tunes just took a few hours to sketch and orchestrate,and the whole thing was finished quite quickly as both of us had other deadlines! I think the end result is fine, and both of us really enjoyed the “process”

Lovelorn Anthology

Margaret Preston — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:14:31 +0000

Lovelorn is an accessible anthology of poetry which reflects on the ups and downs (and ins and outs) of love. Each poem is poignantly illustrated by a specially selected linocut picture. The artists are from all over the world and their styles are equally diverse. I hope that you find the poems heartfelt; irreverent, sad, bitter, sinister, atmospheric etc. and that, like me, you will enjoy these wonderful pictures which I think reflect their varying moods. (Can be ordered through my contact form)

Valentine

Grasses by Pavel Konovalov

Will you be my Valentine?

Do you wonder what thoughts are mine?

I am an elephants never forget

I am a forget-me-not

While you glide coolly by

My heart somersaults

thru the rye,

Trees sigh

cool guy…

I wonder

Why?

You don’t remember

The time or the place

You don’t remember

Our kiss

My face

I am an elephants never forget.

You,

You forgot me.