Sonatina nostalgica

• Hough’s Sonatina nostalgica is a short work for piano written in three sections:
  1. The road from Danebank
  2. The bench by the Dam
  3. A gathering at the Cross
• Notes from the composer:

My little Sonatina nostalgica, lasting under five minutes, was written for my friend (and fellow Gordon Green student) Philip Fowke in celebration of his seventieth birthday. It is ‘nostalgic’ on three levels: firstly, it was commissioned by my old school, Chetham’s; secondly, it deliberately utilizes a romantic musical language of yesteryear; but most importantly it evokes literal homesickness for the places of our youth, in this case the little ‘sonatina’ village of Lymm in Cheshire.

The road from Danebank: Danebank was a grand country house which gave its name to today’s Dane Bank Road. Along and about this road are places resonant with memories for me, not least the nursing home where my mother lived her final years. By happy coincidence some of Philip Fowke’s forebears, the Watkin family, lived at … Danebank.

The bench by the Dam: Lymm Dam is the picturesque source of the village, a calm lake whose surface reflects mature trees and the handsome steeple of the parish church. I had a bench installed there commemorating my parents. Drive a few miles down the road and you’ll find the birthplace of John Ireland, whose musical shadow falls over this pastoral movement.

A gathering at the Cross: Lymm Cross is a monument at the heart of the village and this movement is an affectionate tribute to the countless friends and family members who have gathered for parties and dinners and carol-singing within striking distance of its crumbling sandstone structure over many years.¹

1. Stephen Hough, Notes in accompanying booklet, Stephen Hough: Piano Concerto, Sonatina & Partita performed by Sir Stephen Hough, Hyperion 68455, 2025, compact disc.