Springhead Echoes was commissioned in memory of Rosalind Richards née Gardiner (1938-2016) by her daughters. My connection with her is through Pigotts Music Camp, an inspirational place in the Chiltern Hills. I was among a group of musicians who in 1999 were invited to join her at her home in Springhead, Fontmell Magna, Dorset for chamber music. We played Schubert's Octet, with Rosalind leading - she was a keen and able violinist - and me playing double bass. The wonderfully situated Springhead was the house in which she was born and with which she was linked for her entire life.
I had asked her daughters if there were any particular favourite pieces of Rosalind's to which I could allude, and they came back with a substantial list, from which I chose one particular piece: Brahms' Violin Sonata No.1 in G major, Opus 78. Each movement of the quartet incorporates an idea derived - by a variety of means - from the Brahms Sonata.
I wrote Springhead Echoes in 2017. In three contrasting movements, it lasts about 16 minutes.
