Ozzard-low: In Opposition

Zolinsky, Andrew; Smalt, Elisabeth

The first thing to note about the music of Patrick Ozzard-Low is that if we let it, it will take us to some unusual imaginative regions. Initially we seem to find ourselves in the world of high modern-ism, but as we become accustomed to the air this impression quickly dissolves. Pianist Andrew Zolinsky and violist Elisabeth Smalt present two solo sonatas for their respective instruments and deliver a strong argument for the continuing existence of this traditional musical form in today’s musical language. Patrick Ozzard-Low (b. 1958) first discovered the music of Jean Barraqué in 1978 when he heard Roger Woodward’s magnificent recording of the Sonate pour piano. Not long afterward, he resolved to study composition privately with the English composer Bill Hopkins – at that date Barraqué’s only real compositional disciple, and a pupil also of Messiaen and Luigi Nono. Having relocated to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where Hopkins taught at the university music department, meetings with the older composer took place more-or-less weekly for about 5 months, an intense and unforgettable but all-too-brief period - cut short by Hopkins’ shockingly premature death in March 1981. Ozzard-Low’s early experiences of Barraqué’s music - and then of Hopkins’ too - were of intense identification, a feeling and commitment that were sustained through many years that followed, of largely isolated compositional exploration and analysis.

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