Meditation in the Japanese Garden

‘The work was commissioned by the Swiss flautist Aurèle Nicolet in Cambridge in March 1992. Nicolet intended to première it with his daughter, a violist, and a pianist friend. Unfortunately, this plan could not be realised. Meditation in the Japanese Garden' is a short, one-movement trio. The thematic source material is borrowed from one of the songs of the nightingale from my opera ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’. There, the nightingale is accompanied by a harp, which is why the piano part in my trio is often harp-like. The title of the work has to do with the special combination of instruments in the trio, which I think is reminiscent of a Japanese ideal of beauty. Incidentally, the title goes back to a Japanese garden I liked to visit in the English town of Dartington, where I transcribed this work in fair copy.’ (E. Firsova)