Fand IncWessex Press

A century ago this month, Peter Warlock became the tenant of a cottage in Eynsford, Kent, and was joined there by his friend, fellow composer E. J. Moeran. This period of shared habitation marked the beginning of the ‘Warlock Legend’: a time of riotous living with an open house policy to all kinds of outré visitors. It was a productive time for Warlock; less so for Moeran, who found the situation at the cottage too distracting to permit significant creativity. The shared tenancy lasted for only a relatively brief period of under three years, but it was a notable time during which Warlock composed his best-known work, Capriol.

John Mitchell’s latest publication, Eynsford Days, brings together two of his compositions in styles that pay tribute to both Warlock and Moeran individually. Both pieces were written some time ago: the Warlock tribute was composed as long ago as 1976 for saxophone quartet, but has since been rearranged for several different instrumentations, and the piano solo version published here is brand new. The Moeran tribute piece was originally written in 2006, and both individual compositions have been paired in this new publication to commemorate the centenary of the start of the interesting Eynsford-based joint period in Warlock’s and Moeran’s association.