During lockdown, I finished a piece which had been sitting on the back burner for some time for my friend, pianist Annabelle Lawson. In the run-up to Christmas 2018, Annabelle suffered a miscarriage at 11+ weeks and I wanted to write something for her. I have always felt that music can carry the thread of consolation when words fail us and the quiet of lockdown gave me some time and space to finish the piece.
Trauern und Träumen [Grieving and Dreaming] is a meditation on some of the elements of Schumann’s famous Träumerei from his Kinderszenen, a pieces in which Schumann embraces both adults and children. I was never sure that Annabelle would want to perform the piece in public but in 2021, she took the brave step of recording the piece in Baby Loss Awareness Week to raise money for the Miscarriage Association. You can see us in conversation on Annabelle’s website: http://annabellelawson.com/fundraising/
You can buy the music here: https://www.davidknotts.co.uk/music/trauern-und-traumen/