Dedication in Time (Incls Goladon Suite)

Some of the pieces on this disc were written whilst she was still a student under Benjamin Dale at the Royal Academy of Music in the 1930s. Indeed, both Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Henry Wood conducted her Irish Fantasy whilst she was still under the guidance of Dale. Peggy spent much of her life as a harmony professor at the Royal Academy of Music and worked there for forty years until her retirement in 1985. She was also a governor and founding teacher of the Yehudi Menuhin School. Besides her work as a composer, Peggy has taught, in one capacity or another, generations of successful musicians such as Sir John Tavener, Sir James Galway and Jeremy Menuhin, amongst many others.

This CD was released in time for Margaret Hubicki's 90th birthday in July 2005.

All the performers on this CD are former pupils and the recording took place in the presence of the composer.

This disc consists almost entirely of premiererecordings.

Written in the 1950s, From the Isles of the Sea was inspired by Scotland's Western Isles, a favourite holiday destination for Margaret, which has provided much musical inspiration over many decades. This work beautifully portrays the ebb and flow of tides and the call of seagulls in the wind. The substantial Piano Sonata was composed in 1934 and until this recording had not been played for nearly seventy years. Full Fathom Five is a short setting from 1934 of the song from Shakespeare's The Tempest. The vocal line is intense and the piano part richly expressive. The left-hand bell effects evoke the depth and mystery of the ocean whilst the right-hand semiquavers portray the ceaseless motion of the sea. Lonely Mere was inspired by the Malvern Hills and the music captures the beauty and vastness of the countryside. Rigaudon provides a lively contrast. Composed in 1939, the Theme and Variations were first performed at the Royal Academy of music by a quartet in which her future husband was the first violinist. Written in 1957, the title of the Goladon Suite combines the names of two of Margeret's greatest friends, the piano teacher Gola Martin-Smith and her husband Don. The four pieces which make up the Irish Fantasy were written in 1935.The work, in arrangement for full orchestra, was conducted by both Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Henry Wood.Written in 1939, Svolgimento, from the Italian, 'unfolding', reflects the ominous atmosphere of Britain on the brink of war. The piece was originally conceived as the first movement of a Sonata for the composer to play with her beloved husband, Bohdan Hubicki, but Bohdan was killed during a London air-raid in October 1940, just three months after the couple's wedding. Understandably, the work was never completed and the Svolgimento now stands alone as a work of great poignancy.