My Suite for cello was written in homage to the cello suites of JS Bach. It is also an affectionate portrait of two Greek friends who (after many vicissitudes and false starts) found happiness together. Composed during a holiday on the island of Paxos, it contains something of the dappled light and thought of the Ionian, and was written almost entirely out-of-doors in a state of partial undress, under the benevolent influence of unlimited supplies of Kourtaki retsina and a rough red wine called Gambas. There are seven short (but, I hope, not too suite) movements which combine the traditional components of the baroque suite with dance-forms derived from ancient Greek drama.

Giles Swayne
2005