Anam- The Up-bow Down-low

Episode 4, 2020: Strauss’s Sonatina no. 1 Wednesday 24 June 2020 Writing Sonatina no. 1 during the height of World War II became Richard Strauss’s form of escape from a decade of Nazism that wrought horrors in his hometown in Munich, Germany. The then 80-year-old composer wrote this piece to keep his mind occupied after the premiere of his opera Capriccio. Strauss gave the sonatina the nickname, From an Invalid’s Workshop having composed almost half of it during a nasty bout of influenza- something that could be relatable to us during this current pandemic. In this episode of ANAM Radio, ANAM flautistRachel Lau chats with Phil Lambert (ANAM Music Librarian) about playing alongside a passionate group and the spirit of collaboration fostered among the ANAM Winds ensemble in preparing for the challenge of playing the entire 38 minutes of this masterpiece. The music in this episode is from the 2019 ANAM Soundbite concert that featured Nick Deutsch (oboe), David Thomas (clarinet) and ANAM Winds. To watch t