CHAMBER
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chrysalis
(arr. string orchestra) |
Duration: 5 minutes
Forces: String Orchestra Commissioner: High Barnet Chamber Music Festival World Premiere: 30 June 2023 - New London Orchestra (cond. Joshua Ballance) About the work Butterfly pupae have been recorded as making sounds since 1875. These twitter sounds, previously called ‘hissing’ or ‘protest sounds’, are evidence of butterfly pupae shifting inside the chrysalis as it outgrows its casing. Based on translations of three twitter sounds from inside butterfly pupae, chrysalis explores the transformation from pupae to butterfly. Opening with a ghostly series of harmonics, the solo violin breaks through with short, sharp pulses before soar into the distance. Originally commissioned by Orchestra VOX, this arrangement for string orchestra was commissioned by High Barnet Chamber Music Festival. |
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here the tide is ruled ...
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Duration: 2 minutes
Forces: Mezzo and Large Mixed Ensemble 2(fl) 1(cl) 1(t.sax) 1(b.sax) ((hn) 1(tba) 1(e.gtr) 1(b.gtr) / pno / mezzo World Premiere: 12 March 2021 - Orkest de Ereprijs at Apeldoorn, Netherlands Written for the 27th Young Composers Meeting About the work The Oosterscheldekering is the largest dam in the Delta Works. Groundbreaking in preventing flooding but preserving the marine life, the dam was expected to last two hundred years. Translating sounds of the water streaming through the dam, here the tide is ruled … explores the ebb and flow, with constant interruptions and instruments overlapping one another. This quiet yet ominous soundworld is reflected in the text, taken from a plaque on the barrier: Hier gaan over het tij, de maan, de wind en wij (Here the tide is ruled by the wind, the moon and us). |
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the waggle dance
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Duration: 7 minutes
Forces: Violin and Piano World Premiere: 7 May 2021 - Jacqueline du Pre Music Building, Oxford, UK at St Catherine's College, Oxford, UK* - Finalist for St Catherine's College Henfrey Composition Prize About the work The waggle dance is a figure of eight dance performed by honeybees to guide other bees where to find nectar and pollen. The bee will turn one direction so many degrees, indicating the food source in relation to the sun, and then the opposite direction indicating the food source in relation to the hive. the waggle dance transforms these sounds and dissects the dance from its dizzying highs to its percussive lows, culminating in an ecstatic finale. *Postponed due to Covid-19 |
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the singing tree
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Duration: 6 minutes
Forces: String Quartet Workshop Premiere: 25 May 2019 - Armida Quartet at Cardiff Music Faculty, Cardiff, UK -Written as part of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival: Peter Reynolds Composition Studio About the work No one looking at a tree would ever think that you would hear anything if you put your ear to the trunk. But inside lies a flurry of activity and a sound world that if only now being explored. Following correspondence with Alex Metcalf of The Tree Listening Project and Dr Stephen Harris of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, the singing tree takes inspiration from transcriptions of oak trees and delves is into the inner workings of one of the most iconic trees of the English landscape . |
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dances to accra
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Duration: 5 minutes
Forces: Solo Violin and String Orchestra World Premiere: 19 April 2018 - The Purcell School Philomel Orchestra at St George's Church Hanover Square, London, UK About the work dances to accra was written for The Commonwealth Resounds and focuses on musical traditions from Ghana. The piece is based on aural transcriptions of Kpanlogo, originally from the Ga tribe, with the solo violin leading the orchestra through the vibrant countryside Ghana into the thriving city of Accra. |
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norholmen
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Duration: 3 minutes
Forces: String Quartet World Premiere: 19 June 2017 -Gildas Quartet at Peedie Kirk United Reformed Church, Orkney, UK - Written as part of St Magnus International Festival: Composer's Course About the work norholmen was written as part of the St Magnus International Festival Composers' Course 2017. Written as a response to local poet Fiona Sanderson and inspired by local folk music, norholmen attempts to capture the ghostly nature of lost souls at sea. |
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from Earth to Juno
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Duration: 6 minutes
Forces: Mixed Ensemble 1(fl) 1(t.sax) / 1(vln) 1(db) World Premiere: 25 March 2017 - Ensemble Entropy at IKLECTIK Lab, London, UK About the work from Earth to Juno was written for Ensemble Entropy and was based on a transcription of the morse message sent from the spacecraft Juno to earth. |
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bulawayo railway
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Duration: 4 minutes
Forces: String Trio World Premiere: 26 August 2016 - Members of the Heath Quartet at Dartington Hall, Dartington, UK - Written as part of the Dartington International Summer School: Advanced Composition Course Broadcast Premiere: 13 June 2018 - BBC Radio 3 About the work bulawayo railway was inspired by my grandfather’s time in Zimbabwe as Station Master of Bulawayo Railway Station. Based on transcriptions from Garratt steam trains used during the time my grandfather was there, the piece explores some of the many events that took place during my family’s time in Zimbabwe and is dedicated to Roland Ernest Jones. |
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neuron
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Duration: 1 minute
Forces: Piano Trio World Premiere: 26 January 2016 - Fidelio Trio at Rambert Dance Company, London, UK About the work neuron was written for the Fidelio Trio and was inspired by the playful description of neurons in the Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology. |
