SOLO
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croaker
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Duration: 15 minutes
Forces: Solo Bass Clarinet World Premiere: 2 July 2024 - Heather Roche (digital) About the work Recent years have seen a growing scientific interest in the sounds of fish and what these sounds can tell us about life underwater. One fish that has been studied for its acoustic properties is the Silver Croaker fish of the Amazon River. Only found in male fish, the Silver Croaker fish produces ‘pulses’ and ‘bursts’ of sound by ‘twitching’ the sonic muscles that are attached to the swim bladder. Know as the ‘contraction-relaxation’ cycle, this sound is heard most prominently during the mating season. croaker (2023) deconstructs a basic transcription of these sounds to explore the physical mechanism used to produce the Silver Croaker fish sound. Utilising the percussive elements of the bass clarinet, croaker is a playful reimagining of the sounds while allowing the bass clarinetist to envoice the Silver Croaker fish. |
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selkie
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Duration: 5 minutes
Forces: Solo Cello World Premiere: 24 April 2020 - Red Note Ensemble (digital) About the work selkie was inspired by the Scottish tales of the selkie, beings that can transform from seals into humans by shedding their skin and often leave their families on land to travel the seas. Based on transcriptions of grey seals selkie reimagines the transformation process from a still and silent night to a magical, mysterious night before disappearing into the darkness. selkie was written for red note ensemble. |
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in the shadows
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Duration: 5 minutes
Forces: Solo Cello World Premiere: 27 July 2020 - Jennifer Langridge of Psappha (digital) - Written as part of Psappha Composing For About the work Trapdoor spiders are highly skilled at deception, camouflaging the entrances to their burrows in order to catch unsuspecting prey. in the shadows transforms the sounds from this manipulative spider to recreate the tense waiting game before the spider leaps into action. in the shadows was written for Jennifer Langridge as part of Psappha Composing For 2020. |
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variation for fenella
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Duration: 1 minute
Forces: Solo Violin World Premiere: 27 September 2019 - Fenella Humphreys (digital) About the work Written for Fenella Humphreys, variation for fenella was written as part of a part of the Paganinni Variations challenge. Influenced by research for the waggle dance about bee's this playful variation highlights the lively and impish qualities of the bee transcription and Paganinni's Caprice No.24. |
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little one
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Duration: 3 minutes
Forces: Solo Marimba Workshop Premiere: 30 May 2019 - Catherine Ring at Cardiff University Music Hall, Cardiff, UK - Written as part of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival: Peter Reynolds Composition Studio About the work little one was inspired by an elephant shaped coffee table my parents brought to the UK from Zimbabwe. Based on translations from The Elephant Listening Projects of a lost elephant calling to her calf the piece explores the various cries and responses both elephants create having lost and then found each other. |
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rainfall
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Duration: 3 minutes
Forces: Solo Flute World Premiere: 14 June 2018 - Gemma McGregor at Stromness Town Hall, Orkney, UK About the work rainfall was written for Gemma McGregor and is based on transcriptions of small raindrops recorded underwater by the NASA Earth Observatory. The music builds from a single raindrop and eventually builds into a torrential downpour. |
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gravity
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Duration: 7 minutes
Forces: Solo Percussion World Premiere: 30 May 2017 - Joby Burgess at Chapel Arts, Cheltenham, UK - Written as part of Cheltenham Music Festival: Composer Academy About the work gravity was written for Joby Burgess as part of the Cheltenham Music Festival Composer Academy 2017. It is based on transcriptions from satellites and sounds from the International Space Station and was inspired by the growing problem of space junk surrounding Earth. |
