For a while now, I have been interested in the edges of things: where things start and stop being, where they vanish, where one idea bleeds into another. This piece attempts to combine found sounds and streams of ‘noise’ that we carry with us in the background of our lives — radios, pop music, conversations, remembered places — only […]
There is no such thing as political music. It is an illusion to think that notes – sounds – can teach you how to behave, be a good citizen or contribute to society. Music is an experience, a celebration of our existence, not a language which can convey meaning. Beauty can be experienced by everyone regardless of political affiliation, […]
By Chris
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Tagged 2009, solo, viola
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Excavations was written in response to the Manchester Camerata Young Composers’ Project, calling for works inspired by Henry Purcell’s Fantazias to mark the 350-year anniversary of his birth. I arrived at the music after close study of these works, in particular the 4-part Fantazia in A minor (Z. 740). Some of the 17th-Century harmonic and […]
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Partly an experiment in textural and notational possibilities, Intensifications, for 2 violas and cello, is in three short movements. Over the course of the work we move through a spectrum of pitched to unpitched sounds and back again, pushing the instruments’ sonic possibilities to the edges of audibility and conventional technique. Each movement is governed […]
By Chris
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Also posted in Withdrawn
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Tagged 2008, cello, viola
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“The Night is also a religious concern – and even more so – when I viewed the Moon and Stars through Herschell’s telescope – and saw that they were worlds. – ” — Lord Byron, from Detached Thoughts, Pisa c. October 1821. These few words, jotted down for no-one other than the author himself, seem far more tender and thoughtful than any of […]
By Chris
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Also posted in Withdrawn
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Tagged 2008, cello, flute, voice
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