The text is written. The dots are on the page. The rehearsals all completed, the performers walk on stage.. As Cracked Voices has progressed, Graham and I have shared snippets of our processes with you. From the beginnings of Graham’s research into a piece from me musing on inspiration and scales, we’ve given you an…
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“A conversation between two people who aren’t really listening to each other” To find out the background to this piece, read Graham’s post about writing this poem – Not knowing… (part 2). I pick up straight up where Graham stops – with the finished poem winging its way over to me. When Graham sent me…
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Scales are a staple of musical life. If you learn a musical instrument, you end up playing them (sometimes seemingly endlessly!) and learning how they work is an important chunk of musical theory. Not all scales are created equal. Western music relies on equal temperament, where the octave is divided into 12 equal parts, or…
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A very simple instruction that has been issued to many a composition student over the years. I remember this being said, and the mixed response from my peers. Some had a song writing background and instinctively leapt in that direction, others took a more analytical approach and began looking at strong and weak beats, stresses…
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As part of Cracked Voices, I’ll be uploading regular blog posts. Click here to read my post on the art of the art song – a brief introduction into this fantastic form of composition.
The second movement of the string quartet is based around a collection of playground games with the same concept: mimickry. Be it following the leader or learning a dance routine, this kind of shadowing routine occurs frequently in the playground. Knowing I wanted a slow yet detailed texture, my initial thoughts were to draw from…
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Back in mid July, I was delighted to be announced as the winner of the Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra’s Young Composers Award. My vision for the piece was to reflect on the irrevocable changes that climate change is bringing about in all our lives, whether we notice them or not. A theme that is currently dominating…
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When I was first analysing string quartets I fell in love with some of Bartok’s string quartets- in particular, the concept of the Allegretto pizzicato from his fourth string quartet. I adore the sound of pizzicato, and thought this was an interesting concept that I would be interested in exploring when I were to write…
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I’ve written a blog post for The Sampler Blog about Quangle Quadrille, in advance of its premiere on Saturday.
My final Adopt a Composer blog post can be found on the Adopt a Composer blog.
