This piece, commissioned by the Druskomanija Festival in Lithuania, presents a collage of rarefied sound images. The “images” are static textures in constant flux, combinations of looping, contrasting material in different instruments. Each “image” was paired with fixed shots of natural phenomena, such as wind, waves or clouds moving across the sky (reflected in the…Continue Reading “Crystal Images (Cardigan Bay, Summer 2015)- for 9 instruments and video projection”
Bird Songs (2007-9) “Fifty-Nine Swans” (Yeats) “Black Rook in Rainy Weather” (Plath) “The Hierarchies of Sound” (Evans) I’ve uploaded 3 performances of my song cycle for mezzo and piano, “Bird Songs”. Each time working on this song cycle from scratch with a different singer was extraordinarily fun, and a tremendous challenge and learning experience. I…Continue Reading “Bird Songs (2007-9) song cycle for mezzo-soprano and piano”
I wrote this piece for the Lithuanian Oboe Quartet, with an offstage bassoon appearing late in the piece! It was premiered on the 20th May 2012 in Holy Trinity Church, Auletikos, Lithuania, as part of the Druskomanija international contemporary music fesitval. There is a version for four oboes and bassoon; this alternative version (and the…Continue Reading “Druskininkanonas (2011) for double reed quintet”
I wrote this piece originally for the Southampton University Strings in 2007-8. I remember clearly finishing the manuscript at my parents’ house in Mwnt, Ceredigion, at around 10pm on New Year’s Eve of 2007. The name comes from an Ambrosian plainsong, “media vita in morte sumus”, “in the midst of life we are in…Continue Reading “Media Vita (2007-8) for string orchestra”
This recording is Julian Jacobsen’s intensely expressive and exacting performance from 2007 (Turner Sims Concert Hall). This was the first piece I completed during my Masters study with Michael Finnissy; it was on the basis of this piece that I was chosen for the SPNM Shortlist (2006-9). The final form of the piece was…Continue Reading “Selected “early” works”