Chamber Opera in Two Acts
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Flute, Piano, Harp, Violin, Viola
Reflections of Scenery in Water is a piece containing 6 miniature movements. inspired by the way water reflects its surrounding landscape in a uniquely fleeting manner, there is this sort of mirror point around the centre of the piece; the sixth movement reflects the first, the fifth the second and the fourth the third. When writing this piece, I imagined almost a painting of a landscape, with each movement reflecting a horizontal slice rather than any defining features of the scenery.
Brass Band
The Obigominomicon (pronounced o-bee-goh-mee-noh-mee-con) is a spooky piece for brass band about someone trying to steal an ancient artefact (That being the Obigominomicon itself). On the way, they meet several dancing ghosts, not long before getting chased out by them! In the piece, you can hear as the protagonist moves through different rooms, and all the different types of ghosts they meet along the way.
Brass Trio
Fragments of a Vaguely Mysterious Village is scored for Cornet, Tenor Horn, and Baritone, but can be played by other brass instruments with similar ranges. Each of the seven movements describe a time of day and a location within the town, thus giving a vivid description of the day-to-day life within the village and the people living there. Each movement also has a subtle supernatural or peculiar element to them, which is why the title describes the village as being “Vaguely Mysterious”.
String Orchestra
Grimoires is a piece for string orchestra, I named such based on the aura of mystic and enigma surrounding the word that is a very similar emotional landscape for the piece. The piece contains wisps of themes and ideas, coated in a feeling of poignancy, much like the spells and magic contained within a grimoire. The key musical idea I was exploring in this piece was harmony, and how I could use the timbre of strings to shape the harmonies.
Overture for Concert Band
The Adventures of Greggo and Ticcup is an overture for concert band that follows the stories of two characters: Greggo the Guy and his trusty sidekick Ticcup the Mouse. This piece is split into three parts, with each part containing four chapters. In Part 1 we are introduced to our two protagonists, a timid but eager Greggo and a cheeky little Ticcup, as they prepare their knapsack for the adventure ahead. In part 2, we begin our adventure, crossing the thousand-yard lake and finding a map. On this map contains a route to hidden treasure! The route brings them to a cave, and before Ticcup can mention to Greggo about the scary drawing of a dragon inside the cave on his map, Greggo enters the cave. In part 3, Greggo finds the dragon with his own two eyes, luckily for him, the dragon is asleep. The dragon is the one guarding the treasure, so Greggo needs to be very careful. All of a sudden, the dragon wakes up and Greggo is in peril! Luckily for him, this entire time Ticcup has been looking for him in the cave, and before any harm is done, Ticcup finds Greggo and swoops for the treasure as they both make a daring escape. They don’t immediately find each other, but when they do, they celebrate the Jewels that are all theirs!
Piano Solo
Written in celebration for the retirement of Karen Humphreys, the former head of Junior RNCM, Man Discovers Piano (In a Concert) is a comedic piece of performance art about discovering the piano. Whilst comedic in nature, the piece was inspired by Karen’s role as an enabler for the exploration of music to perform (quite a literal) exploration or “discovery” of the piano.
Flute, Horn, Piano, Soprano, Violin, Viola
!ahnon Ochkshahch is a piece for Junior RNCM New Music Ensemble 2023. The piece is based off a constructed language I wrote, with the soprano singing in that language. The text is based off a prayer to the tree that sits atop the great mountain they live on, which holds the great secret. It also mentions the legendary Gjok, since as the myth goes, he was the only man who was able to discover the secret of the tree, many moons ago.
Upright Piano Sonata No. 2
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SATB Choir
Norse: The Northern Lights was an inspired by an 11th century text called Konungs skuggsjá, a text about a father talking to his son about several different political and philosophical topics. The passage used in the piece is of the father talking to his son about the Northern Lights, and this piece reflects the mystery, love, fear that people of that era would feel towards the Northern Lights, as they were much less understood at that time. Throughout the piece, the text is heard in both English and its original Old Norse language.
To actually emulate the Northern Lights inside the piece, several inspirations of both traditional Sami yoiking, mixed with more contemporary techniques from Shoenberg, Stockhausen, and Ligeti to create an experimental mix of the two sides of inspiration. As well as this, the piece aims to mix traditional Norse sounds and culture with modern techniques in other places, with humming, speaking and sprechgesang all being utilised throughout in sung lyrical passages, and more alien sounding passages.
Percussion Duet
This piece is meant to be a short journey. It starts off in secluded forage area on a rainy day, and immediately the distant skyline seen through the branches is that of a Neo-Tokyo inspired landscape. as the journey goes on, the forage turns into a beautiful city skyline as the journey carries the audience inside. The inside is meant to be a lot cleaner than the outside, with marble floors as a contrast to the wet pavements and puddles outside. Then, the journey goes up the stairs and into an office, where the walls metaphorically close in and we’re left beyond. See the map to see a birds eye view of the journey.
Upright Piano Sonata No. 1
Astra is a sonata for upright piano. I chose an upright over a grand piano for the different pedals; an upright piano has a practice pedal, which is not found on a grand. This pedal give a unique timbre which can be heard in the second movement and it gives it a unique sound world over the other two.
The title Astra has two meanings. The word comes from latin to mean stars, and reflects the celestial nature of the piece. Also, Astra comes from “Astra Planeta” which were a group of five Gods in Greco-Roman mythology. The number five is very important in this piece and is used as the basis for a lot of the core ideas of each movement.
Brass Quintet
Suite From Memory Lane is a 4 movement suite for brass quintet. I chose the assortment of instruments because I wanted to explore the different instrument groupings I could create with the quintet. I chose the name Suite From Memory Lane because each movement reminded me of separate parts of my memory of school life.
The first movement is an Intrada. I really wanted to develop on the idea of fanfare that an intrada gives, as well as establishing a very clear start to the suite. I wanted to focus on how I could develop ideas across the ensembles, as well as in individual parts.
The second movement is a March. The march is best described as dark. It has very powerful moments with strong textures and minor melodies. My goal was to play with the structure of a march, as my March is in the form of ABABACA, purposefully steering away from a rondo form.
The third movement is a Waltz. The Waltz is supposed to be everything the March is not. It has light textures, and a lot brighter melodies. The two movements contrast with each other in every way that they can. Also, I wanted to disrupt one of the core characteristics of the waltz, not using the “oom cha cha” accompaniment until halfway through the movement.
The fourth movement is a Fanfare. However, it is very atypical. While writing the Fanfare, I was using “weirdness” as a parameter instead of an overarching description for the movement. While listening, it is clear when the piece moves between being “weird” and not, as it rises and falls throughout the movement.
Recorder Quartet
Sweet Hop is a piece for recorder quartet based on a chord progression which can be heard throughout the piece. The name is derived from two features of the piece; the word “sweet” referring to the sound of the recorder and the word “hop” referring to the constant crotchets played throughout the piece.
Sweet Hop is a galliard. A galliard is a dance, and the very consistent and meaningful articulation in this piece reflects the dance form. Underneath this, the harmony is based on jazz harmony, and the melody is inspired by minimalism. So in short, Sweet Hop is a Jazz Minimalist Galliard.
Trombone Quartet
A Merry Jog Across the Thames is a piece for trombone quartet. The name comes from times when I would jog along the Thames, as the quick and repeated dotted crotchet quaver motif reminded me of this. Also, the aim of the piece is to give a light-hearted atmosphere, with almost comically quick phrases and sudden moments of dissonance to consonance. This was also where the inspiration of the name comes from, as my jogs along the Thames were always fun.