September was a great month for composing. I was working intensely on my new piano concerto ‘Symmetry’ for Matthew Schellhorn as a central focus. The movements are as follows:
Ratio
Fragmentation
Cycles
The first movement is a whirling, minimal/maximal ride through a number of different textures and characters, with a continuous speed of crotchet = 132. I wanted to emphasise the bell-like quality of the piano, and a number of the transition passages contain material which focuses on the central portion of the keyboard register with sudden jumps to high notes coming out of this to trigger new resonance. There are also a number of harmonic cycles that run throughout this first movement that set a context for the rest of the piece. One of the big challenges of writing this type of piece has been grappling with the ideas that surround this genre. I wanted all the material to emerge out of the different qualities of the piano, which has meant exploring the idea of attack and decay, and how to artificially imitate this with the orchestra.
I have collaborated with Matthew Schellhorn in the past, with my short work Before Sunrise, which you can hear above. I am really excited to see how our concerto project develops over the coming months!
There were lots of wonderful performances of my new guitar quartet piece ‘Infinite Wave’, composed for Quartet Malamatina, on their tour of Canada. The group collaborated with Takayuki Yoshida, whose work had a big impact on the creation of this piece. I wanted to create the feeling of an ever changing landscape, and the beautiful symmetry of having four of the same instrument to describe this was a pleasure. A sample of some of the notation is below.
The group performed my work as part of their residency in Putney, Vermont, during their Yellow Barn Residency, as well as recitals in Almonte, Etobicoke, Barrie, Waterloo, Brantford, and Toronto, all in Ontario. I am very grateful to Quartet Malamatina for their continuous collaboration support, and I will be able to post a recording of the piece soon.