Works for small chamber ensemble
Snow Country (2020) - for string quartet (15’)
Snow Country is a single movement work for string quartet inspired by the book of the same title by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. The overwhelming beauty and awe-inspiring stillness of nature are central themes to this book, in contrast with the chaos brought about by mankind. In this piece, which draws its structure out from the central chordal motif at the beginning of the piece, I wanted to create a feeling of poise between areas of stillness where one can reflect on the slow passage of time in the natural world, with sudden frantic moments that occur around us constantly in human society. This piece is not representational, there is nothing intended within this work to evoke the character of snow dancing, or a single character in a snowy landscape. Rather, the motions of the four string instruments, constantly in conversation, reflect the inherent capriciousness of the natural world, with fragments of music varying in timescale enormously from moment to moment. For example, one moment there is an impression that a melody is about to emerge, or a particular sonority, but the ear is diverted by another feature that initially seemed insignificant earlier in the piece. Despite this constant changing of perspective throughout the work, there is an underlying quality that remains to all of the musical material in this piece, which is the notion of constant change and motion. As the colours of a landscape constantly change as the sun sets, so the colours of this work are constantly evolving through time, in order to create the impression of organicism, with the overall feeling of stability on a large scale.
Notti Invernali (2020) - for wind quintet (13’)
This collection of dances for Wind Quintet was composed for the Coriolis Quintet in 2020. In this piece I have reflected the ideas of courante, allemande, ciaconna, sarabande, gigue, in the individual movements, taking these as a template for organising material.
Fallen Lines (2018) - for mallet quartet (7’)
Composed during my studies at the Royal Academy of Music, my quartet for mallet instruments explores the idea of rotating patterns that gradually form melodies between the different instruments. I wanted to achieve a sense of gradual accumulation of sonority over the course of this piece. Fallen Lines was first performed at the Royal Academy of Music on 19th January 2018, conducted by Colin Currie.
From Sarashina’s Letters (2017) - for mixed quintet (6’)
Composed during my studies at the Royal Academy of Music, this work for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone, was first performed by CHROMA in 2017. I wanted to explore the relationship between music and text in this piece, as the inspiration comes from ‘As I Crossed A Bridge of Dreams’ a translation of the memoirs of Lady Sarashina (a noblewoman from 11th century Japan).