Works for solo instrument
Before Sunrise (2020) - (15’)
Before Sunrise is a short work for piano solo composed for Matthew Schellhorn. I wanted to evoke the sounds of emerging dawn by creating textures that float in and out of focus and move between foreground and background. Sounds of birds echo around the piano, with varying lengths of sustain and decay creating a flexible and mysterious atmosphere. Scattered passages fly across all registers of the piano to mimic flocks of unsettled birds, while other moments focus in on a single melodic fragment. In the middle of the piece we hear an accompanying passage that leads the way for a slower melodic figure, before a number of fleeting climactic figures return to the triplet calls of the opening, reaching out into silence.
Echoes (2019) - for solo cello (5’)
This short prelude was commissioned by Rebecca Hepplewhite for the Borough New Music Festival, for performance in Summer 2019.
This short work for solo cello draws its inspiration from distant bells heard in the village of Menaggio on Lake Como, in Italy. This sound has been a constant point of return since my childhood, and always brings back happy memories for me. I wanted the individual sets of bell chimes, which are presented in the piece echoing into silence, to be enveloped by gentle murmurations and moments of lyrical expressivity. These bell sounds echo around the lake throughout the day, creating a tranquil and pensive atmosphere, and the different harmonic resonances conjure all manner of intriguing tonalities. I aimed to encapsulate at least some of this feeling in this brief work.
Zeid (2018-19) - for solo cello (5’)
This piece was composed in collaboration with Sarah Gait, as part of a long term project concerning notation and narrative in my work. Zeid was inspired by the kaleidoscopic canvases of Fahrelnissa Zeid, and explores the aggressive and gritty sonorities that the cello can achieve, with the extreme scordatura of a low G in the bottom C string.
Forgotten Shadows (2019) - for solo guitar (5’)
This one movement work for solo guitar was written for Alfred Leishman for performance in Edinburgh in the Summer of 2019. A returning fragment of material is surrounded by developing running passages, always maintaining an atmosphere of calm. I am currently developing this work into a large-scale sonata for Alfred.
Returning (2014-20) - for cello and piano (15’)
Returning is a work for cello and piano that experiments with the idea of resonannce and consonance between two individual voices. The two voices intertwine within each other's resonance, and in this way form a constantly ebbing and flowing musical landscape. The main textual inspiration for this piece was Pablo Neruda's collection of poetry 'The Sea and the Bells'. I have returned to this source of inspiration multiple times recently, forcing me to reinterpret already familiar texts through musical means. I have tried to reflect this in my piece, as there are sections that require fresh re-interpretation whenever the piece is performed due to the nature of the notation. Returning is highly rhapsodic in style, and draws visual inspiration from the fabulous artwork of Chloe Leaper, an artist for whom line drawings are an endless source of creative potential. This piece embarks on a journey through one specific pencil drawing of hers, interpreting the lively line movements as paths through various musical mazes and caverns. Throughout the piece, there are moments where the players are required to respond to tempi set by the other instrumentalist, so I would encourage performers to adopt as free and organic an approach to interpreting the musical score.
Chloe Leaper - Mountain Matrix 2 - range detail
Beneath the sky - Refrain (2018) - for solo baroque viola (5’)
This short work was composed for Jam Orrell as an initial collaboration experimenting with composing for baroque instruments. I am currently expanding this piece into a large-scale suite, for performance in the coming year.