Score Samples and Recordings
THE SERIOUS SIDE OF MADNESS (extract)
BBC Philharmonic
James MacMillan (Conductor)
28th October 2008 - Studio 7, BBC Manchester (live performance)
LISTEN
The original inspiration for The Serious Side of Madness came from looking at the works of Hogarth. I was particularly influenced by how Hogarth captures aspects of society in a light-hearted but serious way – hence the title. The piece is based on various scenes and images which are loosely related to each other, and falls into four sections. Sections 1 and 2 are based on the first and second groups of material respectively, Section 3 develops the material, and Section 4 is an extended coda. However, there is much overlap between both the material and the sections.
The opening section describes a mass of people, such as one might find at Victoria Station during rush hour! I found it interesting how hundreds of people in a situation like this seem to take on one ‘mass personality’. Later on, individual characters begin to emerge – first in the clarinets, then in the oboes, and finally the piccolo and flute. These are caricatures of the various types of people you might meet in today’s society. In Section 3 these characters are developed, along with further characters introduced by the Horns and the Bassoons. Section 2 is completely contrasting, describing the world without people. There is a feeling of gradual growth throughout, as the world comes to life. The concluding section is a scene of a man wandering through the streets of London reflecting on society and the world.
JUBILATE
Aurora Nova
Patrick Craig (Conductor)
11 April 2010 - St Paul's Cathedral (live performance, complete with echo!)
LISTEN
This short setting of the Jubilate was written in 2007 for the upper voice choir, Aurora Nova, conducted by Patrick Craig. The way I set the text was largely influenced by the fact that the premiere was to take place in St Paul’s Cathedral, with its big, echoey acoustic. I aimed to give the music space, and to use the acoustic of the cathedral to my advantage. This is reflected in the fairly slow moving harmonies and often clear, simple melodic lines.
GHOST DANCES
Carla Rees (Alto Flute)
David Black (Guitar)
Recorded June 2010, Royal College of Music, London
LISTEN
For me, the idiom of the Alto Flute and Guitar has a very surreal, dreamlike quality. Ghost Dances is, therefore, made up of ideas which are only hinted at and material which remains fragmentary rather than ever being played in full. The piece is based around several ancient dances: Pavane, Minuet, Gavotte, Gigue, Courante and Sarabande. Various features of these dances are used; however each dance is broken up and distorted in such a way so that only the essence of each dance remains – they are simply ghosts of their originals.
When I was writing the piece, I was conscious of the two different characters of the Alto Flute and Guitar. The two instruments very much have their own roles during the piece. The opening is a prelude for solo Flute. Fragments of material, which are developed later on during the piece, are fleetingly introduced, before the Guitar breaks the spell and leads into the main section.
A dance can be an intimate thing between two people. However, in these early dances, a distance would have actually been created between the two partners, as it was so formal and regimented. There is, similarly, a distance between the Flute and Guitar for much of the piece, only really being resolved, somewhat inconclusively, in the final bars.
DING DONG BELL
Sarah Watts (Bass Clarinet)
Anthony Clare (Piano)
13 May 2009 - York University (live performance)
LISTEN
The idea for ‘Ding Dong Bell’ came after reading about the serious and often rather disturbing backgrounds behind children’s nursery rhymes. The piece is structured in three movements, played without a pause. The first movement is based on the nursery rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons’ and the second on ‘Mary, Mary quite contrary’. The final movement alludes to the poem ‘Full Fathom Five’ from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, although the starting point was the nursery rhyme ‘Ding Dong bell, Pussy’s in the well’.
The musical material for the first and second movements is mainly drawn from fragments of the respective nursery rhyme melodies. However, towards the middle of the first movement an unrelated theme is introduced which is then used throughout rest of the work. The piece veers between the superficial and the sinister, and bells in various guises feature throughout.
THE EVERLASTING VOICES (extract)
BBC Singers
Nicholas Cleobury (conductor)
11 April 2008 - Canterbury Cathedral (live performance)
With the kind permission of the BBC Singers & JAM
LISTEN
The Everlasting Voices takes its name from the poem ‘The Everlasting Voices’ (1899) by W. B. Yeats. Like many of Yeats’s early poems, it depicts the mystical world of the Celtic tradition and is full of Celtic references and symbolism. Yeats’s plea to the ‘Everlasting Voices’ to ‘be still’ is really an entreaty to the Voices of God who the Celts believe are present in all of creation.
The opening section of the piece sets only the first line of the poem. It is concerned with the gradual unfolding of material and ideas which are developed later on during the work. A contrasting section follows, setting lines 2-4 of the poem, and brings the piece to a climax at ‘Flame under Flame’ - a reference to the flaming sword guarding the gates of the Garden of Eden. The third section begins and ends with the fifth line, ‘Have you not heard that our hearts are old?’ - Yeats’s reference to another ancient Celtic belief. The final section of the piece draws upon material from the opening, reflecting the cyclic structure of the poem. The tonality also returns full circle to give a sense of completeness, if not a total resolution.
BBC Philharmonic
James MacMillan (Conductor)
28th October 2008 - Studio 7, BBC Manchester (live performance)
LISTEN
The original inspiration for The Serious Side of Madness came from looking at the works of Hogarth. I was particularly influenced by how Hogarth captures aspects of society in a light-hearted but serious way – hence the title. The piece is based on various scenes and images which are loosely related to each other, and falls into four sections. Sections 1 and 2 are based on the first and second groups of material respectively, Section 3 develops the material, and Section 4 is an extended coda. However, there is much overlap between both the material and the sections.
The opening section describes a mass of people, such as one might find at Victoria Station during rush hour! I found it interesting how hundreds of people in a situation like this seem to take on one ‘mass personality’. Later on, individual characters begin to emerge – first in the clarinets, then in the oboes, and finally the piccolo and flute. These are caricatures of the various types of people you might meet in today’s society. In Section 3 these characters are developed, along with further characters introduced by the Horns and the Bassoons. Section 2 is completely contrasting, describing the world without people. There is a feeling of gradual growth throughout, as the world comes to life. The concluding section is a scene of a man wandering through the streets of London reflecting on society and the world.
JUBILATE
Aurora Nova
Patrick Craig (Conductor)
11 April 2010 - St Paul's Cathedral (live performance, complete with echo!)
LISTEN
This short setting of the Jubilate was written in 2007 for the upper voice choir, Aurora Nova, conducted by Patrick Craig. The way I set the text was largely influenced by the fact that the premiere was to take place in St Paul’s Cathedral, with its big, echoey acoustic. I aimed to give the music space, and to use the acoustic of the cathedral to my advantage. This is reflected in the fairly slow moving harmonies and often clear, simple melodic lines.
GHOST DANCES
Carla Rees (Alto Flute)
David Black (Guitar)
Recorded June 2010, Royal College of Music, London
LISTEN
For me, the idiom of the Alto Flute and Guitar has a very surreal, dreamlike quality. Ghost Dances is, therefore, made up of ideas which are only hinted at and material which remains fragmentary rather than ever being played in full. The piece is based around several ancient dances: Pavane, Minuet, Gavotte, Gigue, Courante and Sarabande. Various features of these dances are used; however each dance is broken up and distorted in such a way so that only the essence of each dance remains – they are simply ghosts of their originals.
When I was writing the piece, I was conscious of the two different characters of the Alto Flute and Guitar. The two instruments very much have their own roles during the piece. The opening is a prelude for solo Flute. Fragments of material, which are developed later on during the piece, are fleetingly introduced, before the Guitar breaks the spell and leads into the main section.
A dance can be an intimate thing between two people. However, in these early dances, a distance would have actually been created between the two partners, as it was so formal and regimented. There is, similarly, a distance between the Flute and Guitar for much of the piece, only really being resolved, somewhat inconclusively, in the final bars.
DING DONG BELL
Sarah Watts (Bass Clarinet)
Anthony Clare (Piano)
13 May 2009 - York University (live performance)
LISTEN
The idea for ‘Ding Dong Bell’ came after reading about the serious and often rather disturbing backgrounds behind children’s nursery rhymes. The piece is structured in three movements, played without a pause. The first movement is based on the nursery rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons’ and the second on ‘Mary, Mary quite contrary’. The final movement alludes to the poem ‘Full Fathom Five’ from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, although the starting point was the nursery rhyme ‘Ding Dong bell, Pussy’s in the well’.
The musical material for the first and second movements is mainly drawn from fragments of the respective nursery rhyme melodies. However, towards the middle of the first movement an unrelated theme is introduced which is then used throughout rest of the work. The piece veers between the superficial and the sinister, and bells in various guises feature throughout.
THE EVERLASTING VOICES (extract)
BBC Singers
Nicholas Cleobury (conductor)
11 April 2008 - Canterbury Cathedral (live performance)
With the kind permission of the BBC Singers & JAM
LISTEN
The Everlasting Voices takes its name from the poem ‘The Everlasting Voices’ (1899) by W. B. Yeats. Like many of Yeats’s early poems, it depicts the mystical world of the Celtic tradition and is full of Celtic references and symbolism. Yeats’s plea to the ‘Everlasting Voices’ to ‘be still’ is really an entreaty to the Voices of God who the Celts believe are present in all of creation.
The opening section of the piece sets only the first line of the poem. It is concerned with the gradual unfolding of material and ideas which are developed later on during the work. A contrasting section follows, setting lines 2-4 of the poem, and brings the piece to a climax at ‘Flame under Flame’ - a reference to the flaming sword guarding the gates of the Garden of Eden. The third section begins and ends with the fifth line, ‘Have you not heard that our hearts are old?’ - Yeats’s reference to another ancient Celtic belief. The final section of the piece draws upon material from the opening, reflecting the cyclic structure of the poem. The tonality also returns full circle to give a sense of completeness, if not a total resolution.