Contrasts in Space was screened at the British Film Institute on 1st December, alongside the premiere of my new soundtrack for it, featuring tape and live viola. Ensemble Amorpha were performing.
Contrasts in Space is a black and white film by Sebastian Schmidt. Here’s a video of the synced live sound recording from the performance with the film.
Posted in Performances, Videos
Tagged ensemble amorpha, film, sebasitan schmidt, shorts amorpha, tape, Viola
I’ve just received a video from 2009 of a performance of K, a prelude to the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, given by Endymion at Kings Place in September 2009.
Wonderful playing, and I’m very grateful to Kings Place for making the video of the performance. The piece, as you can hear, knits neatly into Mozart’s own Clarinet Quintet, making it a thoughtful, contemplative concert opener for that work. Endymion are performing this again, with the Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets, at Surrey University Concert Series on Sunday 29th January at 3pm. Click here for more info.
Posted in Performances, Videos
Tagged chamber music, Endymion, K, Kings Place, mozart clarinet quintet, surrey university
I’m delighted to say I’ve written a short piece for viola and tape (or optional speaking chorus), as a new soundtrack to Sebastian Schmidt’s short film Contrasts in Space.
This will be performed by Ensemble Amorpha at the British Film Institute on 1st December in London, at an event called Shorts Amorpha.
Here’s more info about it. Do go along if you can! There’s lots of new scores to silent short films, by some very good composers including Luke Styles, Chris Mayo and Naomi Pinnock.
Here’s the trailer, too….
Posted in Other, Performances, Videos
Tagged BFI, ensemble amorpha, sebastian schmidt, short films, shorts amorpha, tape, Viola
Here’s a video of the recent premiere of “numbers 76-80 : tristan und isolde”, which I wrote for Endymion and EXAUDI, with text from Simon Howard.
Posted in Performances, Videos
Tagged Endymion, EXAUDI, James Weeks, numbers 76-80, Simon Howard, Southbank Centre
Finally, this piece is finished, and sent off to the wonderful EXAUDI singers, Endymion players and conductor James Weeks.
It’s definitely been a struggle to write this piece, but one worth fighting with because I’m pleased with the final result. Notwithstanding, as always, one or two doubts about whether a few bits will work or not. But in general I think I’ve pushed myself with the form of this piece, and the incorporation of speech in concert music – which, as you know, is a running theme in almost all my pieces in the last 12 months. It’s definitely something I want to continue to explore.
Simon’s poem is also wonderful, deep and yet baffling (in a good way) – in fact the poem was so rich and ambiguous that it made the writing process more difficult, rather than facilitated it. Which is, I think, in the end, why I decided to keep so much of the poem as simple narration with musical “illustration’” surrounding it.
Well – I’m curious to hear the results. The performances are at the Southbank Centre on 19th September, 7.45pm, and in Aberdeen on 12th November at 7.30pm. Please come along!
Posted in blog, Performances
Tagged Endymion, EXAUDI, James Weeks, numbers 76-80, Simon Howard, Sound Scotland, Southbank Centre, Speech, tristan und isolde
Wonderful news: one of the movements (the Scherzo) from my new piano trio, Klaviertrio im Geiste, will be performed live on BBC Radio 3 on Friday afternoon, 10th June, from about 4.45pm. It’ll be performed by the Phoenix Piano Trio as part of a performance and interview about their Beyond Beethoven series.
They very nicely commissioned me last year to write this new trio, as a companion to Beethoven’s Ghost trio, which they’ll perform together with my piece at The Forge in Camden, London, on Wednesday evening, 8th June, and in Oxford at theHolywell Music Room on Saturday 11th June.
It feels like this piece is a big compositional step forwards for me: lots more process-based musical structure and much more clarity and simplicity than earlier pieces. It feels like a very positive change. So I’m particularly excited to hear it realised.
So, come along on Wednesday, Tune In to In Tune on Friday, or come along on Saturday!
Posted in blog, Performances
Tagged BBC Radio 3, Beyond Beethoven, Holywell Music Room, In Tune, Klaviertrio im, Phoenix Piano Trio, The Forge
Well – a few weeks ago I went along to the premiere at Unerhörte Musik in Berlin, of my new short saxophone duo, Flipp, which I wrote for Christoph Enzel and Adrian Tully. I have to say that the piece was written very quickly, after coming back from a slew of concerts in London just the week before the concert. It pretty much only uses two notes for most of the piece. They played it BRILLIANTLY – and i was pretty happy with the piece. I haven’t put up the info page here for it yet, but there is a recording of this piece here. It works really good with headphones, to get the stereo effects between the two players. (In live performance they stand at opposite sides of the stage.) Check it out.
Flipp, for two saxophones (2011) by philipvenables
Christoph also played my Metamorphoses after Britten on soprano sax – rather wonderfully too. The acoustic in the BKA Theater in Berlin is as dry as a bone, which affects how resonant and harmonic the slow movements sound, but the fast movements in there sounded punchy and clear and really energetic. I really hope Christoph and i can record them properly sometime, to go alongside the wonderful recording of Melinda Maxwell playing the oboe version of the pieces.
Anyway – I look forward to working with these two amazing players again soon!
Posted in blog, Performances
Tagged Adrian Tully, Berlin, Christoph Enzel, Flipp, Metamorphoses after Britten, premiere, Saxophone, Unerhörte Musik
