Noah's Zoo (Excerpt)
As the winner of the University of Southampton Wind Orchestra composition competition, I was commissioned to write a piece to premier in the Easter concert of 2019:
Noah’s Zoo follows the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark, but from the perspective of the animals as they prepare for the storm that would bring the flood. Opening with the triumphant call of the elephants, this piece explores the musical characteristics of multiple animals ranging from the lonely camel, the woodpecker and cuckoo, the rabbit and tiger, the cheeky monkey, and the elegant dance of the swans. Midway through the piece sees the approach of the storm and a growing sense of danger. The finale begins with the call of the elephants as the animals board the ark and experience the great flood, finishing with the return of the camel’s theme.
Music for the Concert Hall
Piano Trio in F 'Breath of the Wild'
This trio for piano, flute and clarinet is inspired by the music of video game composer Manaka Kataoka, who composed music for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Her music utilises more late-romantic musical styles, often going against classical harmonic conventions by using dissonances between the melody and bass-line that are masked by the harmony, giving her work a quirky characteristic.
Performed live as part of my 2nd year university composition studies.
Four-Note Fantasy
This piece explores the contrasting colours achieved by only using four pitches throughout the entire piece - A, B, D and E. I chose these notes as they have a strong underlying harmonic structure - A, E and D all have their dominant notes included (E, B and A respectfully) - which meant I could compose with a sense of key in mind. Furthermore, the stack of fourths creates a ‘crunchy’ texture that I used to make a character of throughout piece.
Piano Quartet in G 'Transformation'
For this composition, I wanted to explore ways of creating two contrasting sections, A and B, each with their own unique personalities, and take the motifs from the A section and re-introduce them using the harmonic elements from the B section. I wanted to challenge my usual composing style to create a piece that was different, but still my own.
Rhythm Enigma
This piece explores the use of a rhythmic motif using body percussion, and how a motif can be developed through body percussion techniques. It will also hopefully test the listener’s expectations by occasionally using an element of surprise. Rhythmic techniques explored include augmentation, diminution, imitation, time-signature diminution and retrograde.
Performed live as part of my 2nd year university composition studies.
String Quartet in C 'Modal'
This string quartet explores a variety of modes and scales with the intention to exploit the chords that make each mode unique. It is generally through composed, however the quartet is linked together by reoccurring rhythmic motifs and similar orchestration. There is also a main theme that appears three times throughout, each time using a new mode - C mixolydian, F dorian and finally G and C phrygian at the end.
String Quartet in C
'Variations on a Theme'
Variations on a Theme is a piece that explores the developments of a motif through the use of textures, rhythms, harmony and compositional techniques. It is built upon the opening solo, performed by the cello, which is immediately followed by imitative entries from the other instruments. By the end of the piece, the motif has undergone multiple transformations; including inversion, fragmentation, modulation and metre change.
Along with the aim of exploring compositional techniques, I wanted this string quartet to portray a story that the listener can relate to and experience. Here, the main motif can be considered a character that evolves throughout the piece. The beginning is sorrowful, with feelings of struggle that contrasts against brief moments of hope, before building to a moment of climax halfway through the piece. The second half opens with mixed feelings of confusion and hope, followed by a sense of mysteriousness before leading to a tense finale and the restatement of the motif, ending the piece in C major.