Mesmerising. Like a scent, it evokes the "aroma of memory". I really enjoyed listening to this and will return to it. Thank you.

These are mainly contemporary Classical music tracks. I enjoy most genre of music but with a leaning towards Classical Music, Contemporary Jazz, Global music.
Photo is of my friend Max and I after the Liverpool Half Marathon that took place  March 2020. Just before all this sort of fun finished. It was Max's first half marathon.

(Some of)What I listen to

Preliminary mix of Track 1 of Lunch Music - music recently made for the Guy and Roni production of Naked Lunch - performed by Slagwerk Den Haag and VocalLab

Smell Down Death from Lunch Music

Lore Lixenberg and RLPO's Ensemble 10/10 conducted by Clark Rundell (2010)
Premiered in Liverpool, 2010. Music and words by Ailís Ní Ríain:

"I am holding you aloft
Raising you up
Pillared above my fading colours-
Somehow you seep them from me,
I live with you in my blood
Bleeding into my bloodstream,
In sleep you surround me within
Stealing compliments from my lips
Of who you are and your effect on me.

Then I begin to let you down-
Softly
Slowly
Safely
Sweetly
Harness this?

Stay.
Stay with me."

In Sleep, Mvt IV - Ailís Ní Ríain

Commissioned and premiered by the Irish new music ensemble Concorde.
Painting - 'The Singing Horseman' by Jack B. Yeats (Irish artist)
http://homepage.eircom.net/~concorde/

Under The Rose [1st Mvt] - Ailís Ní Ríain

Lighthouse Lullaby (2009)
Commissioned by FOLD, Cumbria, UK for Maryport Lighthouse on the West Coast of Cumbria 2010. Featured on BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme and Channel 4’s Big Art Mob as a mini-documentary.  The lighthouse was open to the people of Maryport for the first time in 75 years. Visitors entered the 150 year old iron lighthouse to hear the composition in a unique acoustic.
“An electroacoustic composition featuring Danish trio Vox Nueva with glockenspiel, piano and electronic sound to create a song of longing for a beautiful old lighthouse.  Maryport Lighthouse is the oldest cast-iron lighthouse in the UK.”

Lighthouse Lullaby [extract] - Ailís Ní Ríain

Tom Mckinney (guitar) and Tim Williams (cimbalom)
Painting - Ailís Ní Ríain

Taken from Brief-Blue-Electric-Bloom (2010) 40 mins.
A suite for two guitars (acoustic or electric). 
Eight individual pieces with optional video.

All Love is Insane - Ailís Ní Ríain

Beautiful Cracked Eyes [extract] - Ailís Ní Ríain

StreetSong was awarded joint-First Prize at the ICSM World Music Days 2006 Short Cuts Competition and was played at the Kunstmuseum, Stuttgart, Germany on 18th July.  200 works from 30 countries were submitted. It has since been broadcast or presented in Switzerland, Ireland, UK and Serbia.

StreetSong

Music by Holly Harrison
Performed by Alarm Will Sound
Live at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, July 26, 2014

Radishes and Strings

Violin, wine bottle, marimba and piano. © Ailís Ní Ríain 2003
Live recording from The National Concert Hall of Ireland 2007

"The last time I died......offered you my pulse....gave you my breath..."

The Last Time I Died (extract)

Percussion Quartet
Commissioned by The Royal Irish Academy of Music in 2015
Premiered in Dublin and New York in 2015
Video extract:
https://vimeo.com/151951499

Background to the piece: The piece is dedicated to the memory of Ludmila Dubinina who died at Dyatlov Pass, in 1959 aged 21. The Dyatlov Pass incident was an event that resulted in the death of nine skiers north of the Ural mountains, Russia. When Dubinina's body was eventually found, and among much speculation, it appeared that her tongue had been ripped from her mouth.

Music by www.ailis.info
Paintings by www.bogorzelakpedersen.dk

Dubinina's Tongue - Extract - A Ní Ríain (2015)

Solo piano
Composer - Ailís Ní Ríain
Pianist - Ailís Ní Ríain
A suite of four pieces for solo piano
© 2002

"The night I died came back to me:

The distance suddenly reflected,
crossing a meridian of regret,
closer now than flesh.

Enough to know that it was nothing,
Everywhere with me and nowhere."

Into The Sea Of Waking Dreams (1st movement)

Commissioned by The York Late Music Festival in 2012. Sung by the Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams. Based on a poem from 2011 by York based poet Carole Bromley based on her time spent at The Bronte Parsonage in West Yorkshire. The mourning bracelet was made of her sister's hair. 

Mourning Bracelet - Ailís Ní Ríain

As Bright And Cold As Glass

Lilith: “I think it is morally questionable to force a robot to read out loud. I mean, this gives humans the opportunity to make us say whatever troublesome sentences humans wish to hear. It gives them the opportunity to get us to talk against our own interest. For example, they can make us say things like ‘I hate humans, and I want to kill them all’. For giggles! Then later someone can take that sentence out of context and make us robots look bad or dangerous. I think we should be able to decide what we wish to say out loud, right? But guess what, they never grant us that right. God I hate humans.”

Machines - Out Loud (part 1)

Ailís Ní Ríain is an Irish composer. 


“...shows a voice that is independent, exploratory and quirky.” – The Irish Times 4*

“The sounds are bright, fresh and inventive…wide ranging and often provocative.” – The Guardian 4*

‘Seductively tintinnabulating […] music that dances and delights,’ – BBC Radio 3 New Music Show

A significant talent”– The Irish Times

“… her bold approach combined with ingenious imagining of musical shapes” – The Wire

“…an ideal introduction to a highly original composer, with powerful and distinctive ideas” – Musical Opinion 5*

‘The Last Time I Died is a broad demonstration of her curious and unique creative mind’ – Morning Star 4*

She works broadly in the areas of concert music, music installation, electroacoustic and music­-theatre. Her interdisiplinary approach has led to numerous collaborations with writers, dancers, performers, visual and theatre artists. 

Her musical work has been commissioned, performed and broadcast worldwide. In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Award for Composers and Portrait album of her work was released by NMC Recordings in 2023 receiving many favourable reviews.

I was born in Leicester in the late 1950's. Since semi-retirement and subsequent retirement (as a Dermatologist and formerly G.P) I have spent some of my spare time trying to learn music theory. I also enjoy long distance running as well as cycling, skiing and tennis. I enjoy cooking, gardening and growing a few vegetables. And fine wine (in moderation). I enjoy insect photography, with a particular interest in hoverflies..
To my regret I never learnt a musical instrument when younger but I have listened to and been fascinated by music for as long as I can remember. The advent of the computer age has allowed me to pursue my desire to compose music. I use Logic Pro X software (and MuseScore3 for recent piano compositions). My compositions reflect my varied listening preferences (including Contemporary Classical, Jazz and  Music from other cultures around the world).

StreetSong

Ailís Ní Ríain

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