From 'Sparks' EP, released 12th December 2011


The same sun that hardens clay 
Is the same sun that melts the ice 
The designer exceeds the design 
Forget this and you only see the outline 
And I’m in awe, I’m in awe 

All the world lights up, all the world lights up 
All the world lights up with your love 

The same fire that burns the wood 
Is the same fire that refines gold 
Smudge the paper, paint over the cracks 
Is your intention to claim the bare facts? 
And I’m in awe, I’m in awe 

All the world lights up, all the world lights up 
All the world lights up, with your love 
I can see sparks fly, I can see sparks fly 
I can see sparks fly with your love 

Lay down your defences and we won’t go astray 
Take my hand in your hand, I will show you the way 
Hold on, there’s a strong hope, we will fight to the end 

All the world lights up, all the world lights up 
All the world lights up with your love 
I can see sparks fly, I can see sparks fly 
I can see sparks fly, with your love 
I can sing louder, I can sing louder 
I can sing louder with your love

Sparks

From 'Sparks' EP, released 12th December 2011

There’s a time for everything 
A time for war and a time for peace 
So gather all your memories 
And put them in a box 

There’s a place for mindless faith 
An act of love always conquers hate 
So capture all your melodies 
And put them in a song 

We will join in arms with all our lovers 
Singing songs as we recover 
From all our fears and all our failures 
As we discover a peaceful haven 

There’s a time for everything 
A time to shout and a time for calm 
So destroy all your heart regrets 
And throw them in the fire 

There’s a place for reckless moves 
A warm embrace always triumphs pain 
So nurture all your desires 
And bring them into play 

We will join in arms with all our lovers 
Singing songs as we recover 
From all our fears and all our failures 
As we discover a peaceful haven 
Rest in peace, rest in peace 

There’s a time for everything 
A time for war and a time for peace 
So gather all your memories 
And put them in a box 

There’s a trumpet sounding in the street 
Where the people gather and the angels meet 
So leave behind all your possessions 
And enter into life 

We will join in arms with all our lovers 
Singing songs as we recover 
From all our fears and all our failures 
As we discover a peaceful haven 
So join in arms with all your lovers 
Sing them songs as you recover 
From all your fears and all your failures 
As you discover a peaceful haven 
Rest in peace, rest in peace.

Rest In Peace

From 'Sparks' EP, released 12th December 2011

I woke up with the feeling, there has to be a God 
Who cares if my whole world falls apart? 
Breaking under pressure is a picture of my demise 
I’ll wait for the penny to drop, so help me God! 

This line is counterproductive 
Let’s make it more constructive 
Call out to the one soul maker 
He’ll trade you in for a groundbreaker 
There’s a plan for you can’t ignore the maker 

I hope I’ m not left hanging , that there is a God 
Who cares if I lose my soul to the world? 
Regarded as a miser, this was never my desire 
I’m ready for the penny to drop, so help me God! 

This line is counterproductive 
Let’s make it more constructive 
Call out to the one soul maker 
He’ll trade you in for a groundbreaker 
There’s a plan for you can’t ignore the maker 

You can see the maker’s name 
Stitch it to your heart again 
Now you’ve heard the maker’s voice 
Action shouts the louder noise 

This line is counterproductive 
Let’s make it more constructive 
Call out to the one soul maker 
He’ll trade you in for a groundbreaker 
There’s a plan for you can’t ignore the maker

The Maker

Rough recording of my final composition project at the end of my music degree. It's an electroacoustic piece for violin and laptop; the laptop part uses recorded cello sounds.

PROGRAMME NOTE:

The word 'symbiosis' means a close, mutually beneficial relationship between two
organisms. In this single-movement sonata, the electroacoustic (laptop) and live acoustic
(violin) elements support and complement each other to the extent that neither part
would make sense on its own. Without one or the other, the gestures and textures are
missing something. The violin needs to be underpinned by the percussive, bassy and
sometimes ethereal timbres of the laptop part, which itself is not complete without the
violin soaring above it. The two work together to further their common interests,
which might include gestural events, harmonic content and changes of character.

While the violinist follows a conventional score, the laptop performer plays what
might be termed a 'flexible tape part', triggering one fragment of the tape part at a time
in order to ensure that the two voices remain synchronised. These fragments are
composed solely from recordings of a cello, which have been manipulated in order
to explore new variations on the natural symbiosis between violin and cello.

Symbiosis

This entirely synthesised acousmatic (fixed media) work explores the concept of vertical space by contrasting sounds that appear 'high' with those that appear 'low'. Even when these two types of sounds are playing through the same loudspeakers, we tend to visualise thinner tone and higher pitch somewhere above our heads, whereas we might think of more solid, lower-pitched sounds as on the ground.

The piece is inspired by the account in Genesis 28 of Jacob's dream, in which 'he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.' Jacob is an abstract sonic landscape painting, depicting and exploring the relationship between ground level and the metaphorical 'heights' of Heaven.

Jacob

Haunting electroacoustic piece based on folk songs recorded in 1970 in Co. Galway, Ireland. The recordings are part of the Terry Yarnell Collection and are used by permission of the British Library.

The piece is entirely composed of these folk recordings, some cello sounds, and white noise.

bdhorrigan