Contemporary Classical

Music to listen to!

This piece was performed by Wet Ink Large Ensemble at the Dimenna Center for Classical Music in April 2015.

Instrumentation: fl, ob, b.cl, t.sax, tpt, tbn, pno, perc, 2 vln, vla, vlc, electronics

Ocean waves are so darn peaceful and meditative with their “shhhhhhhhhSHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhooooooooooooo, shhhhhhhhhSHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhooooooooooooo, shhhhhhhhhSHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhooooooooooooo” OVER and OVER and OVER. White/Waves begins with an instrumental shhhhhhhhhSHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhooooooooooooo vibe in the ensemble juxtaposed with raucous, Nirvana-squelching ruh-buh-ruh-buhs in the piano and warbly Zen-blocking WEEEooooWEooWEEEoooos in the electronics. The B-section material began with shhhhhhhhhSHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhooooooooooooo field recordings from Sunset Beach, NC, but I wanted them to sound more manic and unpredictable so I sculpted the waves into filtered bursts, blips, swells, and sweeps and put them in dialogue with frenzied instrumental waves and orchestrated new versions of the sculpted white noise bursts, blips, etc.

WARNING: this piece in the key of Queen Bey Major (so you might hear some Beyoncé and some B-major chords).


White/Waves

Live recording of ensemble recherche at Harvard University, 21 May 2016.

Martin Fahlenbock, Shizuyo Oka, Barbara Maurer, Åsa Åkerberg, Melise Mellinger, Jaime González, Klaus Steffes-Holländer, Christian Dierstein
— ensemble recherche

Clara Iannotta, John Pax
— guest performers

James Bean
— audio engineer

Anthony DiBartolo
— recording engineer

http://chrisswithinbank.net/2016/05/union-haze/

union|haze

union|haze (ensemble recherche)

Spaces, for an ensemble of eight performers, was written for the University of York Chimera Undergraduate commision and performed on the 18th November 2016 by the Chimera ensemble.

Performers
Conductor- Thomas Hawkes
Soprano- Bethany Stephens
Mezzo Soprano- Helen Hughson
Clarinet- Josh Porter
Viola- James McIlwrath
Double Bass - Adam Thomas
Trombone- Oliver Pickup 
Piano 1 - Tomás Frazer
Piano 2- Anson Ng

Space
No center, no above, no below
Ceaselessly devouring and engendering itself
Whirlpool space
And drop into height
Spaces
Clarities steeply cut
Suspended
By the night's flank
Black gardens of rock crystal
Flowering on a rod of smoke
White gardens exploding in the air
Space
One space opening up
Corolla
And dissolving
Space in space
All is nowhere
Place of impalpable nuptials

(Octavio Paz)

 Derived from the text by Octavio Paz the work quite literally explores ‘space’. Manipulating textures in the way material is passed between instruments to create an illusion of movement within the environment. The meaning of the text is not so much reflected in the music but more the fractured surrealist state of the poem. As critic Ramón Xirau once described the aesthetic of Octavio Paz’ poetry as ‘not hesitat(ing) between language and silence;…’ but leading ‘..into the realm of silence where true language lives.’ This silence is a salient feature that is exploited frequently, breaking apart often very dense complex textures, fragmenting passages and emphasises the silence that fills the room, allowing the audience to almost be absorbed into what is happening next. Exploring the idea that silence can be ‘noisy’.

Spaces (2016)

Relentless Performed by the Chimera Ensemble 2016

Piano- Sophie Adams

Relentless (2016)

Work for string quartet performed in an informal concert on the 28th of February 2017 by the Ligeti Quartet.

Territory] Boundary/ \ Border [Divide  (2017)

From the Greek meaning to lament/wailing, Thrínos is solo work for violin. It exploits the expressive power of the violin, distorting the melodic material.

Thrínos was performed on the 3rd of March by Emily Jones

Artwork is by Felice Sharp entitled Blue Morning IV, to see more  of her works go to http://www.felicesharpart.com/

θρήνος (Thrínos) - 2016

Doilbhcheo written for an ensemble of seven is derived from celtic meaning mist, is a work that explores texture immersed in ambiguity.

Conductor-Owen Burton
Violin I - Ella Coen
Violin II - Miranda Whitmarsh
Flute - Anna Palko 
Double Bass - Adam Thomas
Piano - Tom Sissons
Percusion - James Botcher and Andy Blackwell

Doilbhcheo (2017)

Evan Johnson - Rückenfigur for solo tuba:

1. rassegnato / privato
2. eco distratto-"rassegnato / privato"
3. marginale / privato
4. spettrale come catastrofico (marginale / privato)

Tuba: Jack Adler-McKean

Recorded in Oxford on 5th March 2017
Recording Engineer: Nigel McBride

Evan Johnson - Rückenfigur

A small excerpt from the currently unfinished second movement of my string quartet Territory] Boundary / \ Border [Divide 

Performed by Quatour Diotima

Territory] Boundary / \ Border [Divide Mov.II - Excerpt

'On the celestial hierarchy' for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, viola & cello
Composed 2014

Live performance by neuverBand at Kustraum Walcheturm, Zurich on 12 Nov. 2018, Mike Svoboda, conductor

'On The Celestial Hierarchy' (2014) for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, viola & cello

Ensemble Modern&HR  Frankfurt/M.

Solistin : Nina Janßen-Deinzer

Edition Peters Frankfurt/M. 
https://www.edition-peters.de/cms/deutsch/general/komponist.html?composer_id=3425

iv 7 für Kontrabassklarinette

Composer currently studying at the University of York.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/catherinerobsoncomposer/
Website - http://www.catherinerobsoncomposer.co.uk/

Territory] Boundary / \ Border [Divide Mov.II - Excerpt

Catherine Robson