Work in progress

OMG! It's 3 M'Lord (electronics)

Unedited daily experiments. This is the sound of me trying not to collide with the precious things of the Mahler-LeWitt Studios, Spoleto, Italy.

Collision Percussion

‘The Swallow’

‘Swallow, swallow, 
Fine bird of Spring!
 Where are you flying
– so fast?’

A song of migration for the 575 Wandsworth Road residency in the form of a transcription of swallow calls for bel canto voice.
Recording of the work-in-progress at the first LSO-National Trust workshop on the 26th April 2015. 

Music – Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian
Text – Gevork Dodokhian

Performers –
Soprano – Ziazan Horrocks-Hopayian
Violin – Tom Norris (LSO)
Violin – Levon Chilingirian



The Swallow (in progress)

This is a rough demo of the start of a piece commissioned for last year's London Jazz Festival. 
'Ser' means love in Armenian, and I recorded this today to commemorate the Armenian genocide 100 years ago.

It was written for Chris Montague (guitar) and Calum Gourlay (bass), but I thought I'd do this quick version on my laptop!

photo by Ziazan Horrocks-Hopayian

Ser DEMO

Jimi's Wall (TRACES)

Première of the aria from new work-in-progress '1000 Songs' inspired by the Armenian folktale 'The Nightingale of A Thousand Songs'
Ziazan - librettist, performer
Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian - composer, additional libretto

"In a dystopian near-future, a traumatised woman has lost the power to speak. A scientist persecuted for her beliefs, she finds herself in exile with only a caged nightingale for company. As isolation sets in and reality slips away, she believes herself to be an enchantress in an ancient folk tale."

Performed by Ziazan for In Tune, BBC Radio 3, 14.08.18
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tp0c
Shared with their permission.

1000 Songs Aria

[Audio description] A harp repeats the same short riff. Over time the sound changes: it distorts, echoes, delays, reverberates, doubles up. The sound builds, deepens, layers move in and out of time. 

***

Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian is an award-winning British composer and performer. She was recently in residence with the London Symphony Orchestra and the National Trust, and commissioned by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 2017 she was double-nominated for the British Composer Awards, and won with her jazz composition Muted Lines for saxophonist Trish Clowes. Her electro-acoustic album BRACE was released by Accidental Records in 2019, which Cevanne premièred at the BBC Proms on custom midi-controllers by Crewdson. The London Symphony Orchestra recorded her piece A Dancing Place for LSO Live’s album Panufnik Legacies III, conducted by Francois Xavier Roth. In 2020, she was the Mary Amelia Cummins Harvey Visiting Fellow Commoner at her alma mater, Girton College, University of Cambridge.

www.cevanne.org

This collection of new music responds to anonymous contributors who have offered lyrics, a riff, or a musical hook that they use to help themselves in tough times. Created for 'How to Hold, Behold, and Be Held' by Rhiannon Armstrong for Wellcome Collection. For more information go to www.rhiannonarmstrong.net/projects/howtohold/

"the riff from Van Halen's Ain't Talkin Bout Love" reinterpreted by Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian

[Audio description] Hands clap and click, a harp, a voice, all in a steady syncopated rhythm that occasionally gives way to stillness. Lyrics include "ooh child, things are gonna get easier, ooh child things will get brighter", "some day we'll get it together and get it all done, some day when your head is much lighter. Some day yeah, we’ll walk in the rays of the beautiful sun, some day when the world is much brighter” and a chorus of “right now”. 

***

Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian is an award-winning British composer and performer. She was recently in residence with the London Symphony Orchestra and the National Trust, and commissioned by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 2017 she was double-nominated for the British Composer Awards, and won with her jazz composition Muted Lines for saxophonist Trish Clowes. Her electro-acoustic album BRACE was released by Accidental Records in 2019, which Cevanne premièred at the BBC Proms on custom midi-controllers by Crewdson. The London Symphony Orchestra recorded her piece A Dancing Place for LSO Live’s album Panufnik Legacies III, conducted by Francois Xavier Roth. In 2020, she was the Mary Amelia Cummins Harvey Visiting Fellow Commoner at her alma mater, Girton College, University of Cambridge. 

www.cevanne.org

This collection of new music responds to anonymous contributors who have offered lyrics, a riff, or a musical hook that they use to help themselves in tough times. Created for 'How to Hold, Behold, and Be Held' by Rhiannon Armstrong for Wellcome Collection. For more information go to http://www.rhiannonarmstrong.net/projects/howtohold/

Ooh Child by The Five Stairsteps reinterpreted by Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian

This is where I upload work in progress! My published albums are distributed by other streaming platforms but this is the only place you can hear live recordings of premieres, and snippets of ideas before they become full compositions.

‘Found shapes’ Image by Emily Juniper 2021

Work in progress

CEVANNE