This set of pieces were written for the Cambridge New Music Ensemble's Valentine's Day Gala Concert and performed by Naomi Woo. 

14/02/2014

I - Prelude

II - Chorales

Part of a set of Bagatelles which were written for the Cambridge New Music Ensemble's Valentine's Day Gala Concert and performed by Naomi Woo. 

14/02/2014

III - Toccata - moto perpetuo

The idea for this piece came from a conversation/argument with a friend about which hymn tunes are 'bangers' (yes I'm aware how nerdy this is). I loved that we had very different but equally passionate opinions and so I decided to compose something which used two of our favourite tunes as the source material. 

The result was a light-hearted and exciting piece, radically different in tone from the original melodies, and as occasionally ludicrous as the conversation that inspired it.

For the purists, there is also a version for Organ.

Two-Tune Toccata

The 4th Movement of my Wind Trio, played in the building that it was written for (King's College Chapel). The performance was given by Rosalind Ridout (19/06/14)

Aimless At Dusk - Performance in King's College Chapel

Performed by the Jubilate Singers, Christchurch, conducted by Philip Norman, and with a solo by Courtney Hickmott.

Composer's Note

‘The Virgin’s Cradle-Hymn’ was composed in the late Autumn of 2022 during a brief sabbatical from my ‘other life’ in medicine. Working in the NHS is a great privilege, but sadly the demands of the on-call rota leave little time for writing. Consequently, this was the first piece I’d composed since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

The text is an English translation of the Latin text Dormi Jesu, which has been set many times by much better composers. I was drawn to the English text in part because I was keen to avoid the long shadow cast by the settings previously alluded to, but also because the translation facilitated - for me at least - a directness of expression that in, the wake of these past few years, was very appealing.

Virgin's Cradle-Hymn (SATB)

A performance of my small contribution to Paul Kopetz's fantastic '50 for 50' Global Composer Project, performed by Ensemble Flex.

50 composers were asked to write a short self-portrait (restricted to 60s max.). The pieces were stitched together by Paul, and the collage has been performed in Australia, The Netherlands, and The USA. 

It was great to be a part of a collaborative project like this. If you'd like to hear more of the pieces / read about the other composers, follow the link below.

https://www.paulkopetz.com/about-1

Self-Portrait 'ABC'

These short tracks were written for my insanely talented friend Greg Edwards during his Imaginarium Project [https://superrare.com/gregcicle]

My task was to write 6x 30 second pieces of music that would accompany Greg's artwork. 

I decided to write a three-minute piece that could be divided into six 30-second sections (each capable of looping). The piece is structured in arch form (ABCCBA) but with significant variations in the repeated sections.

Key amongst the material is the ‘Imaginarium Theme’ that is heard in its entirety in chapter 1 and then transformed and fragmented throughout the other chapters culminating in a near-exact repetition in chapter 6, but with subtle changes to aid musical resolution.

Imaginarium (Original Release)

Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Three O'Sullivan Settings with commissioned by New Music On The Bayou and premiered by Claire Vangelisti (sop.) and Rick Seiler (piano) at the Emy-Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall, Louisiana, USA.

Leanne O'Sullivan's Three Poems For My Husband is a beautiful and touching triptych, written when her husband was critically unwell in hospital. The poems were immediately appealing to me due to their imagery and intimacy, but also because of my interest in exploring healthcare experiences in music.

In Your Sleep

Leaving Early

Walking To Hospital

A short track I wrote for my wife based on the folk tune 'Wild Mountain Thyme'. Leave a comment or follow me if you'd like to hear more pieces like this. 

Folk Fantasy No. 1 - Wild Mountain Thyme

Folk Fantasy 2 No. 2 - This Gloom On My Soul

A short piano piece I wrote to celebrate Sam and Edie's wedding. 

Their Next Adventure

Ubi Caritas for SATB

First performed at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, by the Cambridge University Concert Orchestra.

27th February 2016

Programme Note:

Within ‘On the Heavens’, Aristotle posits the existence of two cosmological orbs; the sublunary sphere, which encloses the four terrestrial elements, and the celestial sphere of the heavens, which contains Aether: the fifth element.  ‘Between the Spheres’ explores the musical possibilities suggested by this system. 
The piece positions the listener as an observer at the boundary between the sublunary and celestial spheres, each of which is afforded individual musical treatment. Throughout the piece the music of each sphere is sounded concurrently but with oscillating priority, as though the attention of the observer is in constant flux. These musical ideas germinate from the same seed but are distinct by the nature of their development. The sublunary music maintains a continual forward trajectory and is only interrupted by its tendency to fracture or become corrupted. In contrast, the music of Aether and the celestial sphere is cyclical and self-referential, reflecting the incorruptible eternity of the heavens.  These musical tendencies are informed by Aristotle’s own descriptions of the motion of terrestrial and celestial elements: the former travelling linearly whilst the latter follow circular paths. A finale unites the spheres in concord, but the stability is fleeting. The piece fractures at the last, leaving just the slowly fading ‘aethereal’ music. 

Chris Mortlock (2016)


Christopher Mortlock

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