SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS for solo piano, was inspired by the Latin palindrome of the same name. The five words that comprise the square roughly translate to: The farmer Arepo works a plough. While these words serve no significant or poignant meaning it is their positioning that creates a palindrome with eight possible reading positions. By starting at any of the four corners, one can read the square in any column or row, left or right, up or down, and as word order in Latin is quite free, it can even be read in alternating directions and still arrive at a palindromic result. To represent this, the piece is constructed out of eight non-transitioning and contrasting sections each representing a different letter of the square. When played in succession, these sections illuminate the structure of the original Latin square. To represent the symmetry of the palindrome the sections are turned upside down and reversed on reaching the central point (the letter N). Each of the eight readings is represented by a new ordering sequence of the sections. This recording is of Reading III. 

Performed by Fumiko Miyachi.

SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS - Reading III (2017)

Robert Crehan is a British composer from Luton, Bedfordshire.

His recent work explores abrupt cuts and interruptions, combined with sharply contrasting materials to create abstracted and broken narratives; evocative of editing techniques used in visual art and media. Most recently, he has completed a trilogy of orchestral pieces inspired by the art styles of three 20th Century Abstract Expressionists.

Early on, Robert took a unique path to achieve his musical aspirations and left education prematurely to concentrate on his artistic and musical development. Over the following years, he self-taught the basics of composition and notation, eventually producing enough music to earn him a place at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he began his studies in 2013. In 2018, he began his postgraduate studies at Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was awarded a Junior Fellowship following his graduation in 2020 while being generously supported by scholarships awarded by the Leverhulme Trust and the Guildhall School Trust.

His music has been performed around the UK and internationally by ensembles including EXAUDI vocal ensemble, Plus-Minus ensemble, Quatour Bozzini, Psappha Ensemble, London Chamber Orhcestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Orkest de Ereprijs. His work has also been heard on BBC Radio 3 and Birmingham Scratch Radio.

Robert is passionate about music education and is currently employed as a composer on the Listen Imagine Compose – Primary project.

While at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for his undergraduate studies, he studied with Ed Bennett, Seán Clancy, Joe Cutler, Andrew Hamilton, Howard Skempton, Andrew Toovey, and Errollyn Wallen among others. He is currently at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London as a postgraduate student of composition where he studies with Hollie Harding and Paul Newland, and is generously supported by scholarships awarded by the Leverhulme Trust and the Guildhall School Trust.