In classical laws of physics, energy and momentum are always conserved when two objects collide. Though the objects will veer off in different trajectories at different rates of velocity, the sum of the two object's kinetic energy will remain in the same.*

This basic idea forms the musical premise for Gravitations, where musical ideas are 'bounced' off each other in increasingly wild and frenetic tangents. Each 'collision' of thematic material is denoted by an abrupt change in tempo, involving a metric modulation.

This piece was composed as part of the composition program at the 2016 Australian Youth Orchestra National Music Camp, under the supervision of Elliott Gyger. The first performance was on January 15, 2016 at Llewellyn Hall, Australian National University, involving head tutors and participants from the orchestral program. Elliott Gyger was the conductor and curator for the composition concert, from which this recording is taken.

This piece is dedicated to fellow composer Harry Sdraulig, in gratitude for all the compositional advise and support over the years (dating back to high school).



*That is, if external parameters such as friction were disregarded, such as in a zero-gravity environment.

Gravitations, for chamber ensemble

Variations was originally composed for the Hillel Quartet as part of my third year composition studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, under the tutelage of Paul Stanhope (whose name I have subtly included as a musical quotation in the opening measures). It was first performed at St John's College, Sydney on November 10, 2013, and subsequently received the 2014 Fairweather Family Prize for Composition.

The present recording included here is taken from a live performance by the Hillel Quartet at St James' King Street, Sydney on December 14, 2016. For this performance a number of substantial revisions were completed addressing practical and technical issues from earlier performances, whilst preserving the four-part continuous-variations structure of the original version (Slow-Fast-Slow-Fast).

Daniel Riley, November 28, 2017

Hillel Quartet
Violin I - Ben Adler
Violin II - Victoria Bihun
Viola - Elizabeth Woolnough
Violoncello - Bethan Lillicrap

Riley - Variations, for string quartet (2016 Live Performance, St James' King St)

Variations, for string quartet (2016 Live Performance)

This is a curious work to describe, insofar as the following can best be considered a series of loosely interconnected movements which may or may not feature oboe and/or piano. Furthermore, both instruments when featured either do so in dialogue with itself, or against each other in a further delineation of the relationship between soloist and accompanist.

Rituél is a study in contrasts – the former slow and meditative, the latter fast and agitated – each competing for hierarchical dominance over each other. Key motives to be explored across all five movements are also introduced: a series of interconnected thirds, minor 7ths or 9ths. Bagatelle introduces a pulsating rhythmic motive unique to the piano, whilst continuing the theme of opposing contrasts. A brief Interlude sets up Nocturne, where rapid juxtaposition of contrasting states finally dissolves into a still, uneasy truce, punctuated by two huge climaxes. The Epilogue completes the full-circle, the oboist gradually fading away into the distance, reminiscing on preceding material.

Sonata for Oboe and Piano was first premiered by Edward Wang (oboe) and David Miller (piano) on November 13, 2017 at Recital Hall East, Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The revised version was recorded at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music by Jasper Ly (piano) and Peter Dumsday (piano) on March 26 (Melba Hall) and August 22 (Tallis Room).

Riley - Oboe Sonata (Revised Version)

Oboe Sonata (Revised Version)

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, I've decided to revisit and post some old archival recordings which trace my ongoing evolution as a musician. These are my histories:

Sonoris III is a musique-concrète assignment I completed as part of my undergrad studies back in 2012. By complete accident, it also happens to be an ASMR-friendly exploration of ambient noise from within a recording studio, utilising whatever 'found' objects happened to be available at the time. I don't pretend for one minute that I'm any good at electroacoustic music, but if I ever need to revisit the genre (and there's every chance if forced into lockdown) at least I have a possible creative direction to pursue.

So without further ado feel free to sit back, relax, and enjoy the soft dulcet tones of coins, ball-pumps, microphone windscreens, metal bracelets, and key clicks.

From the Archives: Sonoris III (2012)

Like many musicians, Covid-19 has presented me an opportunity to (re)learn sound production skills I've all-but-neglected since my undergraduate days. As part of this foray (back) to the future, I've decided to partially document my trials and tribulations, if only in the hope of constructive feedback... and more realistically comic relief at my expense.

In keeping with the KISS principle, I've kept things very basic for my first experiment: live MIDI input from my trusty Yamaha P-35 into REAPER via a virtual instrument FX plug-in. With that in mind, here's a 'recording' of me 'performing' Gershwin's 'Prelude No. 2', rusty piano technique and all.

Obviously, there's still plenty of stuff that requires fine-tuning in the coming weeks. The MIDI latency needs to be dialed-out, and the virtual instrument's key dynamics require further customisation. It goes without saying that any advice on this front would be greatly appreciated.

Nevertheless, this is overall a tentative first step forward from which things can only go upwards. And the best bit? This was recorded in my bedroom at 3am on a Saturday morning!

The (Grim) Reaper Files: Gershwin's 'Prelude No. 2' (MIDI Keyboard)

Web of Evil (or concealed manifestations of a delusional mind after a formula by alias Dr. Joseph Ryan) is a love-letter to the world of pulp fiction and noir. However, rather than create an imaginary film soundtrack I have instead taken musical cues associated with these genres and constructed an abstract musical narrative out of them. As implied by the (not so) cryptic subtitle, three key musical ideas manifest across the sonic landscape, intersecting and diverging with each other in increasingly unpredictable ways: ultra-neurotic rhythmic activity, a sequence of stagnant harmonies, and an angular but elegiac melody.

Web of Evil was commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the 2018/19 Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers Program, on behalf of the late Roger Riordan and the Cybec Foundation. The recording here is taken from the premiere performance on February 5 2019 at Iwaki Auditorium, with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tianyi Lu.
This recording has been shared with the kind permission of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, who retain all Performers Rights for this recording.

Special thanks also to William Kogoi for creating the really cool anime-noir poster for this upload - do make sure to check out more of his stuff on Instagram at @wilyemart!

From the Archives: Web of Evil (2019)

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, two trends have re-emerged as part of my compositional fabric. The first is a focus on classicism and 'pure' music, driven by internal logic. The second is an urge to write fast-paced music, a sort of anathema to life in lock-down. In one sense this isn't surprising given the neo-classical reaction to World War I and Spanish Flu pandemic a century ago. On the other hand, these twin creative urges are a paradox, juxtaposing internal and external musical stimuli. These competing strands form the crux of Bagatelle, each vying for musical supremacy.

Bagatelle was recorded and premiered via live-stream on November 14 2020 as part of the Flinders Quartet Composer Development Program, and has been uploaded with kind permission of the Flinders Quartet.

Violin 1: Elizabeth Sellars
Violin 2: Wilma Smith
Viola: Helen Ireland.
Cello: Zoe Knighton

Bagatelle, for string quartet (2020)

Daniel Riley (b. 1992) is an Australian composer and musician, born and raised in Melbourne.
 
He first achieved recognition as a treble singer with the National Boys Choir of Australia (2000-2006), performing as soloist in Britten's The Golden Vanity (2004). During this period, he also performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Blake's The Snowman (2004), the Melbourne Chorale in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms (2005), and with Opera Australia in productions of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Puccini's La Bohéme (2005).
 
As a composer, Daniel recently completed his Master of Music (Composition) at the University of Melbourne, under the supervision of Stuart Greenbaum and Elliott Gyger. Prior to that, he completed a Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, graduating with First Class Honours in 2014. Past teachers have included Damien Ricketson, Paul Stanhope, Carl Vine, and Matthew Hindson. As a typesetter and copyist, he has also worked closely with Ross Edwards.
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He has previously participated in the Australian Youth Orchestra National Music Camp (Gravitations, 2016), the inaugural Flinders Quartet Composer Workshop (Ballade, 2014/16), and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers' Program (Web of Evil, 2018). In 2019, Recognition was commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne as part of the 5x5x5: Inside Out project, and his trumpet concerto Nearer, My God, To Thee was awarded the APRA Encouragement Award. Noted musicians to have performed his music include Ole Böhn, Calvin Bowman, Brett Kelly, Sam Allchurch, Warren Trevelyan-Jones, Chris Watson, Michael Fulcher, Flinders Quartet, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Polyphonic Voices, and the Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne. In 2014, he was the recipient of the Fairweather Family Prize for Composition.
 
In addition to his work as a composer, Daniel maintains an active schedule as a freelance singer (countertenor and tenor), choral conductor, and as a casual staff member at the University of Melbourne. He is currently the conducting scholar with the Choir of Christ Church South Yarra, and from 2015-2018 was a member of the Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne. He has also previously collaborated with Polyphonic Voices, Old Cathedral Voices, the Choir of St John's East Malvern, Choir of St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne, and the Consort of Melbourne.
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Upcoming projects include a short orchestral work as part of the New Overtures project, a new work for solo flute, a small collection of organ postludes, and a second string quartet. Selected choral works are now available for purchase through Crescendo Music Publications, whilst Land of Dreams, Nativitie and Coventry Carol have also been recorded for commercial release with Acis Productions.

danielriley92

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