programme note:

❝distance changes utterly when you take the world on foot. a mile becomes a long way, two miles literally considerable, ten miles whopping, fifty miles AT THE VERY LIMITS OF CONCEPTION… life takes on a neat simplicity, too. time ceases to have any meaning. when it is dark, you go to bed, and when it is light again you get up, and everything in between is just in between… you exist in a tranquil tedium, serenely beyond the reach of exasperation. all that is required of you is a willingness to trudge. there is no point in hurrying because you are not actually going anywhere. however far or long you plod,
you are always in the same place… it’s where you were yesterday, where you will be tomorrow… every bend in the path presents a prospect indistinguishable from every other, every glimpse into the trees the same tangled mass. for all you know, your route could describe a very large, pointless circle. in a way, it would hardly matter.❞ - Bill Bryson.

the theme of this piece is based on distance, and my personal struggles with returning to my birthplace of jersey in the channel islands, during each of the u.k. national lockdowns. because i have no access to a car, and because public transport is running so sporadically, i am practically marooned within my own home. however, once a day, i walk to the nearby coastline for a walk and look out onto the horizon to see if i can spot any of the other islands, or france. this piece describes the juxtaposition of having two places that are called ‘home’, and the yearning to travel beyond geographical and psychological horizons – back to the u.k., and back to normality.

this piece was composed in february 2021 for the daryl runswick composition competition, where it was workshopped for the finals and performed by the trinity laban contemporary music group, conducted by Gregory Rose.

• Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Kit Venables and Ben Leigh-Grosart

at the very limits of conception

at the very limits of conception — for chamber ensemble (2021)

I find improvisation the absolute revelation of the "present". Unrepeatable, true. In that moment everything vibrates, emotion, souls and our bodies, thus becoming part of "Being". The approach to my compositions is always the result of an extemporaneous flow that takes on a more granite form only at the end of the session. The musicians who collaborate with me embrace this method, leaving carte blanche to their inner voice and my creativity.

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Contact/business inquiries: albertomarsonmusic@gmail.com

www.noahmax.net
‘All focused intensity and chaotic curls, long pauses and fast-talking, the composer, conductor, artist and poet is a fizzing creative fuse’  The Sunday Times

British-Austrian composer Noah Max’s output spans opera, orchestral and chamber music. In 2021 his string trio Sojourn won The Clements Prize and was performed by members of the Piatti Quartet at Conway Hall. His music has been performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room in London, as well as Vienna’s Musikverein, Altalena Festival in Budapest, Uilenburgersjoel Synagogue in Amsterdam and the Paderewski Academy in Poland. 

Max recently spent five years bringing his debut opera A Child In Striped Pyjamas to the stage, culminating in a sold-out premiere production at London’s Cockpit Theatre in January 2023. The opera was lauded by critics as 'emotionally ambitious and vocally eloquent' (The Telegraph) and 'marvellously scored… a remarkable achievement for a young composer' (The Arts Desk). Max was interviewed about the opera by The Sunday Times and BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, with excerpts from the piece also broadcast on RTÉ Radio. Further revivals of the production are planned for 2023/24 and beyond.

Max’s debut album Songs of Loneliness was released on Toccata Classics in 2022; this year he returns to the recording studio with the Tippett Quartet and Sir Michael Morpurgo. He is Composer-in-Residence at Thaxted Festival, where his Quartet No.2 was premiered by the Tippett Quartet in July 2023; the festival has since commissioned Symphony No.1 to be premiered by the London Mozart Players on 21 June 2024. Other upcoming projects include the world premiere of the cello concerto AXIOM on 26 June 2024 as part of Proms at St. Jude’s, performed by Echo Ensemble and conducted by Max. Echo Ensemble also gives a performance of Max’s Phantasy Quintet at Thaxted Festival on 30 June 2024.

With a creative life that embraces music and painting, poetry and cinema, Max enjoys illuminating the relationships between different mediums. As a conductor he has assisted Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo at the BBC Proms and conducted Endymion Ensemble at Wigmore Hall. Max’s artworks have displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. His columns have been printed in The Irish Times, The Strad and The Jewish Chronicle; he has contributed to BBC Music Magazine and has been interviewed for Classical Music, Opera Today and BBC Radio 3’s In Tune.

'Emotionally ambitious and vocally eloquent' The Telegraph

★ ★ ★ ★ ‘Sonorities with much spiky interlacing, coalescing intermittently into more humane consonances’ London Evening Standard

★ ★ ★ ★ ‘A high degree of textural inventiveness… marvellously scored… Max is in the early stages of a notable career’ The Arts Desk

rebecca burden
cellobanjopianovoice

Donate a little coffee money if you like my music ❤️ https://ko-fi.com/rebeccaburden

If you are interested in working with Emily, please email degruchycomposer@gmail.com 🧩💭

Emily has worked with several ensembles & soloists, including the performer-composer Sam Pugh, Terra Invisus, the Carducci Quartet, Sandbox Percussion, the Riot Ensemble, the Hermes Experiment, Transitions Dance Company, the Manchester Contemporary Youth Opera, the Royal Holloway New Music Collective, and the National Centre for Early Music. She has also been commissioned by several cultural organisations, including Jersey Heritage, ArtHouse Jersey and Art for Guernsey.

Born and raised in Jersey, Channel Islands, traditional Jèrriais culture often influences her compositions, providing a unique amalgamation of French and British sonorities. In recent years, her career has moved towards sonic art and soundscapes, which has led her to collaborate with and compose for cultural heritage and charity organisations - something that she enjoys deeply, and has aimed to bring her prior experiences from working with many professional ensembles back home to Jersey.

at the very limits of conception — for chamber ensemble (2021)

Emily de Gruchy