the musings of annelucymaud is the exploration of a voice, both literal and metaphorical. It is primarily made up of selections of words and phrases from various past creative endeavors and tasks, snippets from childhood stories combined with notes and questions from my compositional sketches. Reinterpreting these from the present, the piece reflects on and contemplates my now-familiar writing process and its coming-into-being. Thanks to Gavin Osborn, for piecing together this text, and for his support and encouragement.

the musings of annelucymaud

For violin, cello, piano, and crotales. Student workshop-performance at the University of Manchester, November 2014:
Violin - Natalie Simpson
Cello - Isabel Williamson
Crotales - Sophie Smith
Piano - Will King

Caelum explores the timbral similarities and contrasts between stringed and percussive instruments. The piece was created around the variety of techniques available for sounding each of the instruments, discovering similarities in bowing, striking, and plucking between them that create widely contrasting textures from full, layered and swelling to sparse and starry. Also characterized by extremes of register, Caelum begins at the edges of those extremes to eventually fill in the the space between the poles.

Caelum

For two horns in F, trombone, violin, cello, two female voices, and percussion. Student performance as part of Vaganza Festival, University of Manchester, November 2015:

Horn 1 - Will Padfield
Horn 2 - Matt Mitchell
Trombone - James Keirle
Violin - Libby Sherwood
Cello - James Heathcote
Voice - Sarah Keirle
Voice - Lizzy Humphries
Percussion - Lizzie Brightwell-Gibbons
Conducted by Alex Robinson

unfoldings / becomings traces the development of different sonic objects in space. As the objects develop, their shifting internal natures and relations between them stretch and explore the field of possibilities within the ensemble and the space.

unfoldings / becomings

For mezzo-soprano and alto flute. Workshop recording from November 2015, performed by Nina Whiteman (voice) and Gavin Osborn (flute).

Presentiment (Fraugmentation)

For solo alto flute. Premiered by Gavin Osborn at the University of Manchester, February 2016.

arcing human light was written for Gavin Osborn and was originally inspired by reflection on the physical act of playing the flute. Beginning at the top of the flute’s range, the player’s breath gradually exposes a series of underlying planes of timbres and pitches that make up a sonic landscape. As more realms are exposed, the vertical nature of the soundscape is illuminated through the exploration of the liminal spaces within this spectrum. As the player breathes through the field, the articulation of the various planes and components creates a journey through the territory, forming the human arc.

arcing human light

For orchestra. Performed by the Manchester University Music Society Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nicola Warner, June 2016.

This piece is loosely inspired by the phenomenon of gravitational waves, ripples of radiant energy that flow through the universe in the aftermath of fast, sometimes violent, movements of large objects in space. While rarely causing noticeable disturbance in spacetime for us, these occurrences warp their surroundings ever so slightly with their passing.

Distort

The main premise of shadow filter is that performers are given a set amount of material that they must play selections from in order to perform the piece - no single note of written material is required to sound in order to constitute a performance. Working to a set duration using timecodes given in their score, performers play from streams of notated material on the page, but only that which feels appropriate for each precise moment. The material provided is intended to be fragmented, recombined, and explored. As all performers use this same approach to their individual parts, they collectively shape the overall form and nature of the piece with each performance.

There is also an appendix of abstract photographs that accompanies the shadow filter score.  These may or may not be used freely as artistic inspiration for the ensemble at each performance, as well as being displayed for the audience as a type of 'listening score'.

shadow filter was first written for and performed by Ensemble L'Imaginaire

Keiko Murakami - flutes
Adam Starkie - clarinets
Philippe Koerper - saxophones
Maxime Springer - piano

shadow filter - Ensemble L'Imaginaire 14:05:2017

shadow filter - Ensemble L'Imaginaire 13:10:2016

shadow filter ii is the second piece in a series exploring the relationship between image and sound for performers in an open-form setting. Using my own photographic output, the piece questions how the aesthetic content of abstract images, when interpreted as one part of a larger score, can be used to influence, guide, or structure players' approaches to collective, unfixed music-making. The score is made up of streams of notated musical material, text instructions and photographs. For each performance, the ensemble collectively combines and weaves together selections from this collection of material to create and structure their desired version of the piece - no one piece of material from the score defines the nature of the resulting performance. Performances may vary widely depending on musical relationships that develop between instruments, other sound stimuli, and the context of the performance. Ultimately, the piece explores the extent to which photographic aesthetic and notated material, while freely treated in some ways, can leave traces of compositional influence in the resulting soundworld.

shadow filter ii was commissioned by Trio Atem for their 10th anniversary.

Nina Whiteman - Mezzo-soprano
Gavin Osborn - flutes
Alice Purton - cello

shadow filter ii - Trio Atem 16:03:2017

shadow filter ii - Trio Atem 08:06:2017

See also: 
www.geode-creations.weebly.com 
@geode-creations

EJ Ditmanson