This is a selection of my final year Keele University compositional studies portfolio.

Heavily influenced by Messiaen and Vivaldi, as well as my love for nature, this octet for piccolo, three flutes and string quartet depicts images of birds flying around and singing freely in their trees. 
With no key signature or strict time signature, there is a sense of freedom to the piece; a sense of the birds coming, going and singing as they like.

Chants d’Oiseaux au Printemps opens with call and response from two blackbirds, followed by various other blackbird calls heard in succession and a nightingale. The birds continue to gaily sing their songs until a viola bottom D indicates that rain is on the way. Unperturbed, a blackcap joins in with the cacophony of song and sings to its heart content until interrupted by the nightingale. As the rain begins to get heavier the blackcap flies away to another tree, thus leaving the other birds behind in their trees. The rain, which is depicted by the pizzicato string quartet, gets heavier and faster until it suddenly reaches its climax and begins to calm. Over the top of the rain, the birds frantically try to call out to each other; however there is minimal response until the rain begins to clear. At this point the birds continue their songs until rudely interrupted by a blackbird, at which point they all fly away.

Chants D'Oiseaux Au Printemps

This is a selection of my final year Keele University compositional studies portfolio.

Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions and sensations that occur subconsciously in the mind during certain stages of sleep; and can last from a few seconds in length up to as long as 20 minutes. The average person has three to five dreams per night, but some may even have up to seven dreams per night! Although each piece works well and makes sense independently from the others, when heard in succession these interlocking miniatures take the listener on a journey throughout the magical mysteries of sleep and dreams. 

Together, these miniatures depict the successions of sleep and five dreams of the protagonist. The opening of Angel’s Lullaby depicts an angel singing the protagonist to sleep; and as the piece goes on and thus takes on a new character, the idea of dreaming comes to the fore. Requiem for a Dream builds upon this idea of dreaming and the listener further embarks on a voyage through the subconscious mind of the protagonist. Throughout Requiem for a Dream three dreams are apparent, and these are portrayed through the three sections of the piece. The first piece begins with a slow, reflective, melodic theme in a minor key which could portray sad events. The dreams continue and the piece moves into a faster, more up-beat theme in a major key which could portray happy childhood memories from the protagonist’s past. The piece then finishes with a reprise of the opening slow theme, which is the fourth dream of the protagonists’ sleep.  The Break of Dawn, to me, is the most interesting of the three miniatures. The story told within this piece begins with the fifth and final dream of the protagonist’s sleep. This dream is similar in many ways to those heard in Requiem for a Dream as it is slow and reflective. The dream ends with the early morning birds being heard in the subconscious mind of the protagonist. The protagonist’s sleep and final dream is disrupted by the alarm clock which is depicted by the perpetual plucking of the violin, indicating that it is time to get up. The piece then ends with a musical portrayal of a sunrise. 

The Break Of Dawn (Miniatures for Violin and Piano)

Requiem For A Dream (Miniatures for Violin and Piano)

Angel's Lullaby (Miniatures for Violin and Piano)

The Chase

Le Rêve

1 (electroacoustic Version)

Original music composition for my first film score commision

Into The Woods (Stereo Music Master)

Song 2 Mixdown 2 (Alternative Mix 1)

Song 2 Mixdown 3 (Alternative Mix 2)

Freelance Music Composer for short films and Full-Time Music Supervisor for Audio Branding.

Emma Mooney