De Natura Sonoris was written in February 2023 for unpitched percussion quartet of unified kits. I was inspired by Polish composers of the sonoric style in the 1960s, in particular Krzysztof Pendercki and his two orchestral pieces De Natura Sonoris I and II. The first section of the piece focuses on different effects that can be achieved on the suspended cymbal. The next part explores superimposing various rudiments and the players coming to play with and against each other. I make use of the classic swing rhythm throughout the whole piece to evoke the idiomatic sound of the kit.

Premiered by Royal Northern College of Music Percussion Quartet in March 2023:
Ho Wong
Harriet Kwong
Luna Chong
Kiki Liang

De Natura Sonoris

Serendipity is a personal exploration of the orchestra medium. The whole piece is characterised by the use of grotesque motifs (glissandi, unusual instrument pairings). However, the main focus is the detail for the sonority and the emotions it carries. In 1-minute movements, I move through different emotions and characters in an attempt to explore the range of orchestral colours.

The first movement 'Lento' evokes an unstable lullaby. The soft pulsating feeling set by the strings is carried on by the harp while the falling figure moves around the orchestra.

The middle movement 'Moderato' works as a segue, incorporating features of the neighbouring sections. It reminisces on the pulsation from the first movement with a more percussive approach to it.

The final movement 'Presto grotesco' explores the massive sound of the orchestra. The pulsating feeling has a new meaning in this section with its full energy and craziness.

Serendipity

Virgin Forests was inspired by a Polish folk story where on the night of November 30th, young girls would perform a ritual of running around the forest naked while singing a prayer to St Andrew to send them husbands. The piece is an expression of this love, desperation, and frustration.

Recording by Adela Philippi (violin) and Gabriela Wacławska (piano).

Virgin Forests

The inspiration for Tenebrae Tenebrarum comes from the apocalyptic passages in the Bible and the inexplicable uneasiness that can be felt while reading them. With the text in Latin, the piece aims to reflect that disturbing, somewhat sinister feeling, amplified by a constant repetition of words evoking a sombre mantra.

Tenebrae Tenebrarum

'A Menagerie of Ordinary Things' is a collection of different styles and harp effects: through atonal to modal, pointillistic to folk, cliché harp arpeggios or glissandi to unusual percussive sounds of the soundboard. With the use of fixed media, the harp and the electronics are in an imitational dance that invites the listener to experience a sound world beyond the constraints of the live instrument.

Recording by Ellie Wood (harp).

A Menagerie of Ordinary Things

A Menagerie Of Ordinary Things

The piece is based on contrapuntal balancing of vocalisations and spectral multi phonics that create a kind of otherworldly chorale. 

The title A Long Lost refers to the elusiveness and unfamiliarity of the musical language - the singing voice that is almost always present yet not always perceptible, blurring the line between the clarinet sound and singing; the distortion of single pitches against the consonance of the spectral harmonics; the repeated reverting to air sound.

Recording by Heather Roche.

A Long Lost

Pentimenti means 'regrets' in Italian, yet it is also a term used in art history to describe a visible trace of earlier painting on a canvas. The music and the words play with that double definition in this piece. 

Recording by Eve Codman (soprano) and Helena Zyskowska (organ).

Pentimenti | Regrets

“Nacre” is another word for mother-of-pearl which is the shining substance that forms the inner layer of the shell of some molluscs like oysters. The piece traces along this delicate surface highlighting its imperfections and capturing the shifting iridescent colours that glimmer with the light. Like its polished nature, the music conveys a sense of both strength and fragility inherent in nacre itself.

Recording by RNCM Brand New Orchestra and Benjamin Huth (conductor).

Nacre

'No More Gravity in Munich' focuses on exploring the timbre of the wind orchestra medium. With its emphasis on air sounds, it colourfully lifts the music off the ground. The title was inspired by a performance of a street dancer with a football in Munich.

Recording by RNCM Wind Orchestra and Andre Chan (conductor).

Pentimenti | Regrets

Helena Zyskowska

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