Propeller _ for orchestra
//
premiered by the RNCM Brand New Orchestra, October 2014, conducted by Piero Lombardi.

round and round and round and round . . .

Propeller

cathedral in a crack den _ for large chamber ensemble
written for the Manchester Camerata
//
Beethoven on acid . . .

cathedral in a crack den

Thin _  for mezzo-soprano and percussion
//
written in collaboration with Mark Pajak.
premiered by Joanna Harries in the RNCM Studio Theatre, 15/05/2015.

Collie dog locked in a shed in Toxteth . . .

Thin

Violets _ for orchestra
//
premiered 08/10/2015, by the RNCM Brand New Orchestra conducted by Carlos Agreda.

slide . . .

Violets

TRANQUILIZER _ for big band
//
workshop performance by the RNCM Big Band, 26/02/2016.

loud and quick and relentless . . .

TRANQUILIZER

Blossoms _ for piano
//
written for and performed by Aaron Breeze.

layers upon layers gradually fall away, revealing the cell that circles beneath . . .

Blossoms

Parasol _ for large ensemble and electronics
//
premiered 16/06/2016 in the RNCM Concert Hall by the RNCM New Ensemble; conducted by Tom Goff.

I have desired to go 
     Where springs not fail,
To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail
     And a few lilies blow . . .

Parasol

Her Own Dying Moments _ for string quartet and electronics
//
Dedicated to the memory of David Bowie

A few weeks after David Bowie’s death in January 2016, Dr Mark Taubert, a palliative care doctor based in Cardiff, wrote an open letter to Bowie, posthumously thanking him for the soundtrack he had provided to his life, his dedication to his art, and the inspiration he was, and continues to be, for others also facing end-of-life illnesses. 

Retweeted by Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, Mark’s letter has gone on to have a huge impact, and has been recited at several Letters Live events by Jarvis Cocker and Benedict Cumberbatch.

(http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-mark-taubert/david-bowie-thank-you-letter_b_9007800.html)
(http://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/david-bowie/news/watch-jarvis-cocker-reads-letter-to-david-bowie/)
(http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/david-bowie-son-duncan-jones-shares-powerful-open-letter-from-palliative-care-doctor-in-wake-of-a6818841.html)
(http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6844059/david-bowie-duncan-jones-letter-palliative-care-doctor)

John collaborated with Mark for this composition, combining a recording of Mark reading his own beautiful letter with fragile strings and electronic timbres; acting as a cushion for Mark’s words to drift across.

'Her Own Dying Moments' was premiered by The Marvolo Quartet (https://www.facebook.com/marvoloquartet/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf) in the Carol Nash Recital Room, Manchester, 01/11/2016.

Subsequently performed at Cafe OTO, London, by Phaedra Ensemble and broadcast on BBC R3 - 15/04/2017:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04zs6yb

A video recording of the premiere can be viewed at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIEQ2U4kjxE&t=5s

Her Own Dying Moments

Music For Health: LIME at the RMCH
//
Written in collaboration with LIME Arts, LIME Music For Health and the RMCH

From Oct.2016 to Mar. 2017, I collected recordings of LIME Music for Health and RNCM musicians as they played for the patients on the wards at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, as well as carrying out interviews reflecting upon their their time in the hospital, and the effect that their music was having.

I was also lucky enough to interview Ruth Rankin, a mother of a long-term patient at the RMCH, where we discussed her first-hand experience of the positive impact the music was having on her daughter's time at the hospital; bringing a humanising touch into an otherwise clinical environment. 

With this archive of recorded material, I laced them together into a composition which I hope paints an aural picture of the vital work that LIME Music for Health provides at the RMCH.

Blog: https://limesoundscape.wordpress.com/
LIME Music For Health: https://musicforhealth.wordpress.com/

//

Featuring:

Ros Hawley (Words, Singing, Clarinet & Percussion), Mark Fisher (Words, Singing & Guitar), Isobel Mortimer (Words), Tom Congdon (Words), Jessica Tomlinson (Words), Hannah Colville (Words & Trumpet), Isabel Pattuzzi (Words), Ruth Rankin (Words) , Cressida McKay Frith & Sophia Connolly (Flutes), Emma Richards (Words), Awen Blandford (Cello) and Marija Novicane (Euphonium).

Recorded, Composed and Produced by John Iley

Music For Health: LIME at the RMCH

Music for Health: LIME at the RMCH

snowsuit_for violin and electronics
//
written for and performed by Alla Petrichei (https://www.facebook.com/alla.petrichei.1/)

from behind the glass we watched him play for hours...

snowsuit

I Got Mine - The Black Keys (2008) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuR0aCQALDE)
//
arr. for Bassoon Quartet (2017)

performed by the Boreas Bassoon Quartet (https://www.facebook.com/BoreasBsnQuartet/?hc_ref=ARSI8BXGTTy7r6mzhtxa08OFPYpBM3BcTO5Upy07sWi8NortaoYypYAOXFRj5kksbIk&fref=nf)

I was a movin' man in my younger days. But I've grown out of my ramblin' ways...

I Got Mine - The Black Keys // Arr. for Bassoon Quartet

John Iley (aka Say) is a delusional wannabe; he writes music, performed throughout the UK and featured on BBC Radio 3.

John Iley

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