for Saxophone Quartet. Premiered at Royaumont Abbey, France, by the Xasax Quartet. September 2012

I. Panorama
II. Hero & Leander
III. Autumn
IV. Leaving Paphos Ringed with Waves

Each movement takes a painting by American artist Cy Twombly (1928-2011) as its focus. The way in which words can be used in art and music is central to the piece: word as sound, word as meaning, word as shape.

Four Illuminations (2012) for Saxophone Quartet

for flute, clarinet, alto saxophone and cello.
Commissioned by the London Sinfonietta

Positive/Negative Space for flute, clarinet, alto sax & cello

Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble; Dir. Guillaume Bourgogne - 2012

but I have many friends, and some of them are with me

Michael Finnissy: Banumbirr

Richard Glover: Logical Harmonies

Recorded live at St John's Smith Square, London. 04.04.16

Enno Poppe: Gelöschte Lieder [extract]

Shadow - Rebecca Saunders

For orchestra, soprano and tenor (+ megaphones)

Premiere by the University of York Symphony Orchestra, Eleanor Pybus(soprano) and James Botcher(tenor) cond. Dr John Stringer. Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, 10 March 2018.

Live recording by Lynette Quek.

Programme Note:

Happy are they who dwell in Your house was commissioned for the University of York's 'Lyons Celebration award' (2016/17). This annual award was set up in memory of Jack Lyons by his widow, Lady Roslyn Lyons. One of Jack Lyons' most cherished pieces was Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms. The award asks composers to create an innovative project that is in some way inspired by that work.

Chichester Psalms depicts the Psalm of David. On researching the function of the Psalm, itself, I discovered the term Ashrei. In completeness, Ashrei is composed primarily of Psalm 145. The meaning of Ashrei in Hebrew is Ashrei yoshvei veitecha, od y'hallelucha, selah!, which translates to Happy are they who dwell in Your house; they will praise You, always! This is said three times throughout the day in Jewish Prayers as it is said to guarantee a place in the World to come. It is this ritual of repetition (or repetition of ritual) that intrigues me as a composer. Ritual is everywhere, not only in Religion, but also in our own daily lives. Everyone inhabits their own rituals, such as getting up and going to work etc., and amongst that they may also have their own individual quirks, all repeated on a daily basis, consciously and even subconsciously. I also think of ritual as the coming together of communities, often to celebrate the sometimes one thing they/we have in common. In music communities, there is also ritual involved in performance, such as rehearsals and the individual's quirks and rituals they have before going on stage. There is also the ritual of an audience coming together as one to listen to and appreciate the same music. In relation to Ashrei, people are happy when they are together and close to God; they are together celebrating the same cause. 

The word Psalm is derived from the Greek translation, Psalmoi, literally meaning "instrumental music" and by extension and historical use, "words accompanying music". Within the work, the soprano and tenor voices sing or speak verses from the Ashrei text in various permutations and fragmentations throughout. However, the singers are largely part of the texture/timbre of the orchestra, rather than soloists as one may expect. 

The work begins with a repeated whispered chant of the Ashrei text, in Hebrew. This is accompanied by soft ringing of three triangles and a repeated high pitch figure from the Eb clarinet, both offset by low rumblings in the pits of the orchestra. This texture gradually builds to an interruption of loud bell-like trombones simulating a call-to-prayer. Following this, the work has three distinct blocks of material (melodic interweaving, quasi-moto perpetuo and noise). These blocks are repeated and re-shuffled, each one varying in slightly different ways such as shortening and lengthening or the way in which they are represented harmonically. This for me symbolizes how Ashrei is ritualized three-times per day during the course of Jewish Prayers. The sections or blocks link into one another as a one-movement discourse, or sermon, if you will. The work ends with a punchy variation of the quasi-moto perpetuo material with interjections of the whispered Ashrei chant, ending the piece how it began.

-	Copyright   2018 James Williamson

Happy are they who dwell in your house, for orchestra, soprano and tenor

Suspect Device is an extensive reimagining of the classic Stiff Little Fingers song of the same name. Performed here by the fantastic Decibel.

Suspect Device - Decibel

Porya Hatami | Aaron Martin | Roberto Attanasio ​ - 'Sallaw' 
Label; Dronarivm 
Cat #.: DR-58
Format: CD (ltd. 150)/ Wooden box special edition CD (ltd. 50)/ DL
Release date: March 1st, 2019
Pre-orders start February 15th

“Sallaw” is a Kurdish word that expresses the passing of time, and on this new album the three sound artists have found a way of expressing that notion in music. Four tracks of slowly unfolding ambience make up this collection, each piece named after different months, again in Kurdish. The four sections represent the different seasons and their movement through time.

Mastered by Fraser McGowan
Artwork by Hawar Amini

Buy CD / DL

PORYA HATAMI | AARON MARTIN | ROBERTO ATTANASIO - Sallaw (Album sampler)

For bass flute, bass clarinet, bass oboe and live-electronics, performed by Ensemble Mosaik (Bettina Junge, bass fl; Simon Strasser, bass oboe; Christian Vogel, bass clar)

!!---please listen on good speakers/headphones, there's a lot happening in the <100Hz and >10kHz freq bands---!!

Commissioned by and dedicated to Ensemble Mosaik.
Premiered on 1.8.2020 at AckerStadt Palast, Berlin. 
Recording on 28.7.2020 at Vivaldi Saal, Berlin.
Recording engineer: Arne Vierck, editing and mastering: Stefan Prins

Inhibition Space #1 (2020)- for bass flute, bass clarinet, bass oboe & live-electronics

Composer based in York, UK.

Contact: jam.williamson@gmail.com

Happy are they who dwell in your house, for orchestra, soprano and tenor

James Williamson

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