emerging forms (for large open ensemble)
composed by James Layton (2023)
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Alexander Sandved (viola)
Andreas Morgan Grimstad (viola)
Ane Elise Lassen (double bass)
Eivind Holmboe Leifsen (saxophone)
Elvira Göransson (cello)
Erlend Olderskog Albertsen (double bass)
Ferdinand Schwarz (trumpet)
James Layton (viola)
Laura Madaliso Beer Kumwenda (viola)
Marco Slaviero (guitar)
Maren Sofie Nyland Johansen (accordion)
Michał Hałoń (cello)
Mitra Fagerli Rahman (viola)
Noel Rubli (accordion)
Sophie Kauer (cello)
Tomas Laukvik Nannestad (guitar)


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artwork: László Moholy-Nagy - Photogram (1928-9)

emerging forms (for large open ensemble) [2023] [extract]

MORE MUSIC

'Dawnings' on anothertimbre
https://anothertimbre.bandcamp.com/album/dawnings

'Ricercari for Rainy Days' on Sawyer editions
https://sawyereditions.bandcamp.com/album/eden-lonsdale-red-panel-ricercari-for-rainy-days

'Clear and Hazy Moons' on anothertimbre
https://anothertimbre.bandcamp.com/album/clear-and-hazy-moons

Always wanted to be a great musician/ composer/ conductor in my whole life. However still unsuccessful and instead, I follow my passion for music through pieces written by others; ones who achieved that goal. Good for them and thanks them for  writing such works which inspire and give life to me.

James Layton is a British composer, musician, and visual artist currently based in Oslo, Norway. His work often explores non-climactic forms, which slowly unfold and focus on the juxtaposition of progression and stasis. His use of patterns, permutations, and repetition aims to draw listeners into the music while exploring ideas of time and memory. This work is often informed by his interest in visual art, particularly the works of Agnes Martin, Sol Lewitt, and Bridget Riley.

James’ compositional output includes works for opera (saudade 2022), orchestra (focal 2019), chamber music (honour thy error as a hidden intention 2023), choir (veering slowly, losing identity 2023), as well as electro-acoustic music (are we on other, less concrete shores? 2021), and collaborations with dance (Rock-A-Bye 2023) and visual media (time spent 2023). This work has been performed around Europe by musicians and ensembles such as Cikada (NO), Orkest de Ereprijs (NE), I Solisti (BE), Ensemble Spectrum (SK), Stephen Upshaw (US/UK), Standard Issue (UK) Ensemble Ernst (NO), Ostravská Banda (CZ) and ONO – Ostrava New Orchestra (CZ), including at festivals such as Bergen Festspillene (2024), Bijloke Wonderland (2023), NODO/New Opera Days Ostrava (2022) and Ostrava New Music Days (2019).

Through cyclical, everyday mundanities like cooking a next meal or answering a phone call from a loved one, we weave webs of positions towards ourselves and others that inevitably collide, creating the structure and flow of our lives. The significance of these ordinary moments often slips past our awareness, though in these moments’ constancy they do more to shape and represent our lives than the scarcer, high-intensity milestones that we look forward to or that stick out in our memory.

My immersive media sound installations and staged music theater works transport participants to dramatized recreations of these small moments. I use combinations of music and field recordings, video and lighting, performance and narrative, as well as site-specificity and audience interactivity to plunder these moments’ emotional depths, expose their intimacies, and elevate their meanings within our lives.