Beautiful sonorities, harmonically fascinating.

Pleasure Garden (extracts)

Premiered 14 May 2023, Great Hall of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Tallinn, Estonia
Peeter Margus, violin
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Toomas Vavilov

"Gathering Dew", my first completed concerto, searches for a unison between the pure tone of the violin and the beautiful, often mournful simplicity of Lithuanian folk music. The harmonics and open strings of the violin are gradually transformed into fragments and variations of two folk songs – “Už ežero ugnys dega” ("Behind the lake, fires are burning", about a sorrowful orphan girl) and “Laidos saulalė” ("The sun was setting", depicting a personified sun speaking to villagers harvesting rye) – after which the soloist plays both songs in their full splendor.

The meaning of the title is twofold. Inspired by the delicate qualities of morning dew, I imagined the opening of the concerto as a gradual accumulation or “gathering”, beginning from the “dewdrops” of violin harmonics and extending to the loudest point. In addition, dew (“Rasa” in Lithuanian) is a common female name in Lithuania, exemplifying the very close connection between Lithuanian culture and nature.

"Gathering Dew" is dedicated to the Lithuanian people, in appreciation of the kindness, generosity, and hospitality they have often showed during my travels in Lithuania and abroad.

"Gathering Dew", concerto for violin and orchestra

Commissioned by Justus and Elizabeth Schlichting for the 2023 Bang on a Can Summer Festival

Completed May 27, 2023
Premiered July 29, 2023 as part of Bang on a Can's Loud Weekend 2023 by Todd Reynolds (cond.), Claire Litwinowicz (vln.), Santiago Velo Quintairos (vla.), Elizabeth Kate (vc.), JP Bernabe (cb.), Abrielle Scott (fl.), Anne Pinkerton (ob.), Lucas Gianini (cl.), Will Pyle (sax), Maya Stone (bsn.), Betty Chen (pno.), and Ethan Strickland (perc.)

I love watching ensembles play. There’s always so much happening at any given moment: all this cuing and tuning and listening and watching. The complicated group dynamics going on can be dizzying to keep track of, and within larger chamber ensembles, there can be such an intricate web of communication that it feels like a miracle that pieces hold together at all. 

This kind of intimate group communication happens all the time in nature, and one of the most familiar is the flock. Flocks of birds have often been written about in a near-mythological manner - the massive patterns they form and their hypnotic motion have inspired studies and superstitions alike. They can grow to be tens of thousands strong, but despite all their apparent organization, flocks do not have a solitary leader. Instead, individuals hone in on the signals of their seven closest neighbors, and they move about together. Since each neighbor will have its own seven neighbors and so on, a signal from one end of the flock eventually ripples all the way to the other. 

Of a Feather is inspired by the whirling coordination of flocks. Gestures are imitated and scattered throughout the group a la flock communication, and much of the vocabulary of the piece is filled with rushing motion. The piece is mercurial and vibrant, moving rapidly through key areas while freely expanding and contracting its motifs. Ultimately, Of a Feather is a study in ensemble communication, treating its members equally as individuals and parts of a whole.

Many thanks to Justus and Elizabeth Schlichting for commissioning the piece, and much gratitude to the fellows of the 2023 Bang on a Can Summer Festival for realizing it.

Of a Feather, for chamber ensemble

Affirmation

Performed by KammarensembleN in Stockholm, Sweden

tell me about something youre letting go of

This short concert opener was written especially for the Guildhall Chamber orchestra and Joshua Weilerstein, to open the anniversary concert marking 10 years of Milton Court Concert Hall on the 25th October 2023. This is the recording of the premiere.

Stannum, the Latin word for tin, is the customary 10th anniversary gift. Tin is an alloy, traditionally combined from silver and lead. Accordingly, the piece is something of a mixture of ideas and materials inspired by different types of celebratory music - some brash, some tender and some resolute.

Stannum

Performed by KMH Orchestra conducted by Jakob Aspenström

Held by Threads

https://patrickjohnjones.com/sonilluminations/

Sonilluminations

The final of Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra, performed by Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Brass Band, conducted by Tianyi Liu.

Concerto Grosso (Excerpt)

The Postman - live

Written in April - June 2019
Performed by ORA Singers, conducted by Suzi Digby, King's College Chapel, London, UK - 27.07.2019

My piece - as kindly requested by ORA Singers - is a reflection upon 'Dum transisset Sabbatum' by John Taverner (1490-1545). The word reflection has two meanings, to physically reflect and to contemplate, so I decided to approach the task from two perspectives; the audible and the abstract, hence the homonymous title 'Reflecting Taverner'. The rich tonal language of Taverner is reflected in the harmonic landscape of my piece. Only five words - Sabbatum, Maria, aromata, Jesum, Alleluia - of the original text remain in my work, all of which bear resonant vowels to allow a rich choral sound. I have also attempted to make the choir sound as if heard from afar or possibly from outside a church, with humming and occasionally chopping the words into syllables. On a more abstract level, presenting these words on their own and in a new context perhaps strips off some of their religious meaning and therefore could depict a juxtaposition between the heavily religious 16th century and the growingly secular times today.

The choir is split into two groups of four set apart from each other, to allow a certain amount of echo-effect and call and response type of interplay. A hushed, distant chorale begins the piece. Words start to emerge. The music soon reaches the climax on the word ‘aromata’ (spices) which is emphasised and reiterated across the choir. This is a word that is also emphasised in Taverner’s setting, through extensive melisma. By the end, the music has stabilised and reached a whole new place harmonically, with the repetition of the words ‘Jesum’ and ‘Alleluia’.

Reflecting Taverner - for choir (2019)

Joel Jarventausta

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Robert John Brooks, Composer

Robert John Brooks, Composer

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