2013
for orchestra
 
Performed by Sinfonia d'Amici 
Conductor Harry Ogg

Inspired by the poem of the same name by Rainer Maria Rilke (Das Buch der Bilder, 1902):

Der Abend wechselt langsam die Gewänder, 
die ihm ein Rand von alten Bäumen hält; 
du schaust: und von dir scheiden sich die Länder, 
ein himmelfahrendes und eins, das fällt; 

und lassen dich, zu keinem ganz gehörend, 
nicht ganz so dunkel wie das Haus, das schweigt, 
nicht ganz so sicher Ewiges beschwörend 
wie das, was Stern wird jede Nacht und steigt - 

und lassen dir (unsäglich zu entwirrn) 
dein Leben bang und riesenhaft und reifend, 
so dass es, bald begrenzt und bald begreifend, 
abwechselnd Stein in dir wird und Gestirn.

Abend

for electric guitar and spatial electronics
2014, revised 2016
Studio recording, Nicholas Moroz, guitar and electronics

Semantron, for electric guitar and live electronics

A line, a curve, or figure

Organ and Turntable Improvisation live for BBC Radio 3's 'Open Ear' Concert (2016)

BBC Radio 3: Live @ Hackney St John (2016) - Kit Downes and Shiva Feshareki

Abend draws inspiration from the poem of the same name by Rainer Maria Rilke (below). The poet describes his feeling at the moment in the evening when the light is poised between day and night, as if he is standing between two separate and opposed worlds, to neither of which he quite belongs: the everyday world of 'stone' and the heavenly one of the 'star'. He comes to accept this duality and the unstable, conflicting nature of his life. I identified the poet's dichotomous feelings with my own as a developing composer. 

With its three sections running without a break, the piece loosely follows the structure of Rilke’s poem. Two complementary sets of six notes (hexachords) form the basis of most of the piece’s harmonic as well as melodic content. These sets are successively juxtaposed, mixed, separated, rejected, and finally revealed as being in one another – not dissimilar to the ‘stone’ and ‘star’.

Abend (2013) - Josephine Stephenson (live concert recording)

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Played by Grand Band at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, as part of the Peter Reynolds Composer Studio.

Grand Band: Vicky Chow, David Friend, Paul Kerekes, Blair McMillen, Lisa Moore and Isabelle O'Connell. https://www.grandbandnyc.com/

Mill, for 6 pianos (Live)

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For solo piano, played by Joseph Havlat. Recorded live in concert at Dartington Summer School, 2017. Nominated for a British Composer Award 2018.
Sheet music available here: https://www.wmarsey.com/music/belmont-chill

Abend

Josephine Stephenson

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