@2016 
Performed by the Briar String Quartet (Matthew Rigby- Violin 1, Navin Gulavita- Violin 2, Georgia Stibbard- Viola, Sage Fuller- Cello) 
Premiered at the Composer's Concert, St Stephen's Church Richmond, Victoria

Recorded at Sing Sing Studios, South Yarra, Victoria
Engineer: Aaron Dobos 

I always heard the phrase ‘The first step is always the hardest’.
Beginnings spark a potential energy, waiting to burst out. The endless possibility and avenues a road can lead is enthralling; blossoming new and dynamic waves. It’s exhilarating, yet restrained, not knowing where the road leads or how it will end.

This piece is my first step.

String Quartet No. 1 - "First"

@2017
for orchestra
commissioned by Ensemble Nouveau 
Conducted by John Keene 
Premiered at "Grace and Elegance: Schubert 5" at the Sydney Conservatorium in May 2017

Decadence

Written for Beo String Quartet as part of the 2017 Charlotte New Music Festival (NC, USA), "A Sharper Breath" is the first in a set of intended miniatures for varying configurations of string quartet.

When we hear bad news we often draw a sharper breath, or even struggle to breathe. This composition attempts to portray the act of inhaling and exhaling, the three instruments rising and falling against one another through a mostly un-resolving progression.

Violin - Jason Neukom
Violin - Sandro Leal Santiesteban
Viola - Sean Neukom

Thank you to Beo String Quartet and the Charlotte New Music Festival organisers.

A Sharper Breath (for two violins & viola)

recorded, and premiered by the Meraki Chamber Players at Connecticut Summerfest 2017

it melted with the rain was initially inspired by the novel: The Vegetarian by Korean author, Han Kang. In particular, the title refers to an instance in which the protagonist, through what is portrayed as insane ramblings, recalls hearing a voice call to her and running to the woods to find it. Upon reaching the woods, she finds nothing, and proceeds to wait there. Nothing comes. She explains: “It melted in the rain... it all melted...”

The piece is an exploration into the perception of time passing, both in the act of listening to music, and the observation of rain. This idea is shaped by Toru Takemitsu’s article: My perception of time in traditional Japanese music; in which he attributes a sense of time to the timbre of sounds.

“The sensing of timbre is none other than the perception of succession of movement within sound. As well as being spatial in nature, this perception is of course also temporal in nature. To put it another way, timbre arises during the time in which one is listening to the shifting of
sound.”
- Toru Takemitsu
My perception of time in traditional Japanese music

it melted with the rain explores various textures and timbres that can be produced by each instrument in order to create a sense of time melting, slowing down until it is imperceptible by the listener; and furthermore, this piece aims to imitate a sense of temporal stillness that can be felt on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

artwork: yayoi kusama

it melted with the rain

Lewis Ingham is an Australian composer based in Ballarat and Melbourne (VIC). His compositional voice is tinged with a modernist aesthetic, but his music is very much for the present era, often exploring themes of climate change and ecology. Lewis' compositions have been admired for their depth in instrumental colour and harmony, and have been performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Offspring, the Australian Youth Orchestra, Arcadia Winds, and Hypercube (USA).


Recognised for his talents through numerous awards, scholarships, and commissions, Lewis creates depth and detail within his compositions by slowly unfurling and transforming melodic gestures within the web of his personal and defined harmonic language. The innate delicacy and intricacy within his music is apparent in his compositions for both small and large instrumental forces.

A Sharper Breath (for two violins & viola)

Lewis Ingham | Composer

Related tracks