@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

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 Horrigan Ingham - Under the Anthropocene (Pt. III) (2020)

Text: Earth Interview in the Anthropocene (Anne Elvey, 2014); Enuma Elish (Babylonian)

Recorded in early 2020 with: Kate Bright (mezzo-soprano) and Ryan Williams (recorders)

This composition was written in response to the ongoing climate emergency. The work is based around a poem by Anne Elvey, "Earth Interview in the Anthropocene", which presents the thoughts and perspectives of the Earth in relation to the activities of its human inhabitants. Across the four movements of this composition, the poem is divided and contextualised with additional text: numerical text derived from climate data compiled by the Bureau of Meteorology; and a short fragment from the Enuma Elish, a Babylonian creation myth which is mentioned in Anne's poem. The presentation of climate data in this composition is at times abstract (presented as pitch material through the recorder part, or sung through the recorder), and at times direct (spoken or sung); its consistency is a reflection of our awareness of this global issue at this current point of the 21st century. The fragment taken from the Enuma Elish is a snippet of conversation between Tiamat and Apsū, the first two gods in this creation myth, in which they discuss the unending clamour caused by the other gods, their children. This small fragment of the Enuma Elish resonates with the tone of Earth Interview in the Anthropocene.

Pt. III: The four lines from the Enuma Elish are presented, set in the original Akkadian language. The text then reverts back to Earth Interview in the Anthropocene with the recorder player reciting further climate data through their instrument.

Earth Interview in the Anthropocene is used with permission from the author. Earth Interview in the Anthropocene was previously published in Rabbit 12: Late (Autumn 2014).

All numerical text/data used in this work is from the Bureau of Meteorology (Australian Government) and collated from 'Australian climate variability and change - Time series graphs' available at: www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/in…racker=timeseries under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (Au).
Full terms at: creativecommons.org/licenses/...

The text of the Enuma Elish is based on the transliteration by W. G. Lambert from Babylonian Creation Myths, published 2013 (Eisenbrauns). Permission to use this material is given by Pennsylvania State University Press.

For further excerpts of this work, please visit: https://www.lewisingham.com.au/listen

Under the Anthropocene (Pt. III) | mezzo-soprano + recorder (2020)

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.

Under the Anthropocene (Pt. III) | mezzo-soprano + recorder (2020)

Lewis Ingham | Composer

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