Name: Lifted Spirits by Liam Dutton
Duration: 2 min
Description: A track that invokes inspiration, feeling and hope.

Scoring Session Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gaXwLFEsZU
All Streaming Links: https://song.link/nightbeforechristmas

composed and orchestrated by Robin Hoffmann
performed by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra
conducted by David Hernando Rico
recorded by Martin Roller
mixed by Peter Fuchs

(c) 2024 by Robin Hoffmann. All rights reserved.

The Night Before Christmas

A symphonic composition paying homage to the pirate movie soundtracks of Hollywood's Golden Age, featuring an epic adventure theme and an emotional love theme.

All streaming options: https://song.link/piratewaters

When we recorded this, we had about one hour of studio time left with the 100-piece Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, after two intense days of recording. Normally, you'd tackle a demanding piece like this much earlier in the session, but for several reasons, that wasn’t possible this time. I asked David Hernando Rico, who was conducting the session, whether he thought the orchestra still had enough juice left for this piece, or if we should go with a slower, softer alternative I had prepared.
He smiled at me and replied, “Let’s do it!” — then walked straight out to the podium.

I was reasonably worried that this might end up being a waste of time — that the recording would sound like what it was: the final piece of the session, with everyone playing it safe and ready to call it a day.
But what happened next blew us all away.

The orchestra switched into hyperdrive and delivered a performance full of power, passion, and pure excitement. I’m incredibly thankful to each of the musicians for pouring their heart and soul into it and turning this into such a brilliant performance.

Extra props to my friend Salvo Cannuli on first trumpet, who laser-beamed his way through the piece — and rightfully scolded me afterward for making them go through this just before the end, which I had to mitigate by inviting him for a few drinks.

composed and orchestrated by Robin Hoffmann
performed by Bratislava Symphony Orchestra
conducted by David Hernando Rico
recorded by Martin Roller
mixed by Peter Fuchs

(c) 2025 by Robin Hoffmann. All rights reserved.

Pirate Waters

BBC World Service Trail 2017

A track that invokes inspiration, feeling and hope.

Lifted Spirits

Liam really enjoys music and has been musical from an early age. He learned to read music at the age of seven, whilst learning the recorder at primary school.

Having mastered the recorder, he started having piano lessons at the age of eight for a period of about two years. During this time, Liam also took up the trombone, but later gave it up to concentrate on the piano.

Even though Liam stopped having piano lessons, he continued to play and improve. For his GCSE music exam, he played grade 5 piano pieces, despite having never sat a formal grade exam in his life.

During his GCSE music course, Liam developed a liking for composing his own music. It was at this stage that he got his first taste of computer music.

Liam also used to be a member of a Samba percussion band and played a huge surdo drum and dabbled in a few other percussion instruments as well.

After a few years of being without a piano, Liam has recently got back into playing and has just started to write his own music again. He's currently a member PRS for music, where each of his compositions are registered.

Lifted Spirits

Liam Dutton

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