Salford Choral Society premiere of The Gardener with conductor Tom Newall

Composer’s Note

I approached this text from the point of character, drama and storytelling. I tried to inhabit the characters in the piece and act/ tell their story through music. 

Because Rebecca’s text is so rich and multilayered with many possible meanings, I was able to think about which layers/ emotional narratives to bring out musically. Sometimes I bring out an emotional narrative simmering slightly below the surface of the text, and sometimes I paint something closer to the surface.

It was important to me that the piece celebrates the joy of singing, music and life in all its complexities. I’ve kept music fast moving and full of bold contrasts and cinematic changes of perspective, responding to the humour and wit in Rebecca’s text and also its depth.

Listening Guide

We awake with a jolt and we hear the choir boldly announce the beginning of the day with the “First Light” theme. We join the crow’s morning routine. She is precise and serious and as she's pecking for worms we hear a pecking motif in the strings and then in the brass. Mist lifts around her in the harp and tremolo strings. The music becomes jubilant as the crow finds and eats a worm. There is a sharp shift from joy to horror as she crunches the worm. Emerging from the still aftermath of the worm’s death, we meet the gardener, who pops out into the garden to drink her morning tea and watch the sunlight dispelling mist. We jolt back to the perspective of the crow who watches the gardener do some gardening. As she’s digging the compost heap, she finds a grass snake. The grass snake is characterised by some slippery, silvery music in piano, harp, flutes and cor anglais, which we hear slowly slinking into the distance. 

A raucous drinking song breaks out as the gunnerra (a giant rhubarb plant), and an unseasonal heatwave, drink the pond dry. We then hear a slightly manic show tune, with rising panic about where all the pond creatures have gone. This ramps up and up until it explodes into a scream of GET THE WATERING CAN! This dissipates into the lethargy of a hot day. The pressure of heat starts building and building until we have a brief, rageous storm from which a gentle, meditative rain shower emerges.

Pizzicato strings nod and bob welcoming us to the meadow. The meadow is a bright collage of quickly changing, energetic music, acting like a collage of different coloured flowers.  The meadow dances, starting first with a bright waltz, then a more driving, snapping groove for seeds scattering and popping. We hear a buzzing tangle of flowers, each flower having its own melody and rhythm. First you hear each flower on its own, and then they start interlocking and tangling together. This bursts into a more rowdy waltz, where pollinators dance nectar drunk. These different sections are juxtaposed kaleidoscopically, creating a joyous and merry celebration of life.

Dusk then begins to fall, the work of the day is done, the gardener is sitting on a bench, watching the night encroach. There is a feeling of grief and delicate sadness, but also beauty, dignity and power. As the piece comes to a close, the opening “First Light” theme resounds, in the horn then the flute. First light rears its head as the natural world’s inevitable cycle of time begins again.

The Gardener

The Whale's Cabaret for Horn and Piano

Commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society

Dedicated to Lucy Hale

The first performance was given by Lynn Henderson and Ben Smith at Wigmore Hall on 16th July 2022

The first two movements of this recording are of the premiere. The third movement is a Sibelius demo.

The Whale's Cabaret

I saw the phrase “Life is a Daring Adventure or Nothing” in Leh, a town in the Indian Himalayas, where it was the name of a shop selling guided mountain treks. I set off on an adventurous trek but quickly developed altitude sickness and collapsed on a remote mountain path. Unfortunately, there was a long ascent up to 5000m before the next village. Things were not looking good until a pack of food carrying donkeys arrived and I was hoisted onto one of them. My donkey skilfully navigated the steep, rocky mountainside and we reached the top long before the rest of the group. I spent a few hours with the donkeys and the brilliant Himalayan view waiting for the two legged travellers. Each donkey had a bell and as they grazed, the bells gently tinkled creating a beautiful, calm sound to match the epic landscape. I start this piece with a gentle bell-like texture and the piece then sets off on a daring adventure.

Life is a Daring Adventure or Nothing

Dynamic Corpse

For flute, bass clarinet, piano (with superball mallet), electric guitar, violin, viola and cello

Commissioned by the FontanaMIX Ensemble
Funded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation

First performance: Teatro San Leonardo, Bologna on the 10th March 2022. This recording is of the second performance in Hannover on 11th March.

Conductor: Francesco La Licata
Flute: Lavinia Guillari
Clarinet: Marco Ignoti
Violin: Valentino Corvino
Viola: Corrado Carnevali
Cello: Sebastiano Severi
Piano: Franco Venturini
Electric Guitar: Walter Zanetti

Duration: c. 10 minutes

Dynamic Corpse

This is a live recording of the premiere of "The Alchemical Kitchen" by Lucy Armstrong and Rebecca Hurst.  The Cambridge Philharmonic and Chorus are conducted by Tom Primrose.

The first performance was given by Cambridge Philharmonic on 18th March 2023 at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge and the piece was commissioned by Tim Redmond and The Cambridge Philharmonic and Chorus. 

Programme Note:

The Alchemical Kitchen is a poetic and musical reflection on the creative process, and the connection of that process — sometimes mystical, sometimes mundane — to the minutiae of everyday life. Drawn to the idea of ‘glimmers’ (‘small moments that spark joy or peace, which can help cue our nervous system to feel safe or calm’), Rebecca took as her creative spark for this new work the opening lines of a poem she wrote in 2015 called Cabbage. Based on the gesture that opens the poem, of chopping a red cabbage in half, and inspired by the glimmers shared by members of the Cambridge Philharmonic, Rebecca and Lucy had long conversations about these small, often domestic moments. They talked about the glimmers that enrich our lives, inform our creativity, and connect us to others, such as braising a cabbage, running a stick along iron railings, or cradling a grandchild. The final text that emerged from this process takes a personal gesture and experience that is probably familiar to most humans (preparing food) and gives it transcendental resonance, inspiring music that celebrates the belief that our individual lives are of universal significance. The Alchemical Kitchen is a domestic-mystical, raucous, embodied, hopeful, and ultimately joyful celebration of life.

The Alchemical Kitchen

4 - Dusk Falls

Salford Choral Society premiere of The Gardener with conductor Tom Newall

Composer’s Note

I approached this text from the point of character, drama and storytelling. I tried to inhabit the characters in the piece and act/ tell their story through music.

Because Rebecca’s text is so rich and multilayered with many possible meanings, I was able to think about which layers/ emotional narratives to bring out musically. Sometimes I bring out an emotional narrative simmering slightly below the surface of the text, and sometimes I paint something closer to the surface.

It was important to me that the piece celebrates the joy of singing, music and life in all its complexities. I’ve kept music fast moving and full of bold contrasts and cinematic changes of perspective, responding to the humour and wit in Rebecca’s text and also its depth.

Listening Guide

We awake with a jolt and we hear the choir boldly announce the beginning of the day with the “First Light” theme. We join the crow’s morning routine. She is precise and serious and as she's pecking for worms we hear a pecking motif in the strings and then in the brass. Mist lifts around her in the harp and tremolo strings. The music becomes jubilant as the crow finds and eats a worm. There is a sharp shift from joy to horror as she crunches the worm. Emerging from the still aftermath of the worm’s death, we meet the gardener, who pops out into the garden to drink her morning tea and watch the sunlight dispelling mist. We jolt back to the perspective of the crow who watches the gardener do some gardening. As she’s digging the compost heap, she finds a grass snake. The grass snake is characterised by some slippery, silvery music in piano, harp, flutes and cor anglais, which we hear slowly slinking into the distance.

A raucous drinking song breaks out as the gunnerra (a giant rhubarb plant), and an unseasonal heatwave, drink the pond dry. We then hear a slightly manic show tune, with rising panic about where all the pond creatures have gone. This ramps up and up until it explodes into a scream of GET THE WATERING CAN! This dissipates into the lethargy of a hot day. The pressure of heat starts building and building until we have a brief, rageous storm from which a gentle, meditative rain shower emerges.

Pizzicato strings nod and bob welcoming us to the meadow. The meadow is a bright collage of quickly changing, energetic music, acting like a collage of different coloured flowers. The meadow dances, starting first with a bright waltz, then a more driving, snapping groove for seeds scattering and popping. We hear a buzzing tangle of flowers, each flower having its own melody and rhythm. First you hear each flower on its own, and then they start interlocking and tangling together. This bursts into a more rowdy waltz, where pollinators dance nectar drunk. These different sections are juxtaposed kaleidoscopically, creating a joyous and merry celebration of life.

Dusk then begins to fall, the work of the day is done, the gardener is sitting on a bench, watching the night encroach. There is a feeling of grief and delicate sadness, but also beauty, dignity and power. As the piece comes to a close, the opening “First Light” theme resounds, in the horn then the flute. First light rears its head as the natural world’s inevitable cycle of time begins again.

The Gardener - Dusk Falls

3. The Meadow

Salford Choral Society premiere of The Gardener with conductor Tom Newall

Composer’s Note

I approached this text from the point of character, drama and storytelling. I tried to inhabit the characters in the piece and act/ tell their story through music.

Because Rebecca’s text is so rich and multilayered with many possible meanings, I was able to think about which layers/ emotional narratives to bring out musically. Sometimes I bring out an emotional narrative simmering slightly below the surface of the text, and sometimes I paint something closer to the surface.

It was important to me that the piece celebrates the joy of singing, music and life in all its complexities. I’ve kept music fast moving and full of bold contrasts and cinematic changes of perspective, responding to the humour and wit in Rebecca’s text and also its depth.

Listening Guide

We awake with a jolt and we hear the choir boldly announce the beginning of the day with the “First Light” theme. We join the crow’s morning routine. She is precise and serious and as she's pecking for worms we hear a pecking motif in the strings and then in the brass. Mist lifts around her in the harp and tremolo strings. The music becomes jubilant as the crow finds and eats a worm. There is a sharp shift from joy to horror as she crunches the worm. Emerging from the still aftermath of the worm’s death, we meet the gardener, who pops out into the garden to drink her morning tea and watch the sunlight dispelling mist. We jolt back to the perspective of the crow who watches the gardener do some gardening. As she’s digging the compost heap, she finds a grass snake. The grass snake is characterised by some slippery, silvery music in piano, harp, flutes and cor anglais, which we hear slowly slinking into the distance.

A raucous drinking song breaks out as the gunnerra (a giant rhubarb plant), and an unseasonal heatwave, drink the pond dry. We then hear a slightly manic show tune, with rising panic about where all the pond creatures have gone. This ramps up and up until it explodes into a scream of GET THE WATERING CAN! This dissipates into the lethargy of a hot day. The pressure of heat starts building and building until we have a brief, rageous storm from which a gentle, meditative rain shower emerges.

Pizzicato strings nod and bob welcoming us to the meadow. The meadow is a bright collage of quickly changing, energetic music, acting like a collage of different coloured flowers. The meadow dances, starting first with a bright waltz, then a more driving, snapping groove for seeds scattering and popping. We hear a buzzing tangle of flowers, each flower having its own melody and rhythm. First you hear each flower on its own, and then they start interlocking and tangling together. This bursts into a more rowdy waltz, where pollinators dance nectar drunk. These different sections are juxtaposed kaleidoscopically, creating a joyous and merry celebration of life.

Dusk then begins to fall, the work of the day is done, the gardener is sitting on a bench, watching the night encroach. There is a feeling of grief and delicate sadness, but also beauty, dignity and power. As the piece comes to a close, the opening “First Light” theme resounds, in the horn then the flute. First light rears its head as the natural world’s inevitable cycle of time begins again.

The Gardener - The Meadow

2. Water Feature

Salford Choral Society premiere of The Gardener with conductor Tom Newall

Composer’s Note

I approached this text from the point of character, drama and storytelling. I tried to inhabit the characters in the piece and act/ tell their story through music.

Because Rebecca’s text is so rich and multilayered with many possible meanings, I was able to think about which layers/ emotional narratives to bring out musically. Sometimes I bring out an emotional narrative simmering slightly below the surface of the text, and sometimes I paint something closer to the surface.

It was important to me that the piece celebrates the joy of singing, music and life in all its complexities. I’ve kept music fast moving and full of bold contrasts and cinematic changes of perspective, responding to the humour and wit in Rebecca’s text and also its depth.

Listening Guide

We awake with a jolt and we hear the choir boldly announce the beginning of the day with the “First Light” theme. We join the crow’s morning routine. She is precise and serious and as she's pecking for worms we hear a pecking motif in the strings and then in the brass. Mist lifts around her in the harp and tremolo strings. The music becomes jubilant as the crow finds and eats a worm. There is a sharp shift from joy to horror as she crunches the worm. Emerging from the still aftermath of the worm’s death, we meet the gardener, who pops out into the garden to drink her morning tea and watch the sunlight dispelling mist. We jolt back to the perspective of the crow who watches the gardener do some gardening. As she’s digging the compost heap, she finds a grass snake. The grass snake is characterised by some slippery, silvery music in piano, harp, flutes and cor anglais, which we hear slowly slinking into the distance.

A raucous drinking song breaks out as the gunnerra (a giant rhubarb plant), and an unseasonal heatwave, drink the pond dry. We then hear a slightly manic show tune, with rising panic about where all the pond creatures have gone. This ramps up and up until it explodes into a scream of GET THE WATERING CAN! This dissipates into the lethargy of a hot day. The pressure of heat starts building and building until we have a brief, rageous storm from which a gentle, meditative rain shower emerges.

Pizzicato strings nod and bob welcoming us to the meadow. The meadow is a bright collage of quickly changing, energetic music, acting like a collage of different coloured flowers. The meadow dances, starting first with a bright waltz, then a more driving, snapping groove for seeds scattering and popping. We hear a buzzing tangle of flowers, each flower having its own melody and rhythm. First you hear each flower on its own, and then they start interlocking and tangling together. This bursts into a more rowdy waltz, where pollinators dance nectar drunk. These different sections are juxtaposed kaleidoscopically, creating a joyous and merry celebration of life.

Dusk then begins to fall, the work of the day is done, the gardener is sitting on a bench, watching the night encroach. There is a feeling of grief and delicate sadness, but also beauty, dignity and power. As the piece comes to a close, the opening “First Light” theme resounds, in the horn then the flute. First light rears its head as the natural world’s inevitable cycle of time begins again.

The Gardener - Water Feature

1. First Light

Salford Choral Society premiere of The Gardener with conductor Tom Newall

Composer’s Note

I approached this text from the point of character, drama and storytelling. I tried to inhabit the characters in the piece and act/ tell their story through music.

Because Rebecca’s text is so rich and multilayered with many possible meanings, I was able to think about which layers/ emotional narratives to bring out musically. Sometimes I bring out an emotional narrative simmering slightly below the surface of the text, and sometimes I paint something closer to the surface.

It was important to me that the piece celebrates the joy of singing, music and life in all its complexities. I’ve kept music fast moving and full of bold contrasts and cinematic changes of perspective, responding to the humour and wit in Rebecca’s text and also its depth.

Listening Guide

We awake with a jolt and we hear the choir boldly announce the beginning of the day with the “First Light” theme. We join the crow’s morning routine. She is precise and serious and as she's pecking for worms we hear a pecking motif in the strings and then in the brass. Mist lifts around her in the harp and tremolo strings. The music becomes jubilant as the crow finds and eats a worm. There is a sharp shift from joy to horror as she crunches the worm. Emerging from the still aftermath of the worm’s death, we meet the gardener, who pops out into the garden to drink her morning tea and watch the sunlight dispelling mist. We jolt back to the perspective of the crow who watches the gardener do some gardening. As she’s digging the compost heap, she finds a grass snake. The grass snake is characterised by some slippery, silvery music in piano, harp, flutes and cor anglais, which we hear slowly slinking into the distance.

A raucous drinking song breaks out as the gunnerra (a giant rhubarb plant), and an unseasonal heatwave, drink the pond dry. We then hear a slightly manic show tune, with rising panic about where all the pond creatures have gone. This ramps up and up until it explodes into a scream of GET THE WATERING CAN! This dissipates into the lethargy of a hot day. The pressure of heat starts building and building until we have a brief, rageous storm from which a gentle, meditative rain shower emerges.

Pizzicato strings nod and bob welcoming us to the meadow. The meadow is a bright collage of quickly changing, energetic music, acting like a collage of different coloured flowers. The meadow dances, starting first with a bright waltz, then a more driving, snapping groove for seeds scattering and popping. We hear a buzzing tangle of flowers, each flower having its own melody and rhythm. First you hear each flower on its own, and then they start interlocking and tangling together. This bursts into a more rowdy waltz, where pollinators dance nectar drunk. These different sections are juxtaposed kaleidoscopically, creating a joyous and merry celebration of life.

Dusk then begins to fall, the work of the day is done, the gardener is sitting on a bench, watching the night encroach. There is a feeling of grief and delicate sadness, but also beauty, dignity and power. As the piece comes to a close, the opening “First Light” theme resounds, in the horn then the flute. First light rears its head as the natural world’s inevitable cycle of time begins again.

The Gardener - First Light

Melodrama for Saxophone and Piano is a three-movement work written for Erin Royer in the summer of 2014.  After a tense opening, the first movement surges into a manic argument.  The following movement is a desolately melancholy reflection, interrupted by two surges of anger.  The final movement opens with a burst of joyous energy, banishing the doom-laden atmosphere.  Momentum is established from the start and keeps driving forward constantly, a soaring melody occasionally erupting from the pulsing drive. 

Melodrama for Saxophone and Piano was premiered by Erin Royer and Ben Powell at the 2015 World Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg.  This piece has been released on Erin's debut album "Into the Moment", which can be purchased here: http://www.erinroyer.com/purchase/

With thanks to Erin, with whom it has been a great pleasure to work. 

Soprano Saxophone - Erin Royer
Piano - Ben Powell
Recorded by Rob Buckland


Melodrama  II. Aftermath

Melodrama  I. The Argument

The RNCM Saxophone orchestra play Selections from Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George arranged by Lucy Armstrong.

Selections from Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George - RNCM Saxophone Orchestra

Extract from A Risk of Lobsters

This is the space section from my chamber opera 'A Risk of Lobsters'.  A greedy Crocodile Prince has been taken to space to learn a lesson about his insignificance from two stars.

Synopsis of the opera:

“ ‘’’’’man’’’’’ is what he eats. “ Ludwig Feuerbach 
This is a fairy tale told by an old man, who takes an obscene pleasure in the status quo, until the characters he invented decide to break the cycle. 
A Ferret Chancellor teaches his young monarch, the Crocodile Prince, how to eat well. His subjects  - the Sheep Chorus - , dance and sing for him until the Prince falls asleep. Two Swallows debate whether to kill him, or to change him for the better. Swallow One takes the Prince into Space where they encounter two Stars who teach the Prince humility. They then travel on to the depths of the sea, where they meet a gloomy Blobfish and a blind Deep-Sea Anglerfish, who, the Prince helps. Lastly, they are serenaded by a sheep in a pastoral paradise. The Swallow and the seemingly-transformed Crocodile fall in love. But truth, goodness and beauty will never change the Prince. The sheep is the disguised revolutionary Swallow Two. She kills the Prince. The Ferret Chancellor kills the assassin. He offers a piece of chocolate to the surviving Swallow. The Chancellor tempts the surviving Swallow with chocolate. As she begins to eat the Prince’s food, she is transformed into the new ruler. Delighted, the Old Man enters his own story, disrupting the order of his own narrative universe…


Conductor – Tim Redmond
Director – John Ramster

Assistant Conductor – Ashley Beauchamp
Répétiteur – Mairi Grewar 

Cast

Swallow 1: Zoe Drummond
Blobfish/Star 1: Samantha Clarke
Swallow 2: Madison Nonoa
The Crocodile Prince: Filipe Manu
Deep-Sea-Angler-Fish/Star 2/ Sheep 4: Séan Boylan
The Ferret Chancellor: Sam Carl
The Old Man: Benson Wilson
Sheep 1: Alexandra Lowe
Sheep 2: Carmen Artaza
Sheep 3: Lucy McAuley

Instrumentation

Flute/ Piccolo
Clarinet/ Bass Clarinet
Horn
Percussion
Harp
Piano
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Double Bass


Duration c.25 minutes

A Risk Of Lobsters - Space Section

Extract from A Risk of Lobsters

We are underwater. A blobfish is complaining that it's too wet and a deep sea anglerfish is complaining that it's too dark. The prince has the idea that he can light up underwater by giving the anglerfish a jewel from his crown. He can suddenly see in the the sea for the first time.

This is the underwater section from my chamber opera 'A Risk of Lobsters'. A greedy Crocodile Prince has been taken to the depths of the sea to learn about goodness. He helps someone for the first time by giving a miserable deep sea anglerfish a jewel from his crown, allowing the anglerfish to see. He witnesses the joy that helping others can bring.

Synopsis of the opera:

“ ‘’’’’man’’’’’ is what he eats. “ Ludwig Feuerbach
This is a fairy tale told by an old man, who takes an obscene pleasure in the status quo, until the characters he invented decide to break the cycle.
A Ferret Chancellor teaches his young monarch, the Crocodile Prince, how to eat well. His subjects - the Sheep Chorus - , dance and sing for him until the Prince falls asleep. Two Swallows debate whether to kill him, or to change him for the better. Swallow One takes the Prince into Space where they encounter two Stars who teach the Prince humility. They then travel on to the depths of the sea, where they meet a gloomy Blobfish and a blind Deep-Sea Anglerfish, who, the Prince helps. Lastly, they are serenaded by a sheep in a pastoral paradise. The Swallow and the seemingly-transformed Crocodile fall in love. But truth, goodness and beauty will never change the Prince. The sheep is the disguised revolutionary Swallow Two. She kills the Prince. The Ferret Chancellor kills the assassin. He offers a piece of chocolate to the surviving Swallow. The Chancellor tempts the surviving Swallow with chocolate. As she begins to eat the Prince’s food, she is transformed into the new ruler. Delighted, the Old Man enters his own story, disrupting the order of his own narrative universe…

Conductor – Tim Redmond
Director – John Ramster

Assistant Conductor – Ashley Beauchamp
Répétiteur – Mairi Grewar

Cast

Swallow 1: Zoe Drummond
Blobfish/Star 1: Samantha Clarke
Swallow 2: Madison Nonoa
The Crocodile Prince: Filipe Manu
Deep-Sea-Angler-Fish/Star 2/ Sheep 4: Séan Boylan
The Ferret Chancellor: Sam Carl
The Old Man: Benson Wilson
Sheep 1: Alexandra Lowe
Sheep 2: Carmen Artaza
Sheep 3: Lucy McAuley

Instrumentation

Flute/ Piccolo
Clarinet/ Bass Clarinet
Horn
Percussion
Harp
Piano
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Cello
Double Bass

Duration c.25 minutes

A Risk of Lobsters - Underwater Sequence

Lucy Armstrong is currently a Fellow of Composition at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama.  She studied at the Royal Northern College of Music under Adam Gorb and Gary Carpenter and at the Guildhall with Julian Philips.

Psappha Ensemble commissioned Lucy to write their first piece in honour of former patron, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and the resulting piece “The Executioner’s Pond” was premiered in March 2019.

Lucy was commissioned by Bergen National Opera to write the chamber opera, Nadja’s Song, which was premiered in Bergen and subsequently performed at the Tête à Tête Opera Festival in London and in Bogotá, Colombia.

Other recent commissions include: Psappha, Size Zero Opera, The Borealis Saxophone Quartet, The Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, RNCM Engage, The Meon Valley Orchestra, John Miller’s Brazmataz, A4 Brass and Music Theatre Bristol.

For more infomation visit: www.lucyarmstrong.net

Lucy Armstrong

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