Track from the forthcoming CD and download of Marc Yeats' 'the shape distance' pieces for ensemble' recorded by Chamber Cartel. 

Studio recording from Chamber Cartel. This iteration 'the shape distance [11] for harp and piano' features Chamber Cartel members Connor Way [harp] and Amy O'Dell [piano]. Engineered by Thomas Avery at 800 East, Atlanta US, December 2013.

'the shape distance [11] for harp and piano' extends the recent set of unsynchronised works 'the shape distance', originally a series of seven pieces constructed somewhat akin to ‘Russian Dolls’ in that each contains the same or similar core material that is ‘enclosed’ by other layers of material. 

notes:
The musicians play independently of each other. Music is cued to begin only, with no ‘fixed’ synchronisation between the players. The pianist is instructed to begin approximately one minute after the notation for the harp begins. Whilst the relationship of each instrument is flexibly placed against its neighbour, care has been taken to calculate potential outcomes of coincidence and variability. To this end it is vital that metronome markings are adhered to as accurately as possible although the composer appreciates that it is the various interpretations and practicalities inherent in the realisation of tempi that contribute to the richly unique nature and interplay of each performance.

There is only one instructions to the players; to begin where indicated and play until their material is finished. This recording represents an iteration of the music; one possible outcome of many.

The score and parts
I have not produced a score for this piece as difficulties and variables associated with displaying the musical material in vertical alignment as represented in real time are considerable. Each performance will yield different results, interplays, gestural and harmonic references and outcomes. As a result, the material contained within the piece can only be read via the two piano parts. Consequently there is no ‘definitive’ performance of this music – each performance will be unique.

The Shape Distance [11] for Harp and Piano

Live recording of 'oros' [for 8 voices] performed by Auditiv Vokal of Dresden, Germany on 27th February 2014 at the Deutsches Hygiene Museum.

Recording courtesy of Deutschlandfunk Radio.

oros is Commissioned by Auditiv Vokal to celbrate “Einstürzende Mauern”. It will be premiered in Dresden on 26th February 2014 with a further performance on the 27th.

oros is for 8 voices: SSS AA T BB [ 3 sopranos, 2 altos, tenor and 2 basses]

I have already written an article around word setting called ‘in no way fixed [words and music parts 1 and 2] but on this occasion I can write specifically about a commission that allows me to experiment compositionally and technically with dedicated, professional contemporary vocal music specialists. This is a first for me so I wanted to maximise the opportunity and learn as much as possible about how far I can push the human voice within the context of my current compositional practice!

In writing a piece that relates to the theme of ‘falling walls’ [Einstürzende Mauer], I wanted to create an abstract work that was coloured by issues of freedom and liberation, both individual, social and cultural [avoiding the overtly political] and deliver this through an experimental [for me] and wildly contrasting, dramatic new vocal work. There are many programmatic and cliched pitfalls to avoid here. My aim was to write a completely abstracted work without narrative or direct illustrative reference. There would certainly be no ‘message’ in the music or any attempt at proselytising!

In fact, the whole idea or concept behind “Einstürzende Mauern” is difficult to translate into English. After conversations with Auditiv Vokal, I alighted on several ideas – colours even – that could articulate the concept as I describe below.

For the full article please see: http://www.objectively-speaking.com/wp2/oros/

Oros [for 8 voices]

For viola and percussion. 

Percussion: Crotales [upper octave] | Deep, resonant bass drum large, | deep Tam-tam | 2 Congas low / high| 2 Bongos low / high | 5 differently pitched Temple Blocks | High-Hat | Gong | Metal Wind Chimes  

circa 16 minutes in duration.

Live recording courtesy of DIVAcontemporary from Sonic Coast Concert Series [1] The Big Shed, Hooke Park, Beaminster, Dorset on the 26th July 2014

Stephen Upshaw [viola]
Calie Hough [percussion]

notes:
The instrumentalists play independently of each other. Music is cued to begin only or at various points throughout the work. There is no ‘fixed’ synchronisation between the instrumentalists apart from the very last section at figure 14. whilst the relationship of each instrument is flexibly placed against its neighbour, care has been taken to calculate potential outcomes of coincidence and variability. To this end it is vital that metronome markings are adhered to as accurately as possible although the composer appreciates that it is the various interpretations and practicalities inherent in the realisation of tempi that contribute to the richly unique nature and interplay of each performance.  

There is only one instruction to the players; to begin where indicated and play until their material is completed. Rehearsal marks are given in each part and do correspond across the score and parts as a whole being used as collection points throughout the work. Rehearsal marks may be used as starting points during rehearsals.

The viola material in beyond this [all had been chaos] is an expansion and further exploration of material in my viola solo hȳran [premiered by Stephen Upshaw on the 26th March at the Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London] that is presented as a micro-concerto for viola and percussion [perhaps]. Percussion material was freely devised in response to the shapes and gestures present in the viola material, transducted to suit the array of sounds available in this set-up.

The score and parts
I have not produced a score for beyond this [all had been chaos]; difficulties and variables associated with displaying the musical material in vertical alignment as represented in real time are considerable. Each performance will yield somewhat different results, interplays, gestural and harmonic references and outcomes. As a result, the material contained within the piece can only be read via the instrumental parts. Consequently there is no definitive performance of the piece.
beyond this [all had been chaos] can only be realised through performance [as opposed to comprehended by reading through a score]; this is the nature of the music – it has to be experienced to be ‘known’.    

A note about the title:
Recently searching through quotations extracted from the works of novelist, Thomas Hardy, I came across the extract below. The one phrase ‘ beyond this all had been chaos’ stood out as for me, it had musical implications around the genesis of a new piece of music forged [in my case at least] from a chaos of sound in my imagination. The music that followed is in no way connected to the quotation in any illustrative sense beyond the reference I have made above.

”He had been a lad of whom something was expected. Beyond this all had been chaos. That he would be successful in an original way, or that he would go to the dogs in an original way, seemed equally probable. The only absolute certainty about him was that he would not stand still in the circumstances amid which he was born.”

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), British novelist, poet. The Return of the Native, book third, ch. I (1878).

www.poemhunter.com

beyond this [all had been chaos]

I See Blue

This 1996 BBC Radio 3 recording is with the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. 

14 minutes for orchestra (3.3.3.3 - 4.3.3.1 - harp, piano, percussion (1) - 16.14.12.10.8) 

Note:

I See Blue (1995)

My first orchestral work and one of my first professional pieces composed shortly after my attendance at the Hoy Composer's Summer School on Orkney run by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Sally Beaminsh in 1994.

The work is in two parts. Its turbulent materials range from lyrical to cataclysmic.

The piece is dedicated to Sally Beamish and Robert Irvine. It was first performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins, Studio 7, BBC North, Manchester, November 1995.

I See Blue (for orchestra 1995)

VOX | for bass clarinet (2001)

Now 10 years old! 		

Performed and premiered by Sarah Watts

Duration: 12 mins. Commissioned by Sarah Watts. Premiere Rotterdam, Holland, 2002 with many subsequent national and international performances.

Vox review:
Sarah Watts, Park Lane Group Young Artist Concerts, Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London:

"Vox was premiered by and written for Sarah (Watts), with the intention of depicting as many voices as the instrument is capable of. In Sarah's hands the instrument spat, grumbled, screamed and sang throughout. Making use of the altissimo range of the instrument at every turn, this has to be one of the most demanding yet effective works in the repertoire, both musically and technically."

Sarah James, Clarinet and Saxophone Magazine

VOX (2001)

The world premiere of 'from manuscripts of moving song', a terse, condensed iteration of this string quartet from 2012 [live recording].

musicians: zero theorem: Aisha Orazbayeva [violin] Minsi Yang [violin] Stephen Upshaw [viola] Patrick Tapio Johnson [violoncello]

venue: Beaminster School, Newtown, Beaminster. Dorset DT8 3EP

Part of Sonic Coast [5] curated by Marc Yeats in partnership with DIVAcontemporary and Sound and Music with support form Sound and Music and Arts Council England Grants for the Arts.

The information below should not imply any programmatic, emotional or imagery treatment within this piece of entirely abstract music. Both title line and later, entire poem were discovered after the music was conceived. Information is given purely to place the title in its proper context.

‘Let Me Enjoy’ is the first of ‘A Set of Country Songs’, the 18 poems which make up the third section of Time’s Laughingstocks, and themselves begin with the seven poems grouped under the heading ‘At Casterbridge Fair’. It is also the first poem in Gerald Finzi’s Opus 19 set of songs, Till Earth Outwears, and Hardy later included it in his Selected Poems, together with a note suggesting that the subtitle ‘(Minor Key’) might not be needed when the poem appeared separately from the rest of the ‘Country Songs’. It was one of the nine poems Hardy chose for the Library of the Royal Dolls’ House at Windsor.

Hardy revised several lines at different times. In the Cornhill, where the poem first appeared in 1909, line 7 read ‘I will find charm in her loth air’; in the first volume publication, this was amended to ‘I will find charm in her uncare’ (a fascinating example of Hardy’s interest in words beginning with the prefix ‘un–‘, of which there are more than 350 different examples in the poems alone: to ‘uncare’ is surely not the same as merely to ‘not care’), before Hardy settled on the final version. In the third verse, ‘moving song’ was ‘rapturous strain’ in the manuscript, and ‘tender song’ in the Cornhill; perhaps more strikingly, ‘dreams’ in line 10 was ‘souls’ in the manuscript and remained so until Collected Poems in 1928. ‘And some day hence’, in the final verse, was ‘Perhaps some day’ in the manuscript and the first volume publication.

Let Me Enjoy                              
(Minor Key)
                                                 
I) Let me enjoy the earth no less
Because the all-enacting Might
That fashioned forth its loveliness
Had other aims than my delight.

II) About my path there flits a Fair,
Who throws me not a word or sign;
I’ll charm me with her ignoring air,
And laud the lips not meant for mine.
                                             
III) From manuscripts of moving song
Inspired by scenes and dreams unknown
I’ll pour out raptures that belong
To others, as they were my own.
                                                          
IV) And some day hence, towards Paradise
And all its blest – if such should be –
I will lift glad, afar-off eyes
Though it contain no place for me.

from manuscripts of moving song

Part 1 of 4 conversational interviews between Gordon Crosse, Mark Hewitt and Marc Yeats at Gordon's home, August 2014.

Gordon Crosse in conversation: part 1

'Live' conversation [2 of 4] with Gordon Crosse, Mark Hewitt and Marc Yeats recorded at Gordon's home in Suffolk, August 2014.

Gordon Crosse :: in conversation [2]

'Live' conversation [3 of 4] with Gordon Crosse, Mark Hewitt and Marc Yeats recorded at Gordon's home in Suffolk, August 2014.

Gordon Crosse in conversation :: [3]

'Live' conversation [4 of 4] with Gordon Crosse, Mark Hewitt and Marc Yeats recorded at Gordon's home in Suffolk, August 2014.

Gordon Crosse in Conversation :: [4]

Premiere recording by Daniele Colombo

cut•out (ˈkʌtˌaʊt)

n.
1. something cut out from something else, as a pattern cut out or intended to be cut out of paper.
2. a valve in the exhaust pipe of an internal-combustion engine, which when open permits the engine to exhaust directly into the air.
3. an act or instance of cutting out.
4. Slang. an intermediary, as in espionage.
5. a device for the manual or automatic interruption of electric current.
6. a usu. discontinued record album that is for sale at a discount.

Cutouts [solo violin] 2014

'streaming' for Kingma System Quartertone Alto Flute

Dedicated to and commissioned by Carlton Vickers. Duration: circa 20 minutes

World premiere live recording with the amazing Carlton Vickers on the 24th April, 2015, Slosberg Music Centre, Brandeis University, Boston US

I gratefully acknowledge the recording of this premiere by James Praznik, Presenter and co-director of New Music Brandeis.

Purchase the score here: http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/shop/p6839

“Streaming” presents a serene array of pools, each containing suspended quantities of crystalline particles. Global tempo composites equate to relative fluid motion, influencing local activity, while arrangement is held in stasis”.

Carlton Vickers | Specialist Contemporary Flute Virtuoso [US] | 10th October 2014 Facebook message

streaming_solo alto flute_0010
ˈstriːmɪŋ/
adjective: streaming

COMPUTING
relating to or making use of a form of tape transport in which data may be transferred in bulk while the tape is in motion.”a streaming tape drive”

◦ (of data) transmitted in a continuous stream while earlier parts are being used.

stream
striːm/
verb
gerund or present participle: streaming

(of liquid, air, gas, etc.) run or flow in a continuous current in a specified direction.”she sat with tears streaming down her face”

◦ (of a mass of people or things) move in a continuous flow in a specified direction.”he was watching the taxis streaming past”

◦ run with tears, sweat, or other liquid.”my eyes were streaming”

◦ (of hair, clothing, etc.) float or wave at full extent in the wind.”her black cloak streamed behind her”

COMPUTING
transmit or receive (data, especially video and audio material) over the Internet as a steady, continuous flow

streaming_solo alto flute 1_0015

Composers’ Note:
Whilst streaming is full of cross references, development and variants of its material held together by a fabric of rhythmic units permeating
the work as a whole, it was concieved and should be performed as a stream of consiousness; a single, uninterrupted flow of ideas constantly
in a state of flux and regeneration; detailed, colourful and frequetly energetic and explosive.

Marc Yeats

“Today, received “Streaming” for Kingma System quartertone alto flute by Marc Yeats. A massive 20< minute energy field. What a terrifying talent this man has. Effortless. Unreal.

Such a distinct honor.”

Carlton Vickers

Acknowledgements:
I am gratful for the use of Carla Rees wonderful resource The Kingma System Alto Flute: A Practical Guide for Composers and Performers (2013 version)
Royal College Of Music, London for mutiphonic and multiphonic trill fingerings for the Kingma system quartertone alto flute. The resource can be accessed
here.

Streaming [for alto flute 2014]

Timecode-Supported Polytemporal Music and Obsessive Self-Borrowing

Marc Yeats' compositional methodology, timecode-supported polytemporal music, proposes a radical departure from traditional ensemble coordination by replacing conductors, click tracks and unified scores with embedded timecodes referenced individually by performers via mobile stopwatches. Each player follows a fully notated, through-composed part at an independent tempo, resulting in decoupled, unsynchronised layers of sound. The method embraces and manages temporal indeterminacy—termed sonic flux—by containing it within local details to preserve global structural coherence. This innovative framework supports unfolding complex, polytemporal musical environments while allowing a high degree of performative flexibility.

Central to Yeats' process is a systematic and deliberate practice of obsessive self-borrowing. This involves the constant reuse and transformation of materials from earlier works, subjected to cycles of manipulation including tempo alteration, pitch restructuring through algorithmic methods, and rhythmic splicing. Tempo transformations, often realised as controlled reductions, allow for real-time time-stretching without disturbing rhythmic proportion, enabling multiple temporalities to coexist meaningfully. While rhythm remains a fixed, autonomous framework, pitch is freely mutable, creating harmonic openness akin to isorhythmic techniques.

These transformed materials are assembled into a digital compositional model, serving as a generative source for audio and instrumental parts. The resulting structures are intentionally flexible, designed to adapt to performance contexts without sacrificing coherence. Yeats positions his work as highly subjective yet systematically developed, with each performance offering a valid realisation, even as some are preferred over others based on the alignment with his compositional expectations.

This audio is an AI-generated podcast-style, 2-host discussion of the issues above based on several sources written by Marc Yeats including from his book, Music, Painting, Landscape and Me (Vision Edition 2024) and his forthcoming book, Timecode-Supported Polytemporal Music, What it is and How to write it (Vision Edition October 2025). 


Timecode-Supported Polytemporal Composition and Obsessive Self-Borrowing

Dedicated to my dear friend and composer, Sadie Harrison

This is a timecode-supported polytemporal composition

Duration circa: 16 minutes

World premiere in Berlin of 'but rather it stems from a complex interplay' (2023) for Treble Recorder, Cor anglais, Viola, and Double Bass with XelmYa (Sylvia Hinz, Blockflöten, Freddi Börnchen, Cor Anglais, Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska, Viola, and Georgios Kokkinaris, Kontrabass) at ‘Breakdown’, Unerhörte Musik Mehringdamm 34, 10961 Berlin, Germany.



but rather it stems from a complex interplay

I'm delighted to share this video recording of ‘Invention No. 4’ from ‘Four Inventions for Lauryna’ (2023), composed for and dedicated to my dear friend and pianist, the fabulous Lauryna Sableviciute. Lauryna premiered the piece on 17th August at the Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, Manchester, alongside William Byrd’s Pavan – ‘The Earl of Salisbury’, earning widespread praise. She recorded this splendid video shortly thereafter. 

I’m truly overjoyed with Lauryna’s performance. Her masterful balance of the intricate motific inner voices and the flowing upper and lower passages brings remarkable clarity, expressiveness and heart to the piece. This fills me with joy. Lauryna is eager to perform the remaining inventions in the future.

For more information and to view part of the score, please visit https://composersedition.com/marc-yeats-four-inventions-for-lauryna/
https://lauryna.co.uk/


‘Invention No. 4’ from ‘Four Inventions for Lauryna’ (2023).

One of the 'on a theme of Hermes' modules

Hermes 25

2015 :: 'the pictographs of emmanuel domenech' for 2 flutes, oboe / cor anglais, bass clarinet / E flat clarinet, contrabassoon, violin, viola, violoncello, harp, and percussion [3]*

*deep, resonant bass drum; 5 tom-toms ranging from low to high; 2 large, deep tam-tams; 5 differently pitched resonant wooden objects ranging from low to high [non-specific boxes, barrels, bowls, planks, logs etc.] or 5 differently pitched temple / wood blocks ranging from low to high; 4 differently pitched suspended cymbals ranging from high to low; 1 timpani [29′], mounted claves.

Dedicated to Gordon Crosse

11.30″ in duration.

Studio recording. Kim Kilmer and Jessica Sherer flutes plus members of the Bristol Ensemble including Roger Huckle, violin; Roger Heaton, bass clarinet, E flat clarinet; Chris Redgate, oboe / cor anglais.

notes: 
The instrumentalists play independently of each other. Music is cued to begin only with instruments starting at the same time. There is no ‘fixed’ synchronisation between the instrumentalists. Whilst the relationship of each instrument is flexibly placed against its neighbour, care has been taken to calculate potential outcomes of coincidence and variability. To this end it is vital that metronome markings and time code are adhered to as accurately as possible although the composer appreciates that it is the various interpretations and practicalities inherent in the realisation of tempi that contribute to the richly unique nature and interplay of each performance.

Compositional material is derived from a series of distant variations that unify all sections with thematic landmarks. Thematic material is audible throughout the piece, bringing cohesion and structure to the work. All the instrumental roles are written to a high degree of virtuosity and most contain extended techniques and quarter-tones. The music itself forms dense, highly complex and constantly changing relationships that are frequently wild and sometimes beautiful.

The score and parts:
I have not produced a score for the pictographs of emmanuel domenech; difficulties and variables associated with displaying the musical material in vertical alignment as represented in real time are considerable. Each performance will yield somewhat different results, interplays, gestural and harmonic references and outcomes. As a result, the material contained within the piece can only be read via the instrumental parts. Consequently there is no definitive performance of the piece.

the pictographs of emmanuel domenech can only be realised through performance [as opposed to comprehended by reading through a score]; this is the nature of the music – it has to be experienced to be ‘known’.

Time code:

Time code is not used to imply the use of any kind of click-track in performance or as a straightjacket to flexible performance within the ensemble. However, players are advised to use a stopwatch individually during the performance to help guide timings, prevent long-term tempo-drift and delivery of their material to achieve an outcome that most closely matches the composer’s intention. This is particularly useful after longer pauses or where tempo has slipped due to playing under or over the metronome markings and enables the performer to compensate by playing a little faster or slower to ‘catch up’ or extend / cut short pauses and rests as necessary to remain broadly on track with the time code.

As an alternative to personal stopwatch devices on mobile phones, a large, clearly visible digital stopclock showing seconds, minuts and hours may also be conveniently placed for the ensemble and soloist to refer to for timecode.



http://marc-yeats.co.uk/2015/08/the-pictographs-of-emmanuel-domenech-2015/


the pictographs of emmanuel domenech

 ‘shapeshifter’ [concerto for E flat clarinet and ensemble] Dedicated to Gleb Kanasevich :: clarinet in Eb [soloist] and ensemble: flute, violin, violoncello, guitar, piano and percussion [1]* Premiere at soundSCAPE Festival Maccagno, Italy, directed and premiered by Gleb Kanasevich with Christian Smith [percussion] Lisa Cella, Tristan McKay [piano] Jeremy Bass, Mark Fewer and James Burch.

https://soundcloud.com/gleb-kanasevich  https://soundcloud.com/christian-s-smith


Shapeshifter (timecode-supported polytemporal concerto for E-flat clarinet and ensemble).

Mahan Esfahani performs 'Rhema' for harpsichord by Marc Yeats at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall on the 22nd. August 2011 as part of the Manchester Pride Chamber Music Concert Series, produced by Les Pratt.

Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and dedicated to Mahan Esfahani, Rhema received its world premiere on the 29 October 2010 by Mahan Esfahani at the Clothworkers' Centenary Concert Hall at the University of Leeds. This premiere was subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Rhema

World Premiere Studio Recording | Trombone / Bass drums: Dirk Amrein | Recording Engineer: Phill Phelps | Mix: Marc Yeats

'prorrhesis' has been composed from a particular composition and performance aesthetic. Some of the music contained in this score is intentionally impossible to play at speed.  

Large leaps across registers, rapid execution of quarter tones and very fast, precisely notated passage work all contribute to the many challenges faced by the performer.   
I do not anticipate a 'perfect' performance and realise that some aspects of this piece will need to be 'sketched-out', approximated and to a certain extent, improvised to realise the music I have written. Flexibility is key to production. Whilst every care should be taken to be true to the manuscript within areas where this is possible and practical, interpretation and 'best-attempt' are desirable outcomes at points of extreme virtuosity or impossibility.  

In pushing what is technically possible to the absolute limit and sometimes beyond,  a brave, risk-taking performer will exceed the usual confines of their own technique to capture something of the colour, energy, risk and dynamism of the music that 'safer' forms of notation and performance style would inhibit.   

What is notated is an ideal. What is performed is a flexible realisation of that ideal.   

prorrhesis: historical context 

prorrhesis was part of the ancient Greek Eleusinian Mysteries. prorrhesis was the official announcement of the start of the rites. This announcement occurred on the 15th day of Boedromion (September), and was given by the hierophantes.     Instrumentation:  Tenor trombone (player to be seated) 2 differently pitched bass drums both operated by foot-pedal.   

Duration: circa 12.5 minutes.

Prorrhesis

The Round and Square Art of Memory (1999)  	 	

33 mins. Solo piano - 3.3.3.3 - 4.3.3.1 - 2 harps, percussion (6) - 16.14.12.10.8 

Commissioned by the BBC for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Kathryn Stott (piano). 1st performance to take place on 5th Feb. 2000 at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Kathryn Stott (piano), conductor Martyn Brabbins. 

The title for The Round and Square Art of Memory is taken from the illustrations of the Elizabethan alchemist Robert Fludd and refers to the different natures of encapsulating memory via symbol, geometry and line. This work explores the nature of memory to by referring to another work of mine, The Anatomy of Water. This piece is 'remembered' by hearing familiar music through the filter of altered perspectives and dimensions. These distorted memories act in turn as the starting point for the creation of completely new and independent musical material. Two natures of music are explored; the fluid and horizontal (round) and the rhythmic and vertical (square). The work gradually transforms from one to the other through an intense and volatile sound world. The piano's relationship with the orchestra is dominant but not confrontational; much of the musical material is shared with the orchestra as an equal virtuosic partner.

the round and square art of memory (for piano and orchestra (1999))

Pagan II (1996)  	 	

12 mins. for orchestra (3 picc.3.3.3 - 4.3.3.1 - piano, percussion (5) - 16.14.12.10.8)  
First performed by the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Naohiro Totsuka, Tokyo City Opera Concert Hall Tokyo, November 1997. 

A BBC Radio 3 broadcast with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies followed in February 2000 (this recording).     

For me, Pagan II is undoubtedly the most frightening, austere work I have ever composed. It is a personal glimpse into the abyss. The music has a ritualistic feel to it, as if some huge arcane and barbaric ceremony was being witnessed, and the participants of the ceremony were being, in turn, entranced through hypnotic 'dance', and brutalised through music which is violent, both rhythmically and harmonically. Pagan II is not intended to be a desolate pronouncement on our future, rather a glimpse of the unthinkable. Both Pagan I and II can be performed as a complete work. 

PAGAN II (for orchestra (1996)

Live premiere recording. 

schlick’s approximation is performed by Chroma (Stuart King, clarinet; Marcus Barcham-Stevens, violin; Martin Cousin, piano) recorded at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Manchester on the 27th August 2010.

schlick’s approximation was commissioned by Manchester Pride in 2010 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of 
American composer Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981).

The title for the work is drawn from the physics of refraction, in this case, refraction and reflection of light from metal surfaces (schlick’s approximation). *Please see technical note below. 

Why refraction? 

I felt that the physics of refraction best reflected some of the compositional processes and considerations that went into creating this music. My inspiration and starting point was the beautiful and lyrical work by Barber called Canzone, for flute and piano. From this piece I took the second phrase notated for flute (see extract below) and refracted (distorted) and harmonised it to the point where it was still recognisable but had become something quite different. The refracted material is reproduced for reference at the start of the score. It is not intended for performance as part of schlick’s approximation but can be performed purely for illustrative purposes. For my purpose, it serves as an unheard quasi introduction that leads into the piece. A falling motif taken from this silent introduction is further refracted. Performed primarily by the violin, it appears obsessively in nearly every other bar throughout the piece. Towards the end of the work, both clarinet and violin are singularly obsessed by it. This refracted motif represents the ‘ghost’ of the Canzone.

There is also reference to a work of mine: shadow and the moon. The refracted material from Canzone permeates the entire work but much of the fragmentary melodic material is extrapolated from shadow and the moon. Together with new material for the piano, the combined elements create a trio that I hope reflects much of the lyricism found in Barber’s Canzone whilst reflecting my own compositional aesthetics and language.

*In 3D computer graphics, Schlick's approximation is a formula for approximating the BRDF of metallic surfaces. It was proposed by Christophe Schlick to approximate the contributions of Fresnel terms in the specular reflection of light from conducting surfaces. According to Schlick's model, the specular reflection coefficient R is given by where θ is the incident angle (which equals the reflected angle for specular reflection) and R0 is the reflectance at normal incidence (i.e. the value of the Fresnel term when θ = 0).

The bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF;  ) is a four-dimensional function that defines how light is reflected at an opaque surface. The function takes an incoming light direction and outgoing direction both defined with respect to the surface normal and returns the ratio of reflected radiance exiting along   to the irradiance incident on the surface from direction  . Note that each direction is itself parameterized by azimuth angle φ and zenith angle θ, therefore the BRDF as a whole is 4-dimensional. The BRDF has units sr-1, with steradians (sr) being a unit of solid angle. 







schlick's approximation (2010)

'pulviscular compression' is a terse, compressed, agitated and somewhat relentless 11-minute piece for 19 string instruments that attempts to establish a comparative degree of calmness and resolution toward its conclusion.  'pulviscular compression's' relationship to landscape, intuitively established through self-borrowed materials taken from 'observation 4', and 'observation 5' and before them, the original 'observation' quartets, 'observation 1', and 'observation 2' is occasionally audible but frequently obscured by the dense polyphonic and polytemporal entanglement of all 19 independent instrumental voices.

'pulviscular compression' is spatially organised as four string quartets and three double basses. Recordings were made with the Karski Quartet and the Viridis Quartet at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (RNCM) on the 15th March 2019 with the support of Larry Goves, senior composition lecturer at the RNCM. 'pulviscular compression' is composed primarily from the material of two previously extant string quartets, 'observation 4', and 'observation 5', that were brought together as 'pulviscular observation' for the RNCM event 'The Future of the String Quartet' with @RNCMvoice and Ensemble+, the RNCM's new networking units. 'pulviscular compression' also constitutes a string module within a larger composition for chamber orchestra called  '[...] which constantly generates a pulviscular cloud [...]' (2019) that has been built as part of my practice-based PhD research project at the University of Leeds that investigates 'Control, Flexibility, Flux and Complexity: A timecode-Supported Approach to Polytemporal Orchestral Composition. If you'd like to find out more about my research at the University of Leeds, please click on this link: https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/music/pgr/1675/marc-yeats

Pulviscular Compression

Dedicated to To Gráinne Mulvey

'pulviscular observations' is an intimate, compressed, elegiac and sometimes explosive 11-minute piece for double string quartet. 'pulviscular observation‘s' relationship to landscape, intuitively established through self-borrowed materials taken from 'observation 4', and 'observation 5' and before them, the original 'observation' quartets, 'observation 1', and 'observation 2' is frequently audible despite the sometimes simultaneous energetic polyphonic and polytemporal entanglement of all 8 independent instrumental voices.

Recordings were made with the Karski Quartet and the Viridis Quartet string at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (RNCM) on the 15th March 2019 with the support of Larry Goves, senior composition lecturer at the RNCM. ‘pulviscular observation’ is composed primarily of the material from two previously extant string quartets, 'observation 4', and 'observation 5', that were brought together as pulviscular observation for the RNCM event ‘The Future of the String Quartet’ with @RNCMvoice and Ensemble+, the RNCM’s new networking units. 'pulviscular observation' also constitutes a string module within a larger composition for chamber orchestra called ‘[…] which constantly generates a pulviscular cloud […]’ (2019) that has been built as part of my practice-based PhD research project at the University of Leeds that investigates ‘Control, Flexibility, Flux and Complexity: A timecode-Supported Approach to Polytemporal Orchestral Composition. If you’d like to find out more about my research at the University of Leeds, please click on this link: ahc.leeds.ac.uk/music/pgr/1675/marc-yeats

Pulviscular Observations

Fallen Angel (2007) - live premiere recording.

For four bass clarinets and percussion (With guest percussionist Iain Sandilands)

Duration – 10:00 

Commissioned by The Scottish Clarinet Quartet. 

Premiere 17th August 2008 as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.


More about the SCQ: http://www.scq.org.uk/


Fallen Angel (2007)

Instrumentation:

3 Flutes, Eb Clarinet, 2 Bb Clarinets, 3 Oboes, 2 doubling Cor Anglais, 2 Trumpets in Bb, Tenor Trombone, Bass Trombone, Piano, Harp, Percussion (1 player)* STRINGS: 7, 5, 5, 6, 2. 

41 players spatially organised as:

Group 1: Clarinet in Eb, Flute 3, Violin, Violoncello, Guitar, Piano and Percussion 
Group 2: Oboe 1, Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2, Violin solo, String Quartet

Group 3: 4 Violin 1, 4 Violin 2, 4 Viola, 4 Violoncello and 2 Double Basses

Group 4: Flute 1, Flute 2  

Group 5: Two Trumpets in Bb, Tenor Trombone, Bass Trombone

Group 6: Oboe 2 doubling Cor Anglais, Oboe 3, Harp

Duration 20’36”

Performers include:
Group 1: Gleb Kanasevich (clarinet in Eb)Christian Smith (percussion) Lisa Cella (flute), Tristan McKay (piano) Jeremy Bass (guitar), Mark Fewer (violin) and James Burch (cello); Group 2 and 6: Zero Theorem string quartet, Players from the Bristol Ensemble including Roger Heaton (clarinets) and Chris Redgate (oboe/cor)Group 3: the Karski Quartet and Viridis Quartets, Group 4: (additional flutes) from Chamber Cartel, Group 5: Meridian Brass, Dirk Amrein (trombones). 

Performance instructions:  
1) This piece is unconducted. 
2) There is no score. All notated material is within each performer’s part. 
3) It is anticipated that the orchestra will be positioned in a conventional manner, but the nature of the music and performance also lends itself to new spatial configurations, should these be appropriate.  
4) All instrumentalists play independently of each other. The composer treats each performer as a uniquely independent voice.  
5) Music is cued only at the start when all stopwatches are synchronised. There are no other points of ‘fixed’ synchronisation between the instrumentalists.  
6) Whilst the relationship of each instrument is somewhat flexibly placed against its neighbour, care has been taken to calculate potential outcomes of coincidence and variability. To this end, it is vital that metronome markings and timecode are adhered to as accurately as possible throughout the performance.    

The Score and Parts: There is no score for this orchestral work. All musical material and instruction are fully notated within each player’s individual parts. Adherence to timecode ensures that the architecture of the piece remains intact, but the on-going interpretation of tempi and timecode creates contextual changes to the alignment of musical detail between all the parts. As such, there is no definitive performance; the music has to be performed or experienced to be ‘known’. 
 
Timecode: Timecode is not used to imply the use of any kind of click-track in performance or to be seen as a straitjacket to flexible performance within the orchestra and timecode framework. However, players are required to use individual mobile phone stopwatches during the performance to help structure timings, prevent long-term tempo-drift and delivery of their material to achieve an outcome that most closely matches the composer's structural intention. Continual reference to the timecode embedded in each part when read in reference to the stopwatch is particularly useful after longer pauses or where tempo has slipped due to playing under or over the metronome markings, enabling the performer to compensate by playing a little faster or slower to 'catch up' or extend or cut short pauses and rests as necessary to remain broadly on track with the timecode throughout the piece. It is important to start and also complete phrases within and as close to timecode parameters as possible. Please adjust your playing speeds continually to align with the timecode.

[...] which constantly generates a pulviscular cloud [...]

For violin and ensemble

Dedicated to Peter Sheppard Skaerved

Instrumentation: Violin solo, 1 Oboe, 2 Clarinets in B-flat, Harp, String Quartet and Percussion (1 player)*

*Deep, resonant bass drum; 2 differently pitched Tam-tams; 4 suspended cymbals ranging from high to low in pitch. This is a timecode-supported polytemporal ensemble piece.

Duration: 13 minutes.

programme note: cut•out (ˈkʌtˌaʊt)  n. 1. something cut out from something else, as a pattern cut out or intended to be cut out of paper. 2. a valve in the exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine, which when open permits the engine to exhaust directly into the air. 3. an act or instance of cutting out. 4. Slang. an intermediary, as in espionage. 5. a device for the manual or automatic interruption of electric current. 6. a usu. discontinued record album that is for sale at a discount. (1790–1800)

Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Performed by: Daniele Colombo (solo violin) Zero Theorem (string quartet) Members of the Bristol Ensemble (oboe, clarinets, harp, percussion).

A full recording will be released on a Marc Yeats Ensemble Music CD later in 2020.

Cutouts For Ensemble (2019) Extract

LOGOS – Concerto for violoncello and small ensemble (2013) | dedicated to Antara Annemarie Borg and Patrick Tapio Johnson who is the soloist in this recording. 

instrumentation: [8 players] violoncello, oboe clarinet in Bb/bass clarinet in Bb violin viola harp percussion 1: 5 different pitch temple blocks ranging from high to low / 2 differently pitched tam-tams percussion 2: 4 differently pitched suspended cymbals ranging from high to low / 1 timpani drum 29"-28" 

Duration circa 14 minutes

'logos', a condensed concerto for violoncello and small ensemble developed from the solo cello work 'pathos' following an idea to extend the work into a concerto type piece from my partner, Mark. This suggestion quickly took hold of my imagination and I soon began to sketch out the form and instrumentation of the concerto. The material for the solo cello is largely untouched from the original but is broken into sections across the work's duration. The additional music for oboe, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, viola, harp and two percussionists is all new and radically redefines the music from 'pathos' within this context.


Note: For the eagle-eyed among you, you will have noticed that there are differences between the recording and the score version of this piece. The original score to this work was lost after a computer failure in 2013. The new score holds much of the same basic material along with a number of additional strands of new material to thicken out the polyphony in a few areas along with some tidying up of the various voices. So be prepared for discrepancies. I look forward to a new performance from this enhanced score.

For more information, please visit: https://www.marc-yeats.com/logos-2013/

LOGOS for violoncello and ensemble

World Premiere recording by Sylvia Hinz. Online live concert. 13th February 2021. I realitätsverschwinden solo

Score published by Composers Edition: https://composersedition.com/marc-yeats-pneuma/

'pnuema' is full of cross-references, development and variants of its material held together by a fabric of rhythmic units permeating the work as a whole. It was conceived and should be performed as a stream of consciousness; a single seldom interrupted flow of ideas constantly in a state of flux and regeneration; detailed, colourful and frequently explosive.

Pneuma, ‘air in motion, breath, wind’, is equivalent in the material monism of Anaximenes to aer (ἀήρ, ‘air’) as the element from which all else originated. This usage is the earliest extant occurrence of the term in philosophy. A quotation from Anaximenes observes that ‘just as our soul (psyche), being air (aer), holds us together, so do breath (pneuma) and air (aer) encompass the whole world.’ In this early usage, aer and pneuma are synonymous.

Wikipedia

Duration: circa 12 minutes.

Pneuma (2020) For Paetzold Double Bass Recorder

Marc Yeats is an internationally renowned composer and visual artist whose compositions have been performed by the most noted of orchestras and ensembles across the globe. These include UK companies such as The London Sinfonietta and The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic and the Halle Orchestra and Chorus. Further afield, Marc’s work has also been performed by the Tokyo City Philharmonic, the Atlanta based, Chamber Cartel, and many others. His compositions have gained great acclaim through many radio broadcasts for the BBC and also been broadcast in many other countries including the US, Germany and New Zealand.

Marc’s relationship with the BBC is both strong and enduring, starting with a BBC Scotland performance by the Edinburgh String Quartet more than 20 years ago. His first orchestral work – I See Blue – conducted by Martyn Brabbins, received much acclaim when first performed around the same time. This led to specific BBC commissions, including a piano concerto to open Piano 2000 in Manchester, with Kathryn Stott as soloist, and a solo harpsichord piece ‘Rhema’, performed by Mahan Esfahani and broadcast in 2010 by BBC Radio 3 from the Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall in Leeds.

Selection as one of just 10 to attend the legendary Hoy Summer School in 1994 brought Marc into contact with the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. At the completion of the course, Max was keen to support and promote Marc’s work, and conducted his first commission with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the St. Magnus Festival in 1997. He and Marc continued to share ideas, and Max took a great interest in Marc’s visual art and compositional work with mobile technologies and a range of asynchronous structural approaches to composition.

Marc is excited to have recently been appointed composer-in-residence to Yeovil District and Dorchester County Hospitals, a position he has also held with other UK and US organisations. Work such as My Blood Is As Red As Yours’ (an orchestral and choral piece commissioned by the Halle to celebrate World Aids Day in 2008 and performed at the Bridgewater Hall) and recent work, such as ‘shapeshifter’ and ‘the observation quartets’ continues to enhance his reputation as a leading contemporary composer.

Marc Yeats

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