'Earth' is a single-movement thematic piece for orchestra exploring contrasting moods based on an appreciation of the natural world. I started writing the piece in the summer of 2020 after school finished abruptly due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic saw communities come together to support and care for each other, and daily government-permitted time for fresh air helped me better appreciate how we should equally respect and protect our planet. The piece opens with a simple, delicate piano melody before expanding into a full symphonic score, exploring a series of themes and variations passed around the orchestra. There are moments of stillness, fragility, force, and intensity, with playful wind melodies, grand horn motifs, and cheeky string pizzicatos.

Winner of the University of Birmingham Music Society Composition Competition 2022.

Earth

'The Factory in a Garden' is inspired by the Cadbury story, from the tropical forests of ancient Mesoamerica to the suburban factory in present day Bournville. The piece follows a narrative structure, flowing from one section into another through morphologies and abstract framing. I wanted to experiment with creating soundscapes, combining this with more abstract sound objects to establish a discourse between auratic and abstract sound material. However, I was conscious not to convey the narrative through soundscapes alone, often using sounds to symbolise or refer to certain environments without constructing an ultra-realistic sonic landscape.

The Factory in a Garden

'Carousel' is a narrative piece based on an appreciation and recollection of life and growing up. The work can be divided into three prominent sections marking key stages in growth: the first, the evolution of life in the womb through to birth, the second, growing up through childhood to youth, and the third, early adulthood and the uncertainty of the future. I used a variety of sound material for this piece, but the majority is sourced from studio recordings of children’s toys, and memories from my childhood from archived videos and recordings. I was keen to primarily focus on these objects to push the limits of exploration of these sounds and create a coherent development of material. I also wanted to establish a discourse between auratic and abstract sounds, through processing pitched material from a kalimba, accordion, and a toy record player to craft swirling, slowly evolving textures. For the womb section, I initially limited the frequency range to less than 500Hz as this is the audible range of a foetus in utero. As the piece progresses, the listener is exposed to more varied and abrasive material, symbolising the blissful ignorance of childhood. The piece ends with a long, sustained drone accompanied by field recordings of a train platform, reflecting the transition to adulthood and the associated feelings of anxiousness and ambiguity. Often material development is gradual but there are occasional unexpected gestures mirroring the unpredictability of growth.

Carousel

'Postcards' is a multi-movement piece for brass composed for and commissioned by Cathays Brass. The piece explores a series of musical postcards ranging in mood and style with joyful upbeat grooves, slower folk/celtic song influences and a theme and variations on the popular Welsh tune, Calon Lân. I was keen to reflect the strong community feel of the band and contrast established brass band forms with more modern ideas.

Postcards

Welsh composer for concert and media born and based in Cardiff.

Michael Triggs

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