Frida Sketches (2012)

String Trio (1994)

Glass Medusa (1996)

Works with String Quartet

Frida Sketches 						
for string quartet 
by Paul Max Edlin

Programme Note:
The Mexican painter Frida Kahlo had an extraordinary life.  Born in 1907, she died at middle age in 1954.  At six she developed polio and a terrifying bus accident in her teens meant that she suffered life-long physical and health problems.  She married the Mexican artist and muralist Diego Rivera, who was twenty years her senior.  They had a tempestuous marriage, divorced and remarried.  No doubt due to her illness and her confinement to bed or being strapped in a body cast, Frida became self obsessed and made many extraordinary self-portraits.  These self-portraits tell us as much about Mexican culture, religion and symbolism, about the tragedy of the country at that time, its politics and its history as they do about Frida and her love-hate relationship with Diego.  Frida also kept a diary, and that is yet another fascinating glimpse into this surreal artist’s equally surreal world.

As a composer who has been surrounded by visual art all my life and for whom surrealist painting is particularly relevant, Frida Kahlo’s work excites me.  Furthermore, I have a love for symbolism in music and enjoy transferring extra-musical ideas into music itself – thus a piece becomes even more than its apparent surface.  A piece ‘becomes’ what it is because of what inspires it and what drives it.  Using ciphers, Frida’s name, the names of those who were around her, the name of her home, etc all ‘create’ the musical notes.  The diary inspires the musical structure – especially the passages which are ‘stream-of-consciousness’ that are actually highly poetic and highly rigorous in design.  Finally, the music of Lotti’s ‘Crucifixus’ permeates passages, and so it should as this is music that alludes to Frida’s world and her own crucifixion as a result of that tragic accident.

Frida Sketches is a sketch about the woman and her world, and it is a starting point for me to track a new path.  The work was written for the Arditti Quartet to whom it is dedicated.  

This performance, by the Arditti Quartet, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 3rd June 2012.

© Paul Max Edlin 2012 

Frida Sketches (2012) - Arditti Quartet

1994 - Complete work in 3 movements
This string trio was commissioned by the British composer Alan Ridout shortly before he died. Alan Ridout had taught at the RCM and lived and worked in Canterbury, as did I at the time, and he wanted to support my work. He was passionate about the medium of the string trio, and, I suspect, even considered it superior to the quartet, and certainly hugely underrated.
The medium of the string trio is a fascinating one, and, in many respects, makes more logistical sense than the conventional string quartet, being beautifully and equally balanced. This works explores a range of textures and designs as well as personal symbolism. Thus it combines public and private messages, a means of creativity that I find stimulating and fulfilling. This recording is of a live performance given by members of the Tippett Quartet. 
© Paul Max Edlin 2016

String Trio (1994) - Complete Work - Tippett Quartet

1996
for clarinet in A and string quartet

A work in which the inspiration and material is drawn from the Greek myth of Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa.  It treats the clarinet as soloist and protagonist in what is essentially a chamber sized tone poem.  Warped reflections of musical material are contained within a piece that encompasses symbolic representations, including ciphers.  These are based on key elements of the ancient myth that tells of Perseus' encounters with Athene, Hermes, the Graeae and, most particularly, the Medusa. 

This recording is of a live performance given by David Campbell and the Bingham String Quartet in 1997.  Grateful thanks to David Campbell and the Bingham String Quartet for giving permission to make this recording publicly available.

Glass Medusa - Clarinet Quintet (1996) - David Campbell & Bingham String Quartet

Paul Max Edlin's music is published by Composers Edition. 

Paul Max Edlin, 2016/2017 Composer in Residence for the London Chamber Orchestra, has a career that combines composing with higher education, artistic direction and performing.  

His works have been performed by many leading artists including Alison Balsom, Arditti Quartet, Britten Sinfonia, David Campbell, Cantus Ansambl, Dame Sarah Connolly, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Rolf Hind, Johannes Möller, London Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Olga Pasiecznik, Psappha, Silesian Quartet, Southbank Sinfonia, Gabriella Swallow, John Wallace and The Wallace Collection and Bede Williams. 

He studied with Edwin Roxburgh, Richard Blackford and Joseph Horowitz (Royal College of Music) and Michael Finnissy (University of Sussex). He has won many prizes including Premio Internazionale Ancona, Harriet Cohen Memorial Award and United Music Publishers Prize. His music explores symbolism and often derives its inspiration from extra musical material. From the mid 80’s to mid 90’s many works were inspired by the art and architecture of South-East Asia, especially Indochina. From 2000 onward symbolism of a wider range of sources guided his music, from the chiastic structures of J.S. Bach to the writings of Gabriel García Márquez and Federico García Lorca and visual work of Frida Kahlo.

Paul Max Edlin is former Director of Music at Queen Mary University of London. He was Artistic Director of Deal Music & Arts (formerly Deal Festival) from 2004 to 2021, Sounds New (2007 to 2013), Director of International Composer Pyramid (2008-2013) and was founding Chair of the Board of Trustees of Ora Singers. He is current Executive Chair of W.E. International Music Festival, which brings eastern and western cultures together.  From 2012 to 2013 he was President of the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM), the UK's leading association for professional musicians.