Budding Sounds is a climate change and sound art project that composer and sound artist Robert Coleman initiated with students from Clonburris N.S. and Rathfarnham Parish N.S.  

For full documentation see youtube here: https://youtu.be/91OGy7MoK9A

Beginning in January 2022 the participating schoolchildren took part in a 12-part series of environmental education and sound art workshops co-presented by Robert and fellow members from Climate Love Ireland; Talita Marcillo, Cathelijne de Wit and Climate Love Ireland founder Laragh McCann. At the heart of the project was a tree planting initiative where the  schoolchildren planted native trees in their schools and some at their homes too. Regular visits to the trees, checking in on their growth and development provided a backdrop to the workshops which included creative exercises such as  composing sound collages, making sound maps, and field  recordings, nature connection meditations as well as  presentations on air pollution, biodiversity,  sustainability, and more. This all combined into one educational art-science experience, teaching the schoolchildren more about our  environment, what they can do to help, and crucially,  creative ways in which to express themselves about it.   

The project culminated with a sound installation and exhibition at Rua Red South Dublin Art Centre on 1st/2n July 2022. 
This showcased creative work by the children, Robert, and Climate Love Ireland  members expressing the stories and progress of their tree planting, as well as what the schoolchildren learned and their hopes for the future.    

In collaboration with Climate Love Ireland, facilitated by  Alternative Entertainments and funded by Creative Ireland South Dublin.

Budding Sounds Documentation (3 min extracts)

Live recording of the premier. 
Performed by Clare McCague at the Lutheran Hall, Adelaide Road, Dublin on 28th February 2016. 


When writing for the harp many composers and orchestrators suggest not to over-use the glissando. In writing this piece I decided to resist this advice and make extensive use of the technique for the first theme. At the time I was staying in a small cottage by the sea and the glissando seemed a very suitable way to relate to the rolling of the waves outside. Contrasting material using different techniques were then written at a later date to complete the conversation of the piece. 


Nocturne for solo harp

Track no. 6 for voice and electronics from the 6 movement song cycle, the Sleep of Reason by Robert Coleman

Words by Morri Creech - The Waywiser Press
Premiered at Kirkos: Wilderness Notes, September 1st 2017, Filmbase, Dublin with film by Atoosa Pour Hosseini of the Experimental Film Society

Sarah Thursfield: voice

The Sleep of Reason is a six movement song cycle using words from the American poet Morri Creech. Written for soprano, chamber ensemble and electronics, each movement reflects a kind of dreamscape and is an exercise in restraint and focus of material. The text describes aspects of contemporary suburban life while simultaneously delving into deeper territories of the conscious mind, revealing a thoughtful and personal examination between sleep and waking, life and death.

The Sleep of Reason VI: Cold Pastoral

Performed by Universe Birds Vocal Ensemble: Kitty Lai, Pia Rener, Phoebe Kirrage, Gita Rebeka Dirveika, Ana Maria Lopes and Carolina Luís
Conducted by Georgi Sztojanov

'Look at it other way round' is written for a vocal ensemble of six sopranos. Musical material was first written and then reduced and expanded to different proportions and presented like variations on a theme. The inspiration for this comes from my current research into architectural representation and how objects can be presented at various scales allowing the viewer to relate to it in an entirely different way. 
This idea is also reflected in the text which is taken from James Joyce's Ulysses. The words vary from coherent phrases to more chaotic fragments and the result is music which at times is intelligible, and at other times is pushed out of context and beyond normal comprehension.

Recorded and mixed by Alla Blehman

Look At It Other Way Round

video of performance available on Youtube at https://youtu.be/hUxnn7L1GYM

Live recording performed by the SinfoNua Orchestra and conducted by David Brophy at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, 3rd September 2018.

Instrumentation: 2d1, 2, 2, 2+1 - 4, 3, 3, 1, 2 perc, str

Type: orchestral

Year: 2018

Premiere: Performed by the SinfoNua Orchestra, conducted by David Brophy at the Cork School of Music, 2nd September 2018.

Duration: 12’30

Words by: Luna Fides

Colours depend on the light you see was commissioned by the National Concert Hall, Dublin as part of the Jerome Hynes Young Composers' Award 2017

Colours depend on the light you see is an exploration of music as object. Various blocks of material are introduced and then revealed in another context, either layered with other material, expanded, contracted or fragmented. The result is a quasi-static atmosphere where changing perspectives and viewpoints are given of the various musical entities. The title is a phrase from Joyce's Ulysses and I chose it because of how it references the vast array of colours (essentially different perspectives) that can be produced from a single entity (light).


(extract from) Spaces

i once read that

there are names for the spaces

in between

body parts,

architectural structures,

musical notes.

names for spaces

as if they are

real

concrete

solid

and not just

gaps

voids

silences

Colours Depend On The Light You See

video of performance available on Youtube at https://youtu.be/Z_H5vuGxp1c

Live recording performed by the Residentie Orkest and conducted by Antony Hermus. 

Instrumentation: 3d1, 3, 2, 2 - 4, 2, 3, 1, 2 perc, str

Type: orchestral

Year: 2018

Premiere: Performed by the Residentie Orkest, conducted by Antony Hermus, 19th October 2018, Zuiderstrandtheatre, Den Haag.

Duration: 1’30

Energy is also important is an orchestral miniature written for the the Residentie Orkest. For this piece I was inspired by Charlie, the doorman at the construction site for the OCC, the Hague. He spoke to me of life working on the site but also of his past and most unexpectedly, doing service in the Lebanon. This piece aims to evoke his positivity and enthusiasm while also quietly reflecting on the realities of life. It uses his words “I see the stars, I'm there again”, which references how the night sky takes him back to his time in war.

Energy Is Also Important Performed By Residentie Orkest

Diamond Cutting for Quarter-tone pianos
Performed by Carlos Castro van der Elst and Rakhadin Yarmetov, Spring Festival 2nd April 2019

This work comprises of different cuttings from a musical object. The object is formed from a numerical sequence based on the
number of forms of polyiamonds that can be created from an
equilateral triangle. The cutting of the object was an intuitive process to reveal the beauty of the material and as such I refer to the object as a diamond and the act of writing this work as diamond cutting

Diamond Cutting

"The shape of the sky cannot be explained as a physical phenomenon, but is the result of your own observation, an impression created inside your own head. The Celestial Vault is not a sculpture in the landscape, but a tool to look at light and colour”
James Turrell

How many sides do you see is a site specific work for accordion, clarinet and double bass written for performance at James Turrell's Celestial Vault, Kijkduin.

The work is inspired by light, and uses the data from a daylight spectrum to create musical material. From this five movements are drawn out, representing five colours of the spectrum; Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue and Violet. 

There is no full score for the work. For every movement, each instrument has its own specific position around the site ranging from most distant from the centre, to gathering together at the centre. In this way the movement of the performers represent the movement of the sun across the sky. 

Performed by But What About: Wilco Oomkes (Accordion), Julian Sarmiento (Double Bass), Vincent Martig (Clarinet)

Composer: Robert Coleman
Recording engineer: Alla Blehman

Premiered at Dune Works, 4th May 2019 at James Turrell's Celestial Vault, Kijkduin.

Special thanks to Stroom Den Haag and to the Creative Departments of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag for support

Video editing: Robert Coleman
Camera operators: Domenic Jarlkaganova, Wilf Amis and Wilson Leywantono

How Many Sides Do You See?

(Audio extract from Audiovisual work - to see original work please visit my youtube channel at: https://youtu.be/H3Pa6PJe_-o)

Cross was first exhibited at Attrition ж A Musical Tribute to a Lost Generation on 21st September 2019 at Farmleigh House. It originally was installed with each figure on a separate screen. 

Cross is an audiovisual work by Robert Coleman taking inspiration from a leading figure of the Irish Rebellion, Thomas Ashe.
In 1917 Ashe was imprisoned by British authorities for seditious speech. He was sentenced to two years hard labour, however refuted any criminal sentence and responded by going on hunger strike at Mountjoy Prison. He died five days later as a result of overly rough force feeding by the British authorities. 
In 1916 while imprisoned in Lewes, Brighton, for his participation in the Easter Rising, Ashe wrote the song, 'Let me carry your cross for Ireland, Lord'. Cross is my response to Ashe's song and features solely his words and melodies 

Performer: Sam Burton
Sound and video recording: Bryan Fleming

Cross (Audiovisual Installation - Audio extract Only)

This is an audio extract from an audiovisual work. To see the full work please visit my Youtube channel at: https://youtu.be/GEPC8lTgEE4

City Koto Triptych by Robert Coleman and  Pim Piët

Premiered at the Spring Festival Online, Den Haag, 14th April 2020

Concept/Design by Robert Coleman and Pim Piët
Audiovisual composition by Robert Coleman
Instrument design by Pim Piët
Performed by Robert Coleman

City Koto Triptych is an audiovisual composition featuring the City Koto, an instrument designed by artist Pim Piët. I recorded improvisations in three closely related tunings and formed the work from this material. The visuals also feature additional imagery of the instrument, creating shifts in the visual scale, allowing for different perspectives on the sound.

City Koto Triptych (Audiovisual work - Audio Extract Only)

(Full performance available on Youtube at https://youtu.be/CPoFqtq31ls )

Live recording of premiere performed by Sebastian Adams (viola) and Robert Coleman (electronics) at Korzo Theatre, Den Haag, 3rd June 2019 as part of Koninklijke Conservatorium Composition Department Graduation Festival.  

Instrumentation: viola, quadraphonic recording/playback system

'Solid study', for viola and quadraphonic recording/playback system is a study of musical object in my work. The object undergoes transformations of pitch, rhythm and timbre, each of which has a specific location within the performance space. These different perspectives are all drawn from the same root and over time build up a unified and solidified impression of the object as a whole.

Solid Study (3 Min Extract)

(full video of site specific performance available at https://youtu.be/dGwPt2GVIGk)

Recorded for Kirkos Biosphere on 21st September 2020 at the Hellfire Club in the Dublin mountains.

Decay is inherent in all things

These words are said to be some of the last spoken by Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha.


Decay is inherent in all things is an outdoor work for solo violin and 3 field recorders and 3 portable speakers. 
A chain of these microphones and speakers line up across the site. Sounds are recorded and played back and passed down the chain, each time getting more decayed but also picking up new sounds in the process. A kind of structural and temporal counterpoint emerges between the violin and it's decaying self which moves further and further into the distance. 
This work deals with one of my main fascinations: creating multiple viewpoints or perspectives on musical material and in this case it also allows the surrounding soundscape to seep in and become part of the fabric of the work.


Composed by Robert Coleman
Violin by Jane Hackett
with Ilona Adams, Paul Scully and Robert Coleman (field recorders)

Sound engineer, audio mix and moving camera by Bryan Jardim
Video edit by Robert Coleman

Commissioned by Jane Hackett with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland, Music Commission Award 2019

Decay is inherent in all things

Dublin born composer Robert Coleman completed his Masters studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium (Royal Conservatory of the Hague) with Yannis Kyriakides and Diderik Wagenaar in June 2019. A previous graduate of UCD School of Architecture, his research at the Hague and current work focuses on the use of musical object and combining architectural idioms within a musical context. As a result, recent work has included spatial, installation, audio-visual or site specific manifestations.

RobertColeman

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