Choral Compositions

RESPONSE (2020)

Kantos Chamber Choir
28th May 2016
Chorlton Central Church
Chorlton Arts Festival

Recording ® Sam Gee 2016

Rory Wainwright Johnston - Love; an ever fixed mark

This piece is formed out of three poems written by Eli Carvajal: ‘urban breakdown’, ‘Down by the brook’, and ‘Here I am again’. The two outer poems talk of the business of inner city life, but have a sense of yearning for more peaceful, countryside scenes, while the middle poem evokes a rural reverie of times past. I have tried to mirror this escape from hectic life in the music. The piece begins with cars passing in the dead of night; this develops gradually into the sound of sirens with the uncertainty of the bustling streets reflected in the lopsided rhythms. As the sirens fade, the protagonist sinks into a dream of calmer pastures. After the distant sentiments of ‘Down by the brook’ pass, the protagonist is then forced back to reality by the returning sound of sirens only to realise their isolation: ‘a carriage crash through sunsets gold, a passenger alone…’

Soprano soloist – Chloe Jackson


urban breakdown

‘KINTSUKUROI:(Golden Repair)’ is a short orchestral work based on a Japanese form of pottery art in which broken pottery is mended back together with Gold instead of glue. This creates individual, fragile golden seams across the pot as they naturally occurred. In this piece, fleeting and delicate lines encircle the opening above a dark, undulating texture that builds until it suddenly breaks, which resembles the shattering of the pot. We are then placed into a constant and iridescent soundworld reflecting the intentions of the art form; it has been made more beautiful by having been broken.

Performed by RNCM Brand New Orchestra (13/10/16) conducted by Manoj Kamps.

KINTSUKUROI: (Golden Repair) (2016)

Performed by Firecrest vocal trio - Lizzy Humphries, Jocelyn Coates and Anna Rea - on May 16th at King Charles Court in Trinity Laban.

I cannot go

This setting of the well known Marian antiphon Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail Queen of Heaven) takes its inspiration from Renaissance metrical equivalence and Medieval hocketing. The opening of the piece takes the two latin words Ave, or ‘Hail’, and Gaude, or ‘Rejoice’, and juxtaposes their character with the jovial Gaude bounding forwards with energy, and the more firm salutation of Ave gradually getting closer until we get the full force of its character the first time we hear the entire phrase Ave Regina Caelorum, cementing it’s majestic presence. The music then moves into a more introspective moment with the text ‘Salve, radix, salve porta – Ex qua mundo lux est orta’ before the choir then break out again into the rhythmic and excited material from the opening, but this time superimposed with the harmonies of the ‘Ave Regina Caelorum’ motif.  This movement finally arrives at its harmonic resolution but the metre is keeps pushing, unrelenting to the end.

Performed by Ad Solem in the New Music North West Festival 16/11/17, conducted by Robert Guy

Ave Regina caelorum

‘Double duo’ was composed as a vehicle for performers to have the freedom to explore their own instincts, amid the physical sensation of performing in a resonant space. Durations are chosen by the performers, and entries are guided by position in the score rather than being specifically prescribed. Expression of a phrase is determined by each musician’s reaction to, or inspiration from the other players.

Performed by 
Pietro Roffi - accordion, Italy
Maris Rozenfelds - accordion, Latvia
Ignė Pikalavičiūtė - cello, Lithuania
Arnas Kmieliauskas - cello, Lithuania

Recorded at Raudondvaris Castle, Lithuania during the Composers+Summer Academy on 25 August 2017.

Recording produced by Dainius Kazilionis.

More info at www.composersplus.com.

Joshua Brown – Double Duo (for two accordions and two cellos)

O sacrum convivium

Performed by Festino Chamber Choir (cond. Alexandra Makarova) at 47th Florilège Vocal de Tours, June 2018.

Summons

This piece was inspired by the work of Jurg Frey and utilises meandering non-functional chord progressions and silence to achieve a texture that is static, but always moving; atemporal, but everlasting.

Performed by Kantos Chamber Choir, conducted by Ellie Slorach

Ave Maria

Winner of BBC Young Composer 2020

TW; Rape/Sexual Assault

This piece was inspired by a twitter thread which contained quotes said from judges to victims in rape trials. All of the phrases heard at the start of the piece are genuine comments made to victims of rape. ‘What I was Wearing’ is a poem by Mary Simmerling which inspired the 2013 art installation ‘What were you wearing?’. The piece uses the words of this poem, read out over the top of sung music. The music represents the speaker’s emotions, to create a moving and thought-provoking piece of music which leaves the listener stunned.

What Were You Wearing? (2020)

A reflection on Rebelo's 'Panis Angelicus'.

urban breakdown

rorywainwrightjohnston

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