This is the recording of Fractals by Trinity Laban New Music Recording Orchestra, which explores the number five in various forms in a micro- and macrostructural sense.

Fractals

Anthem is a response to the 2016 EU Referendum and the effects the result had and are continuing to have on the foreign population of the UK, and more specifically, Hull. Within the piece, the strings represent the peaceful and harmonious international community in the city and the wind instruments represent both the referendum (specifically the Leave campaign) and the distasteful aftermath which included attacks on and threats to the international population among other communities. The material that the wind musicians are given is improvised based on given pitches which aims to reflect the uncertainty and risk following the result of the vote. The pitch material in the string parts is based on the national anthems of the five largest national population groups in Hull. These are, in descending order, British (88.05%), Polish (1.81%), Chinese (0.44%), German (0.42%) and Lithuanian (0.32%)*. Each anthem has been transposed into C major to ensure consonance, representing the harmony and consonance in the community, and at different points notes have been lengthened both to add rhythmic interest and further reinforce the consonant harmony. As the piece progresses, this consonance becomes disrupted by the unseen wind trio. The piece ends with an unresolved chord in the strings suggesting that the future is uncertain, yet remains hopeful that the strength of the international community will prevail.

Performed by the Berkeley Ensemble as the winning composition of the Musical Cultures Conference Composition Competition, April 2017.

Anthem

The story of Hua Mulan is one which is very familiar to both a Chinese and a Western audience due to its folklore and a Disney film adaptation in 1998. The story begins in Mulan's provincial town which is under threat of invasion by the Hun Army from Mongolia. Representatives from the Chinese Army collect one man to serve as a soldier from each family in the province, one of whom is Mulan's father. He is too old to fight and her brother too young so Mulan decides to takes her place among the soldiers after bidding farewell to her family. She fights valiantly for twelve years and refuses to accept reward given to her. In 'Hua Mulan Saga' the two version of the story are intertwined and the third section of the piece depicts a festival at which Mulan saves the life of the Emperor of China after being cast out by the army on discovering she is a woman. By saving the life of the Emperor, Mulan brings honour to herself and her family. She finally returns to her provincial town. 

Performed by Lin Lin and musicians from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Conducted by Jonathan Tilbrook. (August 2015).

Hua Mulan Saga

Movement 3 "Lament" of Sang Liang and Shao Yu Flute Concerto, written for Lin Lin. 

Creative realisation/performance by Lin Lin.

Sang Liang and Shao Yu Flute Concerto: Mvt.3 "Lament"

Anthem is a response to the 2016 EU Referendum and the effects the result had and are continuing to have on the foreign population of the UK, and more specifically, Hull. Within the piece, the strings represent the peaceful and harmonious international community in the city and the wind instruments represent both the referendum (specifically the Leave campaign) and the distasteful aftermath which included attacks on and threats to the international population among other communities. The material that the wind musicians are given is improvised based on given pitches which aims to reflect the uncertainty and risk following the result of the vote. The pitch material in the string parts is based on the national anthems of the five largest national population groups in Hull. These are, in descending order, British (88.05%), Polish (1.81%), Chinese (0.44%), German (0.42%) and Lithuanian (0.32%)*. Each anthem has been transposed into C major to ensure consonance, representing the harmony and consonance in the community, and at different points notes have been lengthened both to add rhythmic interest and further reinforce the consonant harmony. As the piece progresses, this consonance becomes disrupted by the unseen wind trio. The piece ends with an unresolved chord in the strings suggesting that the future is uncertain, yet remains hopeful that the strength of the international community will prevail.

This is a digital recreation of the piece using East West instruments. It was the winning composition of the Musical Cultures Conference Composition Competition, April 2017.

Anthem - Digital Version

Prélude à Scarbo was written to accompany Ravel's suite for solo piano, Gaspard de la Nuit in a performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Each of the three movements of the suite is inspired by a poem from Gaspard de la Nuit - Fantasies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot by Aloysuis Bertrand (1836). The third movement, Scarbo, takes inspiration from a poem that describes a gremlin of sorts who mischievously sneaks into the authors bedroom at midnight. Unlike Ravel's rendering of the poem, Prélude à Scarbo almost exclusively uses extended piano techniques to create grotesque and unnerving sounds. At times, references to the Ravel can be heard (for example in the tremolo As and D#s and some of the chordal parts), originally aiming to prepare the audience to hear them in context.

Piano: Graziana Presicce

Prélude à Scarbo

This second collaboration with flautist Lin Lin tells the story of Sang Liang, an eligible bachelor in the Dai village in China. In this movement, we are introduced to Sang Liang, who goes to the village market and comes across an elderly woman selling gourd seeds. She drops seeds all over the floor and Sang Liang helps her clean them up. She tells him that he will meet his true love today, but a terrible tragedy will befall them. He goes on his way and meets a beautiful young woman named Shao Yu. The couple fall in love and marry. They tend a farm together, growing bamboo and gourds in the valley.

The album is available to order from the link at the bottom.

Ensemble:
Flutes: Lin Lin
Conductor: Noah Max
Violins: Elena Abad, Chloe Meade
Violo: Daichi Yoshimura
Cello: Henry Hargreaves
Percussion: Isis Dunthorne

https://www.linlinmusic.com/copy-of-releases-publications-3?fbclid=IwAR2G3WvOLQi5C0AOoVNF7XMR85gXG4KUFipPNmIDMwbXgj3mVrJy6O-0-gA

Anatta

Sang Liang & Shao Yu Flute Concerto

Sang Liang & Shao Yu Flute Concerto: 1. The Lovers

Just as the elderly woman predicted, a tragedy befalls Sang Liang and Shao Yu. A storm sweeps across the valley in which they live and farm, causing a great flood. They quickly fashion a raft out of their bamboo and gourds, but it is only strong enough for one person. As a sacrifice to save her beloved, Shao Yu throws herself into the flood water, killing herself. The storm eventually subsides.

This second movement uses more extended techniques on the instrument. It functions as a series of musical cells to be played in any order, and upon which musicians can improvise.

The album is available to order from the link at the bottom.

Ensemble:
Flutes: Lin Lin
Conductor: Noah Max
Violins: Elena Abad, Chloe Meade
Violo: Daichi Yoshimura
Cello: Henry Hargreaves
Percussion: Isis Dunthorne

www.linlinmusic.com/copy-of-release…gj3mVrJy6O-0-gA

Sang Liang & Shao Yu Flute Concerto: 2. Storm

Sang Liang is stricken with grief at Shao Yu's death. On the raft they made together, he takes a bamboo stalk and a gourd and creates an instrument, now known as the hulusi. He plays a mournful lament for his lost love.

The album is available to order from the link at the bottom.

Alto Flute: Lin Lin

https://www.linlinmusic.com/copy-of-releases-publications-3

Sang Liang & Shao Yu Flute Concerto: 3. Lament

In the final movement, the Buddha hears Sang Liang's mournful tune on the hulusi. The Buddha is so moved by the young man's music that he revives Shao Yu, and the couple live happily.

The album is available to order from the link at the bottom.

Ensemble:
Flutes: Lin Lin
Conductor: Noah Max
Violins: Elena Abad, Chloe Meade
Violo: Daichi Yoshimura
Cello: Henry Hargreaves
Percussion: Isis Dunthorne

https://www.linlinmusic.com/copy-of-releases-publications-3

Sang Liang & Shao Yu Flute Concerto: 4. The Buddha's Gift

Sandy Clark, born in Sheffield in 1993, is a British composer currently studying for a PhD in Composition at the University of Hull. Last year, he undertook an MMus in Composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the supervision of Stephen Montague. Having graduated from the University of Hull in 2014 with First Class (Hons) degree in Music, Sandy has returned to Hull to undertake his PhD. Past performance venues of Sandy's work have been the University of Leeds, the University of Hull, Blackheath Halls, Trinity College of Music and the University of China, HK. Sandy's musical influences include Benjamin Britten, Dario Marianelli, John Adams and many others.

Sandy Clark

Popular tracks