Composers Remote Collective - Sandy Clark

Composition Selection

Recording of the premiere performance of Dreaming by Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra.

The idea for Dreamsong is based on the four stages of sleep as defined by Smith, Robinson and Segal in their online guide, ‘How Much Sleep Do You Need?’. They define these stages principally as Non-REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and REM sleep and then go on to specify the Non-REM as three separate stages which gives us:
   (N1) Transition into Sleep
   (N2) Light Sleep
   (N3) Deep Sleep
   REM Sleep (Dream Sleep)
Dreamsong follows the definitions of these four stages and they pertain to the body’s reaction to each stage. 

These reactions are:
N1 – This stage lasts about five minutes. Your eyes move slowly under the eyelids, muscle activity slows down, and you are easily awakened.
N2 – This is the first stage of true sleep, lasting from 10 to 25 minutes. Your eye movement stops, heart rate slows, and body temperature decreases.
N3 – You’re difficult to awaken, and if you are awakened, you do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes. In this deepest stage of sleep, your brain waves are extremely slow. Blood flow is directed away from your brain and towards your muscles, restoring physical energy.
REM Sleep – About 70 to 90 minutes after falling asleep, you enter REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. Your eyes move rapidly, your breathing shallows, and your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Also during this stage, your arm and leg muscles are paralyzed.
(Smith, M., et al., 2014)

Stage N1 features twinkling sounds and movement to indicate that the brain is still functioning in some capacity in this stage. The violins play a G Dorian cluster whilst the tuned percussion and celesta play random notes from the D Dorian scale which seem to twinkle. After the cellos play a yawning figure, the violas enter similarly to the violins playing C Dorian which creates an interesting modal cluster with chromatic inclinations. Stage N2 is brought in by a cymbal being bowed which sets the character for this section of being much colder and deeper due to the shift in body temperature. Two percussionists are instructed to play ad lib. bowing on various cymbals whilst different instruments play a low semitonal cluster. N3, Deep Sleep, is the only section conducted in a regular metre and becomes even darker and deeper in character as the orchestra seems to pulsate as a unit which grows until a dramatic climax before returning swiftly to its previous character. The REM Sleep section has a much different character to what has come previously. My concept behind the REM section was that dreams are made up of moments and ideas that we are familiar with. Therefore, to represent this, I chose to select woodwind and piano extracts from the Schott Orchester Probspiel books so a listener can pick out moments which they recognise and some of the players have the option of reimagining some of the extracts as their own interpretation. Once 13 extracts are being played simultaneously, the noise crescendos and suddenly stops and a solo violin is playing which introduces the Coda, a restatement of N1. The piece ends as most Monday mornings begin.

Dreamsong

During the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15th April 1912, a string quartet was rumoured to have played the hymn 'Nearer, My God, to Thee'. Although this rumour has since been disproven by firsthand accounts, the popular tune was nonetheless included in James Cameron's 1997 film 'Titanic' as the ship sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean. The scene shows heartbreaking clips of some passengers accepting their fate whilst others try frantically to struggle into lifeboats or cling on to the vessel as she sinks. An infamous story from the event is that of Captain Edward John Smith, who bravely remained on the bridge during the evacuation. 

The cheery disposition of the piece is a reference to Hollywood and the media's sometimes careless exploitation of tragic events such as this. 

The piece uses the hexatonic scale heard in 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' (C, D, E, G, A, B in C major) and applies an alphanumeric code to the notes as they first appear in the tune/ The sequence becomes E(1), D(2), C(3), A(4), G(5), B(6). An alphanumeric code is then applied to the notes against the name E. Smith (ESMITH) dependent on the letters' place in the alphabet comparative to the rest of the letters, as shown below. 

E S M I T H 
1 5 4 3 6 2

This number code is then matched to the code created earlier detailing which notes appear in what order in the original hymn. The outcome of this is:

1 5 4 3 6 2
E G A C B D

This sequence of notes, derived from both the original hymn and the name 'E. Smith', is the sequence around which the entirety of the pitch material is based. 

Thanks to the Piatti Quartet for performing this revised/finished version of this piece in King Charles Court, 2015.

Captain E. Smith

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

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

Text by Síle Moriarty. 
Alto: Lizy Eames
Piano: Graziana Presicce

Recording of the premiere performance at Clothworkers Hall in Leeds, October 2012.

A Blue Scent Rises

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

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.