Sketches For Piano  No. 1- 2021

Idle Plaything member Ben Halford gives brings out his inner singer to create a ballad dedicated to Bath Spa University. The original song is Lou Bega - Mambo Number 5 (1999) and owns all royalties. This is for comedic purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. Song was recorded by SpaLife Radio.

"Bath Spa Number 15(A)" - Ben Halford

3rd Place in Sofia Soloist International Composition Competition 2015. 

Sangye is a setting of the refuge mantra, put to music for high voice and strings.

Performed by Nicolai Matsov and Plamen Djuroff. 

Sangye (2015)

Oslo - Hommage à Lukas Foss (2011) for string quintet by Raymond Yiu. 15th August 2011, Nouvel Enemble Moderne, conducted by Lorraine Vaillancourt in Salle Françoys-Bernier, Le Domaine Forget, Canada.

Oslo - Hommage à Lukas Foss (2011) by Raymond Yiu

2nd performance of the piece at the Blackheath Halls Great Hall, London by The Riot Ensemble.

Incipit omaggio a G.B. Pergolesi

May 12, 2011
Laura Cocks, Alto Flute
Eric Tinkerhess, Violincello

Marek Poliks : JUST SHUFFLING for alto flute and cello

Stefano Agostini: flauto contralto & Guy-Frank Pellerin: sassofono baritono.
Registrazione: 14/02/2018, la scala

Flux / Stefano Agostini & Guy-Frank Pellerin

Marco Cacciamani: electronics -
Bruno Gussoni: bass flute -
Cover photo by Lucia Luce -
recorded in Genova on October 13, 2018

N.O.S. Vs D.A. - Marco/Bruno Duo

The idea of the piece is a curious one, mostly because I was drawn to it during a particularly steep drop in my own depression. Suicide ideation has been something I've never really not had, but since 2018 began the sensation has been significantly stronger. So what do people do before committing suicide, they write a note. Admittedly I have no plans to commit suicide, but it is a darker part of my life that I am always surrounded by in some manner, so it felt right to make something positive or at least creative out of it. 

Kingma Alto Flute: Carla Rees

The recording was made at the RCM with Stephen Harrington engineering.

Image by Mark Rothko

a note (2018)

Carla Rees - Baroque Transverse Flute
Recording of the first performance at IKLECTIK, London

I first imagined the idea to write a work for solo flute when visiting the Sanjūsangen- dō (     ) Temple in Kyoto. Amongst the vast collection of artefacts sits the impressive statue of the deity Karura. The original Sanskrit name of this deity is “Garuda”. In ancient India it was believed to be a gigantic bird which ate cobras and carried the Hindu deity Vishnu on its back. Later on Guruda was adopted in Buddhism as one of the eight guardians. The statues at Sanjūsangen-dō represents a fierce bird-headed figure with wings, playing the flute.
Using the baroque transverse flute I have attempted to evoke some of the characteristics of the Shakuhachi (Japanese flute). From the work’s still sonorous opening, the music gathers intensity throughout but sustains the superimpositions of melodic material which relate to the whole piece.

Steven Frew - Karura

Steven Laurence Frew

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