miniature for violin and piano

performed by members of the phaedra ensemble at the churchill college chapel, cambridge

swainson’s hawk is a long-distance migratory bird, travelling from north american prairies to argentina and brazil during the winter. the imagined experience of its seven-thousand-mile flight – long, static periods without wingbeats while rising on thermal currents, interspersed with the turbulence and peril of stormy weather – is explored in this piece: the two instrumentalists contrast moments of urgency and danger with sections of sparse, sustained sound. though the piece does not follow the journey of the hawk in a narrative sense, the familiar motifs of the final passage do perhaps suggest a successful, if weary, conclusion to the long migration.

with thanks to ewan campbell for his comments, and to clare gilmour for the recording

swainson's hawk

miniature composed collaboratively with imogen ransome

with thanks to rose hinton (vln), andrew power (vcl) and immy (pno), and to cambridge suzuki young musicians for facilitating rehearsals and performances

trio for my sister

recorded 29 jan 2019

performed by the brilliant:

lara foulkes, flute
laura hussey, violin
amina eldin, violin
olivia hughes, euphonium
lety stott, horn
and liz blackwell, bass guitar

misspelt

based on the inspiration behind bernstein's west side story, romeo and juliet, celebrating his hundredth birthday

premiered 1 june 2018

performed by members of aldeburgh young musicians, including:
millie clark, flute
viv ghiglino, flute
olivia petryszak, treble recorder
daisy lihoreau, oboe
connor hargreaves, clarinet
acer smith, percussion
emma shield, percussion
sarah chung, piano
dom howard, guitar
tom leader, guitar
georgia turner, guitar
liz blackwell, bass guitar
jacob fitzgerald, violin
laurie taylor, violin
laura hussey, viola
tarek eldin, cello
seb williams, cello
lucian crosby, double bass

the lark and the nightingale

written for members of the national youth orchestra of great britain on the summer 2019 residency


film and audio can be found on the nyo youtube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvGD60NaCt8


with huge thanks to karin hendrickson for conducting and to larry goves & matt sergeant for their invaluable advice



" '…to be consorted with the humorous night' takes its title from shakespeare’s romeo and juliet, quoting a line spoken by benvolio in his drunken search for romeo, accompanied by the play’s comic, mercutio. the unruly, boisterous word-play and theatrical lack of control of this short dialogue juxtaposes the infamous balcony scene, which occurs simultaneously. it was the contrast between these two scenes that I wanted to explore in this orchestral miniature, using a straightforward line that runs throughout the piece; the shifting focus of the energy from the rowdy street to the intimacy of juliet’s balcony provides an architectural outline from which the piece hangs. "

... to be consorted with the humorous night

composed on the nyo spring residency 2019

performed by the amazing:
sam frith, flute
daisy noton, flute
nathan kenworthy, clarinet
killian meissner, viola
thomas nettle, cello

recorded 13 apr at the liverpool philharmonic music room

we cry out

performed by members of the national youth orchestra of great britain: will clark(violin), raj bhaumik (clarinet), and anna le huray (horn). a huge thank you to these amazing instrumentalists!

written on the nyo winter residency dec 2019 - jan 2020

based loosely on a poem by michael field:

a little wreath of bay about her head, 
the virgin-martyr stands, touching her wheel 
with finger-tips that from the spikes of steel 
shrink, though a thousand years she has been dead. 
she bleeds each day as on the day she bled ; 
her pure, gold cheeks are blanched, a cloudy seal 
is on her eyes ; the mouth will never feel 
pity again ; the yellow hairs are spread 
downward as damp with sweat ; they touch the rim 
of the green bodice that to blackness throws 
the thicket of bay-branches sharp and trim 
above her shoulder : open landscape glows 
soft and apart behind her to the right, 
where a swift shallop crosses the moonlight.

kathar

a short poem using words and phrases from jorge luis borges' book "fictions"

this audio (words and music) was written to accompany my epq, an immersive multimedia installation exploring the aesthetics of "fictions".

time has already passed

pianist and composer from cambridge, uk / studying in oxford, uk

olivia ka ransome

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