Commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music for Eleanor Alberga's Residency at the Royal Academy in June 2021. 

A massive thank you to all the musicians involved in this project! 

Conductor :  Otis Enokido - Lineham
Flute/Piccolo : Sofiia Matviienko
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet : Bethany Crouch
Horn :  Joseph Longstaff
Vibraphone : Robert Wills
Piano : Xiaowen Shang
Violin : Elisa De Rodrigues
Cello : Jennifer Sturt 

Recording Credit - Royal Academy of Music Recordings Department

Obsidian

Recently I had a minor crisis where I realised some of the bad habits I was falling into with my compositional practice, particularly being overly focused on concept over musical content and creating an illusion of freedom where none existed. This piece is the start of my ‘therapy’ for these issues. Focusing on simplicity and clarity, 'Learning to Speak Again' uses a 12 tone balungan line with clear sèlèh points to divide and structure the piece. In an attempt to better practice controlling the gestures I am using in my work, I also limited the number of extended techniques I would use, forcing myself to make sure that what I am actually writing on the page is interesting musically.

This is a shorter version of what will eventually be a longer, more controlled and progressive version of this piece.

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Performed by Ensemble Intercontemporian

Learning To Speak Again

Live performance given by Marian Consort cond. Rory McCleery at the 'Laurence Osborn Day' at the Wigmore Hall, 23rd November 2023.

Juvenilia: Songbook for Mixed Voices (2018-19), 7. Ballett Dell'Avagavagavagava

2 movements of a cello suite (yet to be finished, maybe). 2 Radiohead tracks in the style of Britten's first cello suite, which I wrote for an assignment at trinity laban in the lockdown years.

Movement 1 - Canto Primo (You and Whose Army)
Movement 2 - Fuga (Hunting Bears)

Sheet music available, I messed around with rhythms and added more pizzes in but who the hell cares !

Obsidian

Stephen Balfour

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