Rhinoceros (2021) - Finbar Hosie

collective lovemusic 
Capucine Prin - Oboe
Lola Malique - Cello 
Christian Lozano - Guitar

electronics - Finbar Hosie

Rhinoceros - Finbar Hosie + lovemusic

'PIXELHEAD' (2022) for violin and harpsichord, performed by Mahan Esfahani and Fenella Humphreys at Cheltenham Music Festival. Developed as part of the Cheltenham Music Festival Composer Academy 2022. 

Performers:
Violin - Fenella Humphreys
Harpsichord - Mahan Esfahani

PIXELHEAD

Performed by the Consone Quartet, National Centre for Early Music, York, May 2022.

Anfang

Flûtes  -  Lisa Meignin
Piano  -  Nina Maghsoodloo
Finbar Hosie  -  Electronics, recording and mixing

Finbar Hosie - Deltas, in memory of Robert Johnson (2022, Fl. Lisa Meignin, Pno. Nina Maghsoodloo)

Commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society as part of their Composer's Programme, for Gemma Rosefield at Presteigne Festival, 2022.

"In the 13th century Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he went hunting without Gelert, ‘The Faithful Hound’, who was unaccountably absent.
On Llewelyn's return the truant, stained and smeared with blood, joyfully sprang to meet his master. The prince alarmed hastened to find his son, and saw the infant's cot empty, the bedclothes and floor covered with blood.
The frantic father plunged his sword into the hound's side, thinking it had killed his heir. The dog's dying yell was answered by a child's cry.
Llewelyn searched and discovered his boy unharmed, but nearby lay the body of a mighty wolf which Gelert had slain. The prince filled with remorse is said never to have smiled again. He buried Gelert here."

to Gelert

The title A Young and Wasted Fox was inspired by the late KISS drummer Eric Carr’s performance the song Young and Wasted. Originally sung by bassist Gene Simmons, Carr’s ability to sing whilst playing such an energetic drum part made him more connected to the song by fans than the original Simmons version. In addition the this, Carr would often do a drum solo immediately before his performance of this song, which were characterised by his heavy and energetic playing style. The ‘fox’ in the title comes from Carr’s onstage character, The Fox.

A Young and Wasted Fox uses a contrast between high energy gestures and moments of silence to explore the concept of ma from Japanese art. The performer should visually prepare before playing each gesture, emphasising the importance of what is not being played alongside what is sounding. Unlike many western art pieces which utilise the idea of ma, A Young and Wasted Fox pushes the performer to play loudly and with fast gestures to show the contrast between sound and silence, as well as imitating Carr’s virtuosic, aggressive playing style.

This piece was premiered by Francois Vallet of Ensemble intercontemporain and is dedicated to my dad, Mark Adams, whose addiction to KISS when I was growing up led to the composition of this piece!

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Percussion - Francois Vallet

A Young And Wasted Fox

Programme Note:

Yr Afon Yn Yr Awyr is a suite of three interrelated movements inspired by the nickname given to the aqueduct based in Pontcysyllte, North Wales. In essence, I wanted to explore how I could musically create a sense of floating through stasis and motion, much like the water in the aqueduct flowing above the River Dee. As such, each movement flows directly into the next, exploring a particular aspect of the imagery of a River in The Sky. What connects the individual movements is the melodic line that subtly weaves it way through different contexts and moods representing how the river in flows from Pontcysyllte through North Wales and beyond.

The first movement is a brisk, dance-like, idea where a folk inspired oboe line is juxtaposed against more rhythmical counterpoint in the strings. This rhythmical process then runs out of control before segueing into the nocturnal second movement. During this middle movement, I focus on creating stasis in the instrumental textures, combining the lyrical capabilities of the woodwind section with the silverly timbres of the harp. Finally, the third movement returns to the energetic pulsations found in the opening, with rippling figurations in the strings giving a water-like effect to the textures. These ideas culminate at the end, where melodic fragments from each movement appear in counterpoint over expressive harmonies.

This piece was commissioned and premiered by NEW Sinfonia and Robert Guy at the Llangollen Pavilion, as part of their Nature and Us 'Great Sound Exhibition'. Many thanks to the RVWF for supporting this commission. 

More info: 
https://www.cameronbiles-liddell.com
https://www.newsinfonia.org.uk
https://www.robert-guy.com

Yr Afon Yn Yr Awyr (The River In The Sky)

This is a live recording of the premiere of "The Alchemical Kitchen" by Lucy Armstrong and Rebecca Hurst.  The Cambridge Philharmonic and Chorus are conducted by Tom Primrose.

The first performance was given by Cambridge Philharmonic on 18th March 2023 at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge and the piece was commissioned by Tim Redmond and The Cambridge Philharmonic and Chorus. 

Programme Note:

The Alchemical Kitchen is a poetic and musical reflection on the creative process, and the connection of that process — sometimes mystical, sometimes mundane — to the minutiae of everyday life. Drawn to the idea of ‘glimmers’ (‘small moments that spark joy or peace, which can help cue our nervous system to feel safe or calm’), Rebecca took as her creative spark for this new work the opening lines of a poem she wrote in 2015 called Cabbage. Based on the gesture that opens the poem, of chopping a red cabbage in half, and inspired by the glimmers shared by members of the Cambridge Philharmonic, Rebecca and Lucy had long conversations about these small, often domestic moments. They talked about the glimmers that enrich our lives, inform our creativity, and connect us to others, such as braising a cabbage, running a stick along iron railings, or cradling a grandchild. The final text that emerged from this process takes a personal gesture and experience that is probably familiar to most humans (preparing food) and gives it transcendental resonance, inspiring music that celebrates the belief that our individual lives are of universal significance. The Alchemical Kitchen is a domestic-mystical, raucous, embodied, hopeful, and ultimately joyful celebration of life.

The Alchemical Kitchen

Curtain! (2019) 
for chamber orchestra

Andrew Groch, conductor
AYO National Music Camp Tutor Chamber Orchestra
Elder Hall, Adelaide. 17/1/20.

Program notes: https://adkvoltz.com/completed-works/curtain/

Curtain! (2019)

Self-quotation and self-parody run rampant in Familiar Punchlines. Leading up to its composition, I had written a handful of pieces that took themselves very seriously. In Familiar Punchlines, I borrowed materials from these recent “serious” pieces, and reimagined how these materials would play out in comic situations. Complex harmonies are stripped down to triads in real time, glissandi infect every material of the piece, the oboe repeatedly attempts to find an appropriate accompaniment for its solo. The comic nature of the piece gave me the liberty to stretch motives to extremes, and pull the rug out from under gestures that seemed too stable.
 –— Theo Chandler

Eight World Premieres

Theo Chandler - Familiar Punchlines (2019)

yooooooo. 
This page serves as a portfolio of concert pieces, as well as a showcase of tracks from my studio records.

If you're looking for a list of works, you can find one at:
zdscomposer.co.uk/concert

If you're looking to stream my music, you can find my records at:
https://zdscomposer.bandcamp.com
or on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you choose to stream.

PIXELHEAD

Zygmund de Somogyi

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