Category: Composing

  • Reich at the Barbican

    A privilege tonight to hear the LSO perform a programme of Reich music; it confirmed for me that not only is he a composer worthy of considerable attention but his music speaks to people. His voice is indeed a unique and consistent one and no matter what one’s opinion of minimalism might be, his music…

  • Composing Across the Spectrum

    -Below is the text of the article that appears in the current issue of EPTA’s Piano Professional- Nothing can be more satisfying in the early stages of a new composition with a pupil than exploring scores. For me, all composition should start with research; listening to similarly scored pieces, exploring a particular composer in depth…

  • Writing the trio

    Rehearsals are very much underway and the songs seem to be working. It is a real pleasure to hear them come to life and so far only one key change – which I was reluctant to do but it was necessary to maintain the integrity of the vocal line even though this was at the…

  • Quotation…

    Berio’s Sinfonia was my first encounter with quotation in music. Certainly my first experience of music where the appropriation of another’s music was used to achieve a particular effect. I was convinced that the third movement of Sinfonia represented an attempt to reinvigorate the idea of the ‘masterwork’ in an age of such musical diversity.…

  • Composers in shackles?

    “A composer’s creation might seem like the embodiment of freedom: the author can call forth anything he wants from out of nowhere, give it the form he desires, think up a continuation for it which suits him, and finally, when he thinks the time is right, complete the piece’s development. Unlike, say, an architect, a…

  • Listening to expectations

    Yet another Twitter discussion has inspired me to contemplate on a particular musical issue. Listening. I revel in the fact that music exists in the fourth dimension – how the first lecture of my degree started – and music is the manipulation of this dimension. Music orders sounds over a period of time and we…

  • London Road to Juniper Street

    It’s been a long few days writing songs for my musical theatre work. I’m starting to get a sense of it’s bigger shape but there is still some way to go. Initially I was fearful of what musical language I might use and I craved some kind of model for the work I would write.…

  • Integrating musicians

    I am really pleased to have received Pedro de Alcantara’s book last week and keen to start reading to write my review. I feel a little nervous about trying to encapsulate what I hope to be a very interesting read in 500 words but fingers-crossed. I’ve managed to read the introductory pages and already nuggets…

  • Forward and Up

    Several years of Alexander Technique have had a rather huge effect on my entire thinking. I recall the lessons, particularly the two I was fortunate to have with Pedro de Alcantara in Paris, with excitement as every one gave me a renewed understanding of my body and how it interacts with space. At the time…

  • Teaching composition

    On route to a one-off composition lesson I thought I’d try and clarify my approach to composition teaching. Why bother? Does it matter that I have a conscious strategy for helping young composers develop? Is there really any right and wrong in “modern” compositional approaches? Are we facilitating the development of unique compositional voices, or…