University of Birmingham Music Society Creative Exchange Lockdown Compositions Part 2
Wednesday 24th March 2021, 7.30pm Online
Programme La Pluie Viola – Celina Fleming Oboe – Jim Nankivell
Cat Burne
dissolve Keyboard – Ben Siebertz-Willett
Isaac Boothman
The Iron Spire Tuba and electronics – Alex Hall
Alex Hall
Sketch for Violin and Marimba, with optional Latency Violin – Isabella Casciani Govan Marimba – Noa Dewally Mortis Angelica Electronics – Rachel Catlin Recorder – Lizzie Knatt Decision Time Tuba – Alex Hall Sunset Clarinet – Cat Burne Recorders – Lizzie Knatt
Ben Siebertz-Willett
Rachel Catlin
Chris Allen
Austin Cheng
Programme notes In a time when live music has been put on hold and making music with other people is for many of us a distant memory, Creative Exchange have been working hard to continue to play and write music ‘together’. These seven pieces, composed during the second and third lockdowns, are the result of collaborations between performers and composers, taking inspiration from various sources: natural events, the latency of video-conferencing software we all know too well, different performance practices, improvisation, algorithmic methods and even each other! La Pluie The inspiration for this piece came from incorporating objects and events found in nature into music. This particular example tries to explore the different characters of rainfall, a common phenomenon often shrouded by most people in negativity. By picking an event that many of us experience frequently, the composition aims to guide and encourage the listener to use their imagination in order to paint a picture of their version of the scene. The instrument choice, although not a common combination, maximises the number of techniques and effects that can be used and reflects the diverse nature of the mistakenly simple event of a rain shower. dissolve
dissolve is a piece written to mark out space for the creativity of performers - letting them put their experiences and flair into a performance more on their terms. The music starts off, and then uses different methods to get the performer to take more and more control - starting with just speed and volume, until the rhythms, chords and melodies are removed like stabilisers throughout the piece. Though the frame and the themes come from the composer, by the end of the piece what you will hear will be the identity and creativity of the performer, dissolved and reformed. There is an accompanying poem, to set the mood, printed here: dissolve i pass my words on to you dissolve sing them till you hum dissolve like a gift like a burden dissolve in your prayer i am killed but live forever dissolve in your rituals you find me dissolve you make me dissolve you make new and different dissolve mine becomes yours dissolve but my soul lives with that honour dissolve pass it on dissolve and reform dissolve The Iron Spire The Iron Spire is a modern composition for tuba that explores the instrument's relationship to electronics. The first significant work for tuba was Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Tuba concerto of 1954. This places the tuba’ history closer to the age of the synthesiser (invented 1954) and electronic music rather than the classical tradition.
Sketch for Violin and Marimba, with optional Latency This short sketch takes a mostly cellular approach to composition. The latter half of the piece also features a main ‘theme’, which is passed between the players and ultimately fragmented. Though the times at which this happens are codified, I wanted to achieve an organic feeling of dialogue. As a result, each cell is allotted a certain period of time, and it is up to the performers how they fill that time with the notes from the cell, thus allowing for musical interaction and agency, even with latency. The piece was written to be performed from separate locations through a videoconferencing software, but both performers can also occupy the same space, in which case the latency should be omitted. Mortis Angelica Mortis Angelica is a piece that looks at the opposing forces of heaven and hell, good and evil, right and wrong. The piece follow the two themes of good and evil but gradually, as the pieces unfolds, the two become so intertwined with one another that they can no longer be told apart. I was really inspired by the way in which these two opposing forces are stereotypically portrayed and the ways in which these stereotypes can be distorted. Decision Time An advanced tuba piece, consisting of two chaotic outer sections, sandwiching a more free, sentimental passage. The unusual, low intensity, interruption in bar 32, after an intense build-up, reminds me of the sense of everything seeming to go in slow motion when making a decision at crisis point, like the choice moments in games like Life is Strange. So when I refer to ‘decision time’, I employ the common expression, but also point to the kind of ‘out-of-time’ time that decisions bring on. The illusion shatters at bar 40 as events unfold. Sunset Starting at the top registers of both the recorder family and the clarinet, these registers descend to the bottom in the first three quarters of the piece, which I believe fits the title. During the last quarter, these registers rise quickly and return to the top in order to respond to the beginning. The music is variable as there are sets of choices near the music’s beginning and ending, where one player picks and plays one of the options and the other player follows correspondingly. Some materials in this piece are based on musical patterns improvised by our recorder and clarinet performers during the composition process!
Creative Exchange Formed in autumn 2019, Creative Exchange is a student-led collective dedicated to exploring contemporary repertoire, student compositions, improvised and open score pieces – the only rule is that anything goes! Recent projects include collaborating with BEAST (Birmingham Electroacoustic Sound Theatre) on the UK premiere of ‘A New Ocean’ by Christopher Fox and an online showcase of student compositions in June 2020. Chris Allen Isaac Boothman Cat Burne Isabella Casciani Govan Rachel Catlin Austin Cheng Helen Cordina Noa Dewally Alex Hall Lizzie Knatt Ben Siebertz-Willett
Horn Trumpet Clarinet Violin Cello Violin Piano Percussion Tuba Recorders Keyboard
University of Birmingham Music Society Founded in 1907, the University of Birmingham Music Society is the oldest society at the University, and is the largest music-making body on campus. We have over 700 members, including students, staff and members of the local community. The society has two full-sized orchestras, Symphony and Philharmonic, as well as Wind and Brass Bands, Chamber Choirs, a Saxophone Choir, the 200-strong University Chorus, and the awardwinning Jazz Orchestra. The most recent additions to the Society are the Jazz Collective, Flute Choir and Gamelan Group. Our ensembles perform in the prestigious Elgar Concert Hall in the Bramall Music Building, as well in venues such as Symphony Hall, Birmingham Town Hall and St. George's Church (Edgbaston). The society's Jazz Orchestra and groups from our Jazz Collective perform at jazz venues across the region. Whether a potential audience member or a prospective performer, the University of Birmingham Music Society looks forward to seeing or hearing from you soon!