Anna Thorvaldsdottir wrote Metacosmos in 2017, and it was premiered by the New York Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen in April 2018. Like so many of her works, it sounds… huge, as it grows from nothing into a vast orchestral tapestry. Yet, at several moments, it’s also unexpectedly melodic. In her words, the piece “is constructed around the natural balance between beauty and chaos – how elements can come together in (seemingly) utter chaos to create […]
Linda Catlin Smith wrote Among the Tarnished Stars in 1998 for Canadian ensemble The Burdocks. A 22-minute piece for piano, clarinet, violin and cello, it was first recorded on an album of her work, Memory Forms, in 2001. A recent second recording by Apartment House on the Another Timbre label pairs the work with Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1940–41) – a classic work for the same group of instruments. I talked to […]
Richard Baker’s The Tyranny of Fun, a 2012 work premiered by BCMG and Ryan Wigglesworth, has the outline of Balanchine’s Ravel ballet La Valse. But Baker’s musical material is also closely linked to the New York disco scene of the late 1970s. I talked to the composer about how he came to write this work. But first, here’s his programme note.
Tom O.C. Wilson writes fascinating, complicated pop music. He also teaches a composition course at Royal Holloway, London, where he studied for his PhD. I talked to Tom about his music, and specifically his recent album Tell a Friend.
Louise Drewett's piece Stairway was written for the choir Singhealthy and performed at the Royal Academy of Music. I interviewed Louise about the piece for The Sampler.
I interviewed Tansy Davies about her fantastic four-horn concerto Forest for The Sampler.
Talking Writing Music 