Contemporary Music for Ensembles
Derwen (2022)
For recorder quintet (SATBB). Duration: 7’ 20’’
The title of this piece, Derwen, is the Welsh word for an oak tree. Trees are traditional symbols of physical and spiritual nourishment or growth, with the oak in particular representing strength and longevity. This seemed to be a fitting inspiration for a commission born out of a long-standing musical collaboration and friendship, and so became the starting point for the composition. The piece begins with a simple melody in the lower voices (the ‘roots’) and gradually builds up the texture. The second movement explores the idea of intertwining branches, reaching higher and higher towards the sky. Finally, an off-balance rhythm in the final movement brings to mind the swirling and falling of leaves, eventually combining with elements from the first two movements to bring the piece full circle.
Derwen can be purchased as a PDF download or printed edition from Masquerade Music
Gaia - Mother Earth (2021)
For wind sextet (fl/ob/cl/hn/bcl/bn). Duration: 4' 30''
Commissioned by the University of St Andrews in response to Katerina Evangelou's Gaia – Mother Earth from the Art of Energy Gallery, and premiered by the St Andrews Scholarship Wind Quintet, with associate teacher Alex South.
I was struck by the evocatively vivid colours and bold shapes in Evangelou’s artworks, each of which represents a different source of renewable energy: wave, geothermal, solar, and tidal. As with Evangelou’s work, this piece focuses on the idea of renewable energy as humanity’s “regenesis” and a cause for hope, though the precarious nature of our situation is hinted at in the final chord.
Now published by Masquerade Music: click here to purchase printed or digital editions.
Piob Mhor (2020)
For wind quintet (fl/ob/cl/bcl/bn). Duration: 3' 20''
This lively wind quintet takes inspiration from one of the most characteristic traditional instruments of Scotland - the Great Highland Bagpipes (known as Piob Mhor in Gaelic). Piobaireachd is a traditional form of theme and variations played on the pipes, and in my own interpretation of this unique art form I have employed a contemporary performance technique on the oboe to recreate the sound of the bagpipes.
To purchase the PDF edition or order printed parts, please visit Moonhouse Music
McEwen Quartet Arrangement (2020)
John Blackwood McEwen’s String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, movt. 4 (1905)
Arranged by Emma Arandjelovic for wind quintet (fl/ob/cl/bcl/bn). Duration: 5' 50''
Born in Hawick, Sir John Blackwood McEwen graduated from the University of Glasgow and went on to become a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music. Writing in a late Romantic style, McEwen was a prolific composer but rarely sought public performances of his works. A Scottish idiom can be heard in much of his music, and his fourth string quartet, arranged here for wind quintet, is particularly evocative of traditional Scottish music, featuring a characteristic ‘Scotch snap’ rhythm.
Available now for digital download or as printed parts from Moonhouse Music.