compositions

Bead music is a series of short tonal compositions for keyboards or tuned percussion, conceived using notes as if they were beads stitched onto textile. As the little spheres of different colour, shape and size create art craftworks, likewise notes of different values, dynamics and timbres form these compositions. Their sonority is intentionally delicate and consonant, their technique fairly simple, aiming to be played by students.

Mirror No.6: Blurred experiments with the breaking of rules established in the other pieces of the series. Pitches, rhythms, structure, dynamics are no longer mirrored in an exact way throughout the piece, giving rise to ‘blurred’ reflected images. The piece was completed on the 11th of December of 2011, and it’s dedicated to Elliott Carter’s 103th birthday.

Mirror No.5 explores symmetries both in pitches and structure, as done before in the other pieces of the series. The initial mirroring pitch is a D. However, the mirroring system appears to be ‘cracked’ towards the halfway point resulting in a ‘dislocation’ of the second half, where the mirroring pitch becomes an E. The piece was premiered on the 12th of December 2012 at Birmingham Conservatoire by Rens Claerhoudt on violin and Rob Kurnatowski on cello.

Duets No.2 continues the concept started in Duets No.1, that of having two interacting double bass parts, one with a live recorded loop and the other improvising.

Mirror No.4: verticale is the fourth piece of the Mirrors series, and the third written for the Schubert Ensemble who premiered it at Birmingham Conservatoire on the 27th of June 2011. The piece follows the concept of mirrored pitches experimented with in the other pieces, but this time the horizontal symmetry (structure) has not been achieved, hence the subtitle verticale.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_mirror4.mp3

Mirror No.4

On D is a big crescendo gesture which exploits the realisation of the harmonics on the double bass and their use to produce a musical piece extended to a larger ensemble. On D recalls some musical traditions of my land, the ringing of the sheep bells, the sound of the ‘launeddas’ (a traditional wind instrument) amplified by the use of some guttural vocal sounds and words typical of the traditional singers. On D was premiered on the 31st of January 2011 at Birmingham Conservatoire conducted by Taavi Kull.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_on_d.mp3

On D

In Mirror No.3 every note played by the right hand on the right side of the D4 will be played together with its symmetric note on the left side of the D by the left hand. Half way through the piece follows precisely a reversed structure of what has been played so far. Two mirrors then, one reflecting the verticality (pitches) and one the horizontality (time or structure) of the piece.Mirror No.3 has been premiered by Fumiko Miyachi on the 1st of November 2010 at Birmingham Conservatoire.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_mirror3.mp3

Mirror No.3

The second piece of the Mirrors series was written for the Schubert Ensemble (see Mirrors) who performed it during a workshop at Birmingham Conservatoire on the 22nd of June 2010. The piece is a collage of different moments each representing a character of the circus.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_mirror2.mp3

Mirror No.2: Circus

Contrasting musical forces fight each other, consonances against dissonances, seven ecclesiastical modes confront an anarchy of pitches, the perfect fifth against the Diabolus in Musica, order versus chaos. From monodic unison an open closing chord blooms, a musical Big Bang, the music charts out the challenge between religion and science, from the first moment of creation to this very moment’. And God said was premiered by Icarus Vocal Ensemble at Sound New Festival in Canterbury on the 14th of May 2010.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_andgodsaid.mp3

And God said (excerpt)

Day is the second song written for decibel Ensemble and features a poem by composer and friend Simon Cummings. Day has been premiered and recorded live at Frontiers Festival Plus at Birmingham Conservatoire on the 15th of March 2010 by decibel.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_day.mp3

Day

An unexpected and unpredictable historic event should be welcome in an unconventional and peculiar way. This piece of music imagines a crowd of people welcoming the new US President Barack Obama with their feet up instead of rising their hands to the sky. Keep your feet up was commissioned by Thumb Ensemble and premiered at the Frenetic Concert at Birmingham Conservatoire on the 26th of February 2010. The recording is an excerpt of the performance at University of Nebraska on the 27th of April 2011.

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Keep Your Feet Up (excerpt)

Vow is a delicate song which alternates two instrumental chorals with two sung verses. Words come from the homonym poem by composer and friend Simon Cummings. Vow has been premiered and recorded live at Frontiers Festival Plus at Birmingham Conservatoire on the 26th of March 2009 by decibel.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_vow.mp3

Vow

Mirrors is a very short miniature written for the Schubert Ensemble. It is composed by short episodes that reach a middle point from where they start to reappear in reverse order and inverted. Mirrors has been performed by Schubert Ensemble on the 16th of March 2009 during a workshop at Birmingham Conservatoire and it is the first piece of a series.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_mirrors.mp3

Mirrors

The double bass loops already experimented in Eyes never stop ever choreography, In a rush, and St.Kilda Invasion formed the main material for this piece of work, conceived to be performed by nine double bassists in a public space. Triangles are present in the spatial setting of players, speakers, lights as well as inside the composition in form of rhythms, melodies and structures.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_triangles.mp3

Triangles (excerpt)

The need to use the double bass loops and harmonics in a structured way brought about the conception of this written work for four double basses. The resulting underlying harmonies obtained by the overlap of three double basses are emphasized by the fourth double bass which plays only notes on the open strings of a five-string bass. Recorded by the author at Birmingham Conservatoire studios.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_st_kilda.mp3

St.Kilda Invasion

This piece has been written between October and December 2008 to be performed by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in a workshop at CBSO Centre. The ensemble is constituted by clarinet (and bass clarinet), horn, harp, violin, viola and cello.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_becoming.mp3

BeCoMinG (excerpt)

This short piece uses the piano and the violin as a relentless background to a simple flute melodic excursion. It has been premiered and recorded live at Birmingham Conservatoire on the 15th of December 2008 performing Sophie Hickman on flute, Rebecca Betambeau on violin and Genevieve Murphy on piano.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_short_piece_flute.mp3

Short piece for acc. flute

This study for solo flute uses the same sequence of 8 notes in the same succession, the only variety been given by the use of dynamics, different rhythms and the presence of underlying melodies. The 8 notes are transposed and intervals are inverted in the second part of the piece. The piece has been workshopped and recorded live at Birmingham Conservatoire on the 8th of December 2008 performing Rowland Sutherland on flute.

COMPOSITION_MUSIC_study_solo_flute.mp3

Study for solo flute

Duets No.1 was composed for Carla Onni’s Eyes Never Stop Ever choreography. It uses couples of double bass loops, and an improvised part.

SONICART_MUSIC_Duets.mp3

Duets No.1

In this composition original fragments inspired by Sardinian traditional folk music have been used to build up a double bass monologue written in two staves. The piece won the first prize at Sardinia International composition competition in 2003 and has been premiered at Spazio Musica festival in 2004 performing Massimo Tore on double bass.