Threnody

First draft of a threnody for mixed chamber ensemble. This piece is a commision and will get rehearsed and recorded very soon in Leeds by the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra Chamber Orchestra. Threnody ("a wailing ode, song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person" or "brooding lament to urban desolation" ) is scored for a modestly-sized chamber ensemble of piccolo, flute, oboe, cor anglais, bassoon, two violins, viola, 'cello and double bass. I have dedicated the piece to the victims of the various terrorist attacks that have occurred around the world this year; indeed, the recent heightened socio-political tensions that have recently surfaced were very much in mind when I was composing it. Perhaps the most famous threnody is Penderecki's (in that case directed towards the victims of Hiroshima). The work is, in a structural sense, once again, divided into a sort of "egg" structure like my Komorebi, though this time with more sections. I am often to be found depicting in my music certain aspects of nature, usually with an emphasis upon the mystical or the beautiful so there is a certain refreshing feel, despite its bleak nature, in depicting the destruction, or the vision of the destruction, of this at the hand of man. This has, in turn, informed the starker, harsher and more dissonant harmony I have employed. I am drawn to composing in this sort of egg structure as things feel generally balanced. Nevertheless the piece still has a climactic section somewhere around the Golden Section mark. Certain different creative decisions were taken during the composing of this work, notably my use of Messiaen's octotonic modes adding a new sting of dissonance and tension. Another point of interest is that this music, at least to me, highlights the contrast and juxtaposition between beauty/creation and ugliness/destruction (through the more melodic, lush sections and abrasive, darker moments respectively). It may be that I revise the piece after hearing it rehearsed, performed and recorded. Instrumentation: Piccolo Flute Oboe Cor Anglais Bassoon Violin I Violin II Viola Violoncello Double Bass Sounds: Sibelius 7.5 with Noteperformer Note: Some of the upper and lower parts of the score in some parts/frames were cut off by Movie Maker.