Category Archives: composition

Toast

Posted on 15 June 2011 by

Here’s another poem done as an exercise from Stephen Fry’s ‘The Ode Less Travelled’. It’s from the chapter on Anglo-Saxon Attitudes and the apprentice poet is tasked with writing some lines on food using the alliterative principle. Each line of … Continue reading →

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Cows

Posted on 13 June 2011 by

I picked up Stephen Fry’s excellent book, ‘The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking The Poet Within’, after stalling with it a few years ago. All through he advocates reading poetry aloud and gives space for lots of practice. This is one … Continue reading →

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Ecstasy

Posted on 24 May 2011 by

John Adams gave the commencement speech at Juilliard this week, where he was being presented with an honorary doctorate (along with the amazing Herbie Hancock—if you love music, get his album ‘The Imagine Project’). It’s a great speech about being … Continue reading →

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Cuban Landscape with Rain

Posted on 16 May 2011 by

A beautiful performance of Leo Brouwer’s ‘Cuban Landscape with Rain’ by Dublin Guitar Quartet. I came across Leo Brouwer’s work while helping catalogue guitar music at The Victorian Music Library in Melbourne in November. One afternoon I popped out for … Continue reading →

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I *Was* Glad…

Posted on 10 March 2011 by

Today I sang Hubert Parry’s anthem, ‘I Was Glad’, with St Ann’s choir for a service to mark the commencement of the newly-elected Irish parliament (Dáil Éireann). Parry was born in 1848, an explosive year in Europe, not least in … Continue reading →

Posted in composers, lovely performances, New Dublin Voices and other choral singing, reviews and reports, what I'm up to | 2 Comments

Extraordinary table drumming

Posted on 21 February 2011 by

Freya Schreurs, a friend of mine who used to sing with New Dublin Voices, posted this video on Facebook. I love it! Beautifully executed and it sounds great. The piece is by Belgian composer Thierry de Mey and is called … Continue reading →

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Steve Reich talks about composition

Posted on 21 January 2011 by

This lovely little video appeared on Twitter today. It’s by the London Sinfonietta, who are soon performing Steve Reich’s ‘Music For 18 Musicians’ with the composer. It’s really a video programme note – Reich explains the genesis and history of … Continue reading →

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Auld Lang Syne

Posted on 1 January 2011 by

Back when I was an undergraduate student at Edinburgh University, learning about harmony, I arranged a version of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ for piano. If you have a piano handy, here’s a link to the music on my Sibelius website. If … Continue reading →

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Pride, Prejudice, Piano, Perfect

Posted on 1 July 2010 by

I found the big music shop in Sydney – Allan’s on Pitt Street. Downstairs: guitars, drums and such (I got three sets of Martin guitar strings for the price of two PLUS a very compressed t-shirt!). Upstairs is sheet music, … Continue reading →

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Alice in Wonderland

Posted on 21 June 2010 by

Before I left Ireland last week, I took part in a school project in Daingean, County Offaly. It was funded by the Arts Council’s ‘Percent for Art’ scheme, which allows schools that have completed a new building to apply for … Continue reading →

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