Talking Writing Music

Author: Paul Kilbey

  • Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Metacosmos

    Image by Anna Maggy, 2019

    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 a unified, structured whole.” I spoke to Anna about how she put it all together.

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  • Linda Catlin Smith: Among the Tarnished Stars

    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 Linda about the two recordings, the work itself, and the difficult question of “mood”.

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  • Richard Baker: The Tyranny of Fun

    Richard Baker’s 2012 work The Tyranny of Fun is released on a NMC Debut Disc album on 15 March 2024, with Finnegan Downie Dear conducting BCMG. The composition 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.

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  • Tom O.C. Wilson: A Plan

    Tom O.C. Wilson writes fascinating, complicated pop music. He also teaches composition 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.

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  • Louise Drewett: Stairway [for The Sampler]

    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.

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  • Tansy Davies: Forest [for The Sampler]

    I interviewed Tansy Davies about her fantastic four-horn concerto Forest for The Sampler.

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