Double Reed News: Pan-dora

I am pleased to announce that in this autumns issue of "Double Reed News", The magazine of the British Double Reed Society, is an article about myself, and my bassoon/laptop piece "Pan-dora". Also presented is my friend Sylvia Lim and her solo oboe piece "Orée".

 One thing was missing in the article.
Mr. Meyrick Alexander´s review of Ruth´s recital and my piece:

A PREMIERE OF A NEW BASSOON PIECE

On June 1st 2012 Ruth Hardwick performed her fourth year degree recital at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in front of the external examiner Robin O'Neill and senior members of staff. 

Ruth played a nicely varied programme which included Vivaldi's Concerto F8 No7 in A minor, Sarabande et Cortege by Dutilleux, Solo by Vladislav Shoot, Gordon Jacob's Suite for Bassoon and String Quartet and the premiere of Pan-dora, the Uncooperative Machine by Helgi R. Ingvarsson.

As one of Ruth's former teachers, I was very attentive to her whole recital but it was Pan-dora which aroused the most interest as a new piece in the repertoire is always welcome.

The composer provided an explanatory note: the piece was created as a result of "his first attempt to set up a MAXmsp patch and instead of worrying that something might go wrong he decided to write the error into the music." Two players take equal precedence on the stage: the bassoonist and a laptop, the screen facing the audience. There are two microphones, one for each participant. The bassoonist begins the piece lyrically and then plays a loud multiphonic into the laptop's microphone. This stirs the machine into life and it begins to provide an accompaniment. All is well for a time but the piece continues as a battle of will between the two as the machine has a mind of its own, apparently.  The laptop's screen changes colour as the action progresses and the performance ends with the bassoonist storming off leaving the machine as the victor - a triumph of mechanics over emotion as the performer becomes exasperated.

The success of any performance of such a piece rests on the stage presence of the performer, as well as considerable playing expertise, and on this occasion Ruth's theatrical expressions and gestures had the audience in laughter throughout and a huge cheer greeted the end. The sounds emanating from the machine were well designed to be complementary to the instrument and I believe this piece is a useful addition to the number of pieces involving extended techniques and versatility which are required by all colleges in their final recitals.

Meyrick Alexander

A copy of the score is included in the magazine. Here is the 1st page.
For the MAXmsp patch and the soundfiles contact helgirafn@gmail.com. 

Dartington, chapter 2

Dartington, chapter #2: The Advanced Composition Course

Jack Symonds working on his composition "Sunless Communion"

Advanced Composition course 2012 from left: Ben Ashby, Helgi R. Ingvarsson, Will Handysides,

Detlev Glanert, Chris Birch, Jack Symonds and Michael Cutting.

The Composers Ensemble rehearsing our pieces. Ahran Kim (flutes), David Campell (clarinets), 

Alexandra Wood (violin/viola), Adrian Bradbury (cello) and Simon Limbrick (percussion).

Jack Symonds conducting.

Me and Detlev Glanert at rehearsal.

Conductor Ben Gernon and me discussing my piece "The Distance Between Us".

 Naturally we had a few drinks after the concert

 Ben Ashby working on his composition "In memoriam Charles Michael"

 Lesson with Detlev Glanert

Ben Ashby analysing a orchestral piece by Chris Birch

From Paddington to Dartington

Dartington, chapter #1: "From Paddington to Dartington". 

 So I made it to Dartington after 3-4 hour trip with some equally exciting and stressful moments on the train when I almost forgot the name of my stop. Thanks to very accurate descripion from DISS (nice acronym btw for Dartington International Summer School) I did manage to narrow the options down to 1 stop: "Totnes". Seeing loads of people get off the train carrying violins and cellos helped too. After checking in, a short introduction session and dinner, me and my new mates sat down at the local pub. Later in the evening it started pouring down. Sitting under a tent in pitch dark, pouring rain with an occasional thunder drinking beer is very cozy. First session of the Advanced Composition Course is today at 11am.

 

Skuggablóm á leið í prentun

Sönglagaheftið Skuggablóm er tilbúið og fer í prent í dag eða á morgun. Kærar þakkir til Árna Kristjánssonar fyrir handrit og textagerð, Eyþór Páls Eyþórssonar fyrir uppsetningu og hönnun, Hrannar Þráinnsdóttur og Kristínar Einarsdóttur og fl. fyrir prófarkarlestur! Ég get varla beðið eftir að handleika gripinn síðar í vikunni. Hægt er að panta eintak á helgirafn@gmail.com

Wreckage of Dreams: A mini opera

I´m having a wonderful time back in Iceland this summer. Meeting friends, fishing, partying and tanning (yes, tanning in Iceland. More than I ever did in England).

But the pen is always close. I wrote a mini-opera to submit to ENO´s mini operas competition (http://www.minioperas.org/). The thing is that I also needed to polish my Mmus composition folio for my viva voce this september, so I only had 2 weeks to write it, 2 day to rehearse, 1 day to record and 1 day to edit it. I´m pretty proud of it. It would not had been possible if I did not have great friends who were willing to help me out with a moments notice.


Go check it out here: http://www.minioperas.org/composer/wreckage-of-dreams-13/

ENO (English National Opera) will choose 10 soundtracks, from 130 entries, to continue to the next round August 6th.

Huuuge thanks to:

Man: Helgi R. Ingvarsson
Woman: Guðrún Matthildur Sigurbergsdóttir

Spoken word: Jenný Lára Arnórsdóttir & Haraldur Ágústsson

Choir: Guðrún Matthildur Sigurbergsdóttir, Jenný Lára Arnórsdóttir, Haraldur Ágústsson & Helgi R. Ingvarsson.

Piano: Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir
Cello: Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir.

Next up:
Small trip to Akureyri, Iceland. And then finishing my Mmus composition folio.

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More information about the opera:

"Wreckage of Dreams" is a mini opera, based on Shaun Gardiner´s script (http://basement-garden.co.uk/). The opening reads:

"The scene, lit only by the moon, is a small boat, adrift on the sea with a dead engine. A large number of refugees lie on the raft: they swamp it, almost concealing the shape of the hull. It is as if a mass of bodies floated on the sea. They have been adrift for fourteen days, and are dying of thirst and starvation"

This music/soundscape is a music/soundscape piece where I try to bring the audience into the world of the sea´s unpredictable currents, where the waves can be both gentle and aggressive, using only a piano, cello and 4 voices along with a few post-production effects. A larger orchestration could easily be created from this reduction. Although I treated Shaun´s script quite freely I was very intrigued by everything he wrote (written late june - july 23rd 2012).