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INTRODUCTION

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I'm a British classical composer living in France having recently taken up French citizenship. Hoping to bring a bit of meaningful music into this crazy world.

 

STYLE

 

The music is 'contemporary Neo classical/romantic' in style. I invite everyone from all backgrounds to listen to and enjoy my music.  The idea is that people are engaged and feel they are experiencing something which already belongs to them. That you not only feel challenged whilst listening, but relaxed and informed, as though you are becoming part of the performance itself. It's meant to be accessible to everyone, unlike a great deal of modern orchestral music today.

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You will hear brass instruments feature along with references from Europe, in particular France, England, Russia and Ukraine. It is almost too unbearable to think about the evils unleashed and the lives being lost right now. Heartbreaking.  Most people seem to find the music easy enough to listen to. I spend a great deal of time in the Southern Alps along with the Mediterranean and draw on my working class background from the Potteries in England as a young man, so hopefully there's something in there for everyone. I'm an experienced classical orchestral musician. For me that means I like to think in terms of instrumental threads and harmonies, giving an advantage, an ear for the machinations of how instruments and voices breath and live within the score. If you want to hear the real nitty gritty me then my Symphonies are probably the best place along with the Cherry Orchard. My earlier works were kind of experimental, but I enjoyed writing them. 

 

Just a quick note on the sounds that you hear during playback. These are supplied by sound libraries. I tend to write the music using a score writing software first then attempt to load that into a Digital Audio Workstation. I've had variable success doing it this way and it doesn't come without its problems, one of which is to make the music come to life more . Sunday the 4th of September 2022 marked the completion of my new education in Music technology. It has taken nearly all of this year and some. Very complicated, very expensive. I last taught music technology in the early 1990's. Goodness me, how things have changed. I now face a completely new way of working which I must say fills me with trepidation. I feel like I've come full circle, only this time the kids have been teaching me, not the other way around. My new works are going to contain some electronic music with the orchestra, and I hope, some live vocals, and somehow I have to try and avoid the rut of writing in 'trailer music' style. I've kind of worked out there's about 20 chords everyone's using in different inversions and keys to create the 'Epic Orchestra'. Within my new education I have had to study the stalwarts of the cinema (Elfman, Williams, Zimmer etc) but I think even they would say things are getting a bit stale. It's been a long hard road. I haven't a clue what's next or how I'm going to adapt, but adapt I must. Can't let the whippersnappers have it all their own way, These new sounds I have (which I have in abundance) fill me with such inspiration I cannot figure out where to start. We will see. 

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