LESS IS MORE
Welcome to my first recital at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, ‘less is more’! It’s my pleasure to share with you a range of contemporary chamber music that features the guitar.
The title is, perhaps, a bit ironic- ‘less’? Here I am stuffing three works and eleven different musicians into one twenty-five concert! But, if you'll believe me, all of this music is also exploring 'less' in some way or another, whether drawing from the use of limited musical material that marks minimalism/post-minimalism (Spook and City Boy) or utilising the power of silence (The Uses of Not).
I am so grateful to God for bringing me these musicians to work with, especially when I consider that I knew none of them six months ago! A big thank you to Xinyi (Michelle), Masha, Kaja, Daniela, Rebekah, Tamsin, Hana, Anthony, Megan, and Yueji for giving their musical talents and time to the project. Thank you, of course, to Allan Neave and Matthew McAllister for the lessons, feedback, coaching, and their patience with me! I wouldn’t be here in Scotland without the support of my in-house sound engineer, chef, and best friend, Azariah Felton, so thank you again, and I’ll try not to apologise. Most importantly, I’d like to thank God for sustaining me through everything, and for being the source of any and all creativity you see today. This recital is, as always, for him.
I hope you enjoy the range of music presented here today :)
Spook, Anna Meredith
Xinyi Qiu, marimba
Abbey Felton, guitar
Masha Zhuravlova, violin I
Kaja Ladava, violin II
Daniela Gassi, viola
Rebekah Woodier, cello
When I asked Anna what inspired the composition of this work, she said “Yeah, afraid nothing super interesting behind it that I can remember… vague Casper friendly ghost type vibes…”
So, fundamentally this is a cheeky romp with an unusual instrumentation. Enjoy!
The Uses of Not, Greg Caffrey
Tamsin Baird, alto flute
Abbey Felton, guitar
Heavily inspired by Toru Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea, ‘The Uses of Not’ is an exploration of the spaces in between things - silences, pauses, moments. The title and subject is drawn from Lao Tse’s poem, translated below:
Thirty spokes meet in the hub,
but the empty space between them
is essence of the wheel.
Pots are formed from clay,
but the empty space between it
is the essence of the pot.
Walls with windows and doors form the house,
but the empty space within it
is the essence of the house.
City Boy, Judd Greenstein
Hana Flood, flute
Anthony Mckenna, clarinet
Abbey Felton, electric guitar
Megan Warnock, double bass
Yueji Yang, piano
City Boy exists as part of a trilogy of works written for NOW ensemble. Contrasted against and complimentary to his work Folk Music (which is one of the trilogy), Judd wrote this work as something that “reached toward the urban instead of the pastoral, finding no less beauty in the streets where I grew up than the forests I later moved to. It’s all the same, the motion of people in spaces and natural forms in spaces, built or otherwise. Motions repeat themselves in different environments. So do grooves, literal and musical.”
I’d like to dedicate my performance of this work to my ‘country-boy-totally-not-turned-a-city-boy’, Azariah Felton.
The title is, perhaps, a bit ironic- ‘less’? Here I am stuffing three works and eleven different musicians into one twenty-five concert! But, if you'll believe me, all of this music is also exploring 'less' in some way or another, whether drawing from the use of limited musical material that marks minimalism/post-minimalism (Spook and City Boy) or utilising the power of silence (The Uses of Not).
I am so grateful to God for bringing me these musicians to work with, especially when I consider that I knew none of them six months ago! A big thank you to Xinyi (Michelle), Masha, Kaja, Daniela, Rebekah, Tamsin, Hana, Anthony, Megan, and Yueji for giving their musical talents and time to the project. Thank you, of course, to Allan Neave and Matthew McAllister for the lessons, feedback, coaching, and their patience with me! I wouldn’t be here in Scotland without the support of my in-house sound engineer, chef, and best friend, Azariah Felton, so thank you again, and I’ll try not to apologise. Most importantly, I’d like to thank God for sustaining me through everything, and for being the source of any and all creativity you see today. This recital is, as always, for him.
I hope you enjoy the range of music presented here today :)
Spook, Anna Meredith
Xinyi Qiu, marimba
Abbey Felton, guitar
Masha Zhuravlova, violin I
Kaja Ladava, violin II
Daniela Gassi, viola
Rebekah Woodier, cello
When I asked Anna what inspired the composition of this work, she said “Yeah, afraid nothing super interesting behind it that I can remember… vague Casper friendly ghost type vibes…”
So, fundamentally this is a cheeky romp with an unusual instrumentation. Enjoy!
The Uses of Not, Greg Caffrey
Tamsin Baird, alto flute
Abbey Felton, guitar
Heavily inspired by Toru Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea, ‘The Uses of Not’ is an exploration of the spaces in between things - silences, pauses, moments. The title and subject is drawn from Lao Tse’s poem, translated below:
Thirty spokes meet in the hub,
but the empty space between them
is essence of the wheel.
Pots are formed from clay,
but the empty space between it
is the essence of the pot.
Walls with windows and doors form the house,
but the empty space within it
is the essence of the house.
City Boy, Judd Greenstein
Hana Flood, flute
Anthony Mckenna, clarinet
Abbey Felton, electric guitar
Megan Warnock, double bass
Yueji Yang, piano
City Boy exists as part of a trilogy of works written for NOW ensemble. Contrasted against and complimentary to his work Folk Music (which is one of the trilogy), Judd wrote this work as something that “reached toward the urban instead of the pastoral, finding no less beauty in the streets where I grew up than the forests I later moved to. It’s all the same, the motion of people in spaces and natural forms in spaces, built or otherwise. Motions repeat themselves in different environments. So do grooves, literal and musical.”
I’d like to dedicate my performance of this work to my ‘country-boy-totally-not-turned-a-city-boy’, Azariah Felton.
