Matthew Whiteside – Emptiness
Song text:

No one here by that name exists.
Only hints.
Nothing here belongs to us.
We just borrow stars.
Our self, a dream, a burning cloud.
Illusions on the wall
One breaking mind
Driving one fragile body
On one dying planet.
Vast distances of nothing.
We are cosmically mundane.
Looking at infinity.
At Emptiness. Pointlessness.
Silence.

Claude vivier – Zipangu
Canadian composer Claude Vivier (1948-1983) was a pioneer of spectral music remembered for his extensive exploration of sound and harmony and for being one of the first Western composers to include elements of Balinese music into his compositions. His work Zipangu (1980) for string orchestra was inspired by a trip he made to Japan in 1976 where he witnessed kabuki theatre and was struck by the ritual-like nature of both the music and physical performance: 

“‘Zipangu’ was the name given to Japan at the time of Marco Polo. Within the frame of a single melody I explore in this work different aspects of colour. I tried to “blur” my harmonic structure through different bowing techniques. A colourful sound is obtained by applying exaggerated bow pressure on the strings as opposed to pure harmonics when returning to normal technique. A melody becomes a colour (chords), grows lighter and slowly returns as though purified and solitary.”

(Claude Vivier)

Caroline Shaw – Entr’acte
Caroline Shaw: Entr’acte Originally conceived for string quartet, Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte is increasingly popular in its version for string orchestra. On the genesis of the work, Shaw writes: ‘Entr’acte was written in 2011 after hearing the Brentano Quartet play Haydn’s Op. 77 4 No. 2 – with the spare and soulful shift to the D flat major trio in the minuet. It is structured like a minuet and trio, riffing on that classical form but taking it a little further. I love the way some music (like the minuets of Op. 77) suddenly takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolor transition.’ Entr’acte is a refreshing take on the Classical minuet and trio form, inventive and entertaining in equal measure. It explores a variety of ensemble textures and features a smorgasbord of extended string instrument techniques including bow noises, slides, harmonics and Bartók pizzicato. Ostensibly traditional harmony is gradually infected with subtle dissonance and the work demands a high degree of rhythmic precision throughout. Shaw successfully creates contrasting colours and moods ranging from the frenetic to the whimsical. The version for string orchestra differs slightly from the original with some of the cello material taken over by the bass. Switching back to the bare string quartet texture when the minuet material returns gives an added sense of nostalgia to the music.
Notes by Julian Azkoul 

Henryk Górecki – Three pieces in the old style
Although initially associated with the post-Stalinist avant-garde movement in his home country, Polish composer Henryk Górecki (1933-2019) gained international recognition through a recording of his Symphony of Sorrowful Songs towards the end of his life by which point his compositional style had moved away from the hard-nosed serialism of his youth into what has been characterised as sacred minimalism. His Three Pieces in an Olden Style (1963) for string orchestra combine elements of folk music with contemporary musical techniques. Musicologist Tadeusz Zieliński wrote about this piece for 1975 Warsaw Autumn Festival:

“The intentionally simple yet delectable releasing of the purely sonoristic characteristics of string sounds, the differentiating and contrasting of their thickness and dynamics take us right to the core of Górecki’s individual style. These pieces represent a modest (as it were, simplified, adapted to the archaic theme), but effective and charming sample of this style and the typical aesthetic-technical issues of their creator.”

Houtaf Khoury – et le vent qui souffleIn
When in late 2014 Yodit Tekle was diagnosed with stomach cancer, her partner, Martin Anderson, who runs Toccata Classics, asked a couple of composer friends to write some music to bring her comfort in her illness. As her life slipped away, he had the idea that she could be remembered in music and so he began to commission other pieces for string orchestra in her memory. To his surprise, almost everyone he asked generously accepted and I was among those composers. It was a project for the remembrance of Yodit Tekle and I was happy to be involved.
-Houtaf Khoury

Joanna Marsh – Winters House (arr. Julian Azkoul)

Joanna Marsh (arr. Azkoul): In Winter’s House Described in The Guardian as ‘one of today’s leading composers for the voice’, Joanna Marsh has written extensively for some of today’s leading vocal ensembles. Com – missioned for the tenors and basses of Tenebrae Choir, In Winter’s House is a setting of a poem of the same name by the Oxford-based poet Jane Draycott. Although the poem’s verse structure and rhyme scheme resemble those of a carol, the text is not religious. The poet conjures up a fairy-tale landscape using the imagery of darkness and light, renewal and rebirth. The music by Joanna Marsh has the reso – nance of an old folk song, introducing a simple lilting motif at the start and gradually transforming it. Each of the five verses takes the initial musical idea and unravels it in a different direction. Over time it becomes more fundamental to the structure, leading to a spacious ending. My adaptation for string orchestra expands the pitch range, enhancing the sense of spaciousness of the original. I am grateful to the com – poser for her advice and for encouraging me to adapt her work.

Notes by Julian Azkoul 

Jessie Montgomery – starburst
African American composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery (1981-) writes about her piece Starburst for string orchestra (2012):

This brief one-movement work for string orchestra is a play on imagery of rapidly changing musical colours. Exploding gestures are juxtaposed with gentle fleeting melodies in an attempt to create a multidimensional soundscape. A common definition of a starburst: “the rapid formation of large numbers of new stars in a galaxy at a rate high enough to alter the structure of the galaxy significantly” lends itself almost literally to the nature of the performing ensemble who premieres the work, The Sphinx Virtuosi, and I wrote the piece with their dynamic in mind.

— Jessie Montgomery

Matthew Whiteside – www.matthewwhiteside.co.uk

Claude Vivier – https://www.boosey.com/composer/Claude+Vivier?ttype=BIOGRAPHY

Caroline Shaw – https://carolineshaw.com/

Henryk Górecki – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_G%C3%B3recki

Houtaf Khoury – http://www.composers21.com/compdocs/khouryh.htm

Joanna Marsh – https://joannamarsh.co.uk/

Jessie Montgomery – https://www.jessiemontgomery.com/