'sliding doors'

I've just finished the first draft of my Manchester Collective commission, "I know that you know that I know" (working title). It's a 15 minute piece for Sean Shibe (Scottish virtuoso guitarist playing electric guitar) and string quartet, touring in 2023 (see dates 👓). Here are some thoughts on writing music at the moment.....

It strikes me how random the capture of ideas really is. Writing a piece for me is dreaming up many ideas then catching a few out of the sky with a net and then taking them into my studio and dissecting them, growing them and then, when I'm really really ready, setting them free. From the time I choose to have ideas, to the ideas I pay attention to, to the ones I actually decide to capture is so random. What you, the listener, sitting in the audience, are listening to, is an arbitrary point in my imagination. If I hadn't taken that phone call, or walked the dog another route, or actually bothered to hoover the house, you would be listening to something completely different. Sorry to go all 'sliding doors' on you but perhaps it's something I appreciate more, now working on music therapy placements as part of my training, the fleetingness of musical ideas - they are there - then they are gone. In music therapy, it doesn't matter what they are, just what they might do, in relation to my client's music, along the way.

I want my new 15 minute work, "I know that you know that I know" (working title) to act as a container for the listener to put whatever they choose into the experience. I aim for it to be holding, grounding and non-prescriptive. My hope is I've left enough space for the listener to be playful and use the space to feel how they want to feel. But intentions for pieces can be funny things, so often they take on a life of their own. If it is coming to where you live, and you would like to come along, do share your experience of the piece with me.

job offer - composer: resilience required

Quite a common phenomenon amongst composers is having a massive high after a premier but being so overwhelmed by the experience finding it difficult to be fully receptive to that praise or even too shy to be open enough to receive it but then absolutely craving it in the days to follow. There is no system for that. Well, apart from compliment Tuesday invented by a dear composer friend of mine. But in all seriousness, it can be a rollercoaster of emotions.

I’m deep in studies at the moment and one thing that strikes me is the amount of theory that exists behind human interactions and processes. There are whole methodologies behind running groups that I had no idea about. I will be using them and embracing them now obviously but it makes me think about all the diverse situations we are thrown into as composers where suddenly we might be giving a talk, or negotiating a fee, running a rehearsal, reading a review or even justifying an experience to ourselves.

It always fascinates me how much energy is poured into artists, poets and musicians once they are dead and gone, and frankly its too late. Obviously there are wonderful institutions and funds attending and supporting living composers who have greatly supported me over the years (Sound and Music, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, PRS Foundation to name a few) but I still encounter individuals with a total lack of understanding of what it is like to be self employed in a competitive industry particularly feeling the effects of these times.

What is maybe invisible to them is aside from writing the piece, we may well have written the funding application (having been turned down the first or even second time), battled for days to find the best idea, battled with ourselves, turned down other work to write the piece, found the musicians, attended rehearsals, doubted the piece, believed in the piece, travelled to the venue with butterflies in our stomach, stood up and bowed, felt judged, felt proud, felt exposed, felt elated, felt flat, questioned our own professional standing, felt hopeful, heard nothing, felt indifferent….like I said, a rollercoaster of emotions...then we pick ourselves up and find the strength to start all over again.

It goes without saying that it's a huge privilege to be able to express ourselves for a living. But next time you are at a concert where the composer is present, please, go up to them and be really really nice, and then contact them a few days later and be even nicer ;)

Mandel's first release

Hello. I'm so happy and proud to announce the release of the first ever recording of my band, Mandel. Misha and I, 3 vocalists and a double bass recorded back in February, almost a year ago, difficult to believe in the stretching and dragging of this troubled year. It is something a bit different for me. The fact I am playing is a major and the fact I am collaborating on the actual musical writing with my musical partner, Misha Law, is another big one. It felt so good to be performing my own music again after many years of sitting nervously in the audience and we absolutely cannot wait to do lots of gigs once we are allowed.
Mini Suite (in 3 movements) is rooted in nature and Nha Trang in something more human, (inspired by Andreas Gursky's photo of a massive IKEA factory in Thailand). Recorded by Daniel Inzani, mixed by David Sheppard, artwork by Dave Bain and released by Bedroom Community today.

https://emilyhall.bandcamp.com/album/nha-trang-mini-suite

My other good bit of news is, after a long time searching for the right fit, I have finally signed with a publisher, Manners McDade, who have an amazingly talented team and I'm so happy I'll finally get the support I've been craving.

Keep well and thank you as always for your support during this difficult time.

Emily x

diversion

Last week was a super fun week for me. Not only did Misha and I do our first ever Mandel recording (release details to follow in my next letter) but there was all the fun of the Radio 3 "Seven Ages of Woman” BBC Singers commission broadcast which led to a lovely chat with Jenny Murray (who absolutely was as lovely as she sounds) on Woman's Hour on Thursday morning. Listen here 32 minutes in (the "ums" do eventually subside!) https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000fw0t

You can here my song “Veins” here, part of a whole 7 movement multi-generational piece by 7 female composers (which turned out to be really good) 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000g67l

Coming up on the 26th March is my new piece for Rakhi Singh as part of SOLO at the CLF Art Café in Peckham London for violin and vocoder. It’s called Outshifts. I spend quite a lot of time in Outshifts (fringes or boundaries of a town) near my house chasing that nature "hit" but within the glow of the town….Violinist Rakhi Singh is an incredible musician and its a big honour to write and perform with her (I'll be playing vocoder) Alex Groves has done a pretty in depth interview about the piece here https://www.thisissolo.co.uk/Q-A-Emily-Hall

I've just been working last weekend with my choir (Stroud Fringe Choir) on the SATB version of my secular requiem ‘Rest' which I wrote with Toby Litt  back in 2013. It sounds so good this way. We'll be performing it in a woodland at Hawkwood College near Stroud as part of Hidden Notes ii festival in September (and hopefully lots more thereafter)

2020

So, what’s in store for me?

Violinist Rakhi Singh has asked me to write her a piece. What a joy - I’m working on it right now so I won’t say too much. It will be premiered by her at Alex Groves' SOLO concert series in the CLF Art Café, Bussey Building in Peckham, London on the 26th March. 

I’ve just finished writing a song for the BBC Singers which is another massive privilege. Once again I've set a poem by Marina Tsvetaeva. Her poems are just amazing. The one I set was actually written when she was exactly my age and is all about the urgency and vitality of creativity. It will be broadcast on International Women’s Day on BBC Radio 3. 

I’m writing a new set of songs with Toby Litt expressly for SATB protesting (!) which I realise is a bit niche but I want to build up a collection of songs which aren’t so much protest songs but songs which add gravitas and even optimism to what can often be tense environments or even annoyingly mundane environments dominated by car horns and street sounds. It's lovely working with Toby again. His latest novel “Patience” is excellent by the way.

At the end of September “Rest" gets its SATB complete premier in a beautiful woodland clearing as part of Hidden Notes ii (which is looking like another year of exciting artists)

My band Mandel (like an almond) are playing at the Union Chapel really soon - on the 8th of February. It's a bit different but also massively linked to my normal music making ways - and crucially - rather than sitting nervously in the audience - I will be standing nervously on the stage playing - violin, piano, metallaphone and singing. We're on track to record our first EP at the end of February.

To add to this release, Hermes Experiment will be releasing a CD on Delphian Records which will include the two songs I wrote for them and also this year Jodie Landau and I are co-releasing the songs I wrote for him on Bedroom Community.

unexpected commute

When I moved from London to Stroud almost 4 years ago I didn't expect that the majority of my trips to London would be for protesting - but then my awareness of the urgency of climate action 4 years ago was pretty much nil. It has been a bumpy year coming to terms with what is really happening and accessing the best way to use my energy to make any kind of difference. But I feel I'm getting closer. I wanted to share this photo with you because it captures a bit of a "eurica" moment for me; walking down Oxford Street singing 'So Far' from my Requiem with my choir, Stroud Fringe Choir, adding gravitas to an important stand against the status quo. I realised there is a use for 4 part choral music at these protests - filling empty gaps with held spaces of reflection (and maybe even a touch of optimism). I am now writing more - for this very purpose.

In other news, we've finally put a little film together of our new Mandel songs - please do have a look - I'm really proud of the music we are making and performing. We are recording our first EP in February of next year. Details of pre-order coming soon but for now here is a sample of a performance in the summer.

Stroud Fringe Choir will be performing under Luke Jerram's Museum of the Moon on Saturday the 2nd November at 1.15pm in Gloucester Cathedral. I'm also delighted to announce they will be singing Rest, my secular requiem written with Toby Litt, in its entirety at the next Hidden Notes Festival in a woodland clearing in collaboration with Hawkwood College on the 27th September 2020.

releases & hidden notes

Jodie songs. These are done. I’m excited about them. And excited Jodie Landau is going to record them and we'll co-release with Bedroom Community. I’ve set words by Rumi and Toby Litt and some instrumentals in between. It is sort of like my second album…after Folie a Deux...a continuation of the sounds of vocals and electronics and vocoders....

Folie a Deux. I’m really honoured that Gareth Williams chose Folie to present in this very sensitive analysis in the BBC Classics Unwrapped series https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07j0psp

Rakhi Singh has asked me to write her a piece with electronics which is going to premier as part of Alex Groves' Solo series in London.

Last term I wrote another mini opera for children to perform; there four character groups; school strikers, the river Thames, Big Ben and politicians. It’s straight forward for primary school children to learn and very much of its time (spoiler - there is a happy ending). If anyone would like it for a primary school they are involved in - or would like to know more - do get in touch and I’ll send you a score, a film and all the resources all for free.

Ben Corrigan of “Excuse the Mess” has released an EP of all the pieces he created in a day with composers including myself, Robert Ames, Laura Jurd and Manu Delago. In our piece, my Electro Magnetic Harp, as well as being its normal lushious droning self reveals some new characteristics..... http://hyperurl.co/bpb8r3

Mandel essentially became a band at the end of August when we added 3 vocalists and a double bass and it really felt good. Out of our weekly improvisations we have created a really strong 45 minute set. We will be performing at Hidden Notes Festival in September, in London at the XR Rebellion in October, at Postlip Community and Gloucester Cathedral in November and plans are well underway now to record an EP.....

Hidden Notes is a brave new festival of neo-classical/ classical cross over (or however you prefer to describe it) music. And guess what? It’s in Stroud. That’s right. There is no excuse not to come and visit now! Artists include some form my label - Valgier Sigurdsson and Daniel Pioro and many other amazing artists including Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Group Listening, Lubomyr Melnyk, Claire M Singer….I have 45 minute set on the Saturday the 28th and it is going to include new and old music and feature the Stroud Fringe Choir, pianists Claire Hammond and a world premier of a new piece I wrote for Cassie Yukawa-McBurney (reunited from RCM days!) something new for Daniel Pioro and some Mandel too. https://hiddennotes.co.uk/

I’m feeling pretty fired up about everything and bursting with ideas

more soon

Emily

partials, a double espresso and a Marlborough red

I'm off to Paris next week for a premier of a choral piece. I'm sure there'll be a fair amount of nostalgia as I remember the year I lived there between York University and RCM - sitting in cafes with my double espresso working out which partials to put into my music - spending hours at the "Médiathèque" zoning into Le Monte Young. I managed somehow to smuggle into a weekly class at the conservatoire with a very nice teacher and his dog and I had a few afternoons at IRCAM somehow, everyone there wearing black polo neck tops, the fun I had busking in the metro with a motley crew of string players, a lot of Tom Wait's songs and Marlborough reds - it was a good year - the Parisians were kind to me but it felt right to return to London - which had a buzz in 2000 - New Labour, Tracey Emin's un made bed and all that but topping everything my beloved RCM composing cohort Anna Meredith, Mark Bowden, Matt Rogers, Chris Mayo & Charlie Piper.

I'm looking forward to being a part of this exciting new festival "Hidden Notes" here in Stroud in September. There is a stella line up of "classical crossover" or "neo romantic" (or however you want to call it) music and I'll be joined on the line up by my Bedroom Community pals Valgeir Sigurdsson and Daniel Pioro. 

off social media

Hi I came off my only social media platform, twitter a few weeks ago (and thanks and welcome to the followers from there who have followed me here). Why? Well, I can’t say it was a measured well planned decision but I can say it simply stopped feeling like a useful space for Emily Hall the composer. I never felt comfortable adding to all the other zillions of tweets flying around, and as someone who is sensitive to information overload it felt like a positive thing to extract myself and my noise from it.  It is simply much more my style to think, think, write, rather than fire thoughts as I have them.

What am I working on at the minute? More songs for Jodie Landau - ultimately, it will be a set of 3 quite meditative pieces. The first is a setting of a small Rumi phrase, the next is woven from text by poet, Ranjit Bhatnagar, who has created sonnets exclusively from other peoples tweets (ironically). Amongst the noise of throw away comments are some very striking lyrics.

And after that? Next big thing on my writing agenda will be an opera/music theatre version of a Hans Christian Anderson story which includes children and grown ups with my old friends Mahogany Opera and my new friend and writer Melanie Golding.
 
What’s going on with Mandel/what is Mandel? Mandel is my duo - we improvise then we refine then we perform (with a few added musicians who happen to be rather top notch!) - simple as that! We’ve had a fantastic time (as you can see from some of the photos above) (and yes I even play a simple bit of harp!) and the general consensus has been that our next step is to do some recordings. We aim to, once we figure out a way, but in the meantime we’ve got more gigs coming up.

What’s premiering next? My new piece “Root, fruit, pearl, night: A hymn to the earth” for Paris Choral Society - I was asked to respond in some way to the work of Kassia, the earliest known female composer from the 8th century. It took a while to find a way in but in the end I took the English translations of all of her hymns and filtered out any references to nature (and actually interestingly there weren’t very many) starting off quite abstract “root, fruit, pearl, night” and gradually adding her descriptive language, building up to Kassia’s lyric from her most famous hymn “Accept the springs of my tears to the sighing of my heart”.

What’s new in my shop? An SATB version of ‘So Far’ which I wrote for Lady Maisery and they included on their record ‘Cycles’. A few choirs have been singing 3 part versions and so I thought I'd make a 4 part version available here.

Q Magazine
I’m in there this month! Can you guess where the piano is I'm sitting at?