“A sensitive and refined
imagination” Eve’s music features in Michael Hall’s forthcoming book British
Music Theatre. John Casken and Anthony Gilbert supervised her MusB (Hons) and
MMus respectively. Eve’s critically acclaimed chamber opera Hera’s List toured
to Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival 2012 and she was awarded first prize at
Heriot Watt Composer Competition. Shapeshifters was premièred by the Hebrides
Ensemble as part of the prestigious composers’ course at St Magnus
International Festival, Orkney in 2013. Recent commissions include National
Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Big Noise - Sistema Scotland, Durham Brass
Festival and Phoenix Clarinet Quartet with vocal sculptor Jason Singh (PRSF).
Eve co-directs performer and composer collective Sounds of the Engine House who
recently toured the north of England, co-produced by Sound and Music. Her new
piece of music theatre, commissioned by the Bridgewater Hall, was part of this
touring programme of music by living composers. This year, in collaboration
with BREAD Arts, Eve was commissioned by the London Sinfonietta as part of
Blue Touch Paper to develop an engaging piece of contemporary music and light
artwork that invites an audience to interact and participate using their smartphone.
In addition to her own
composition Eve is a passionate educator and leads composition and song writing
workshops for Opera North’s Youth Company, In Harmony Liverpool, Manchester
Camerata and Yorkshire Young Musicians, amongst others. She is also a keen trumpet
player, performing both orchestrally and with Balkan Stomp band The Rubber Duck
Orchestra.
www.eveharrison.co.uk
Eve Harrison’s New Work will be premiered by
the Ebor Singers, conductor Paul Gameson, at the next Late Music concert, Saturday
4th October.
Steve
Crowther: Can you describe the work to us?
And
Now, Exhale… responds to an evocative text by my collaborator Bruce Arthur and has
inspired a colourful palette of vocal textures and resonances to heighten the
poets’ response to an experience with nature. When discussing his text Bruce
describes a huge sense of relief
and unburdening whilst walking along the coast in Sunderland. I'd like
to find some of that lightness in contrast to the dark and percussive weight of
an oppressive figurative and literal ocean. I hope to provide the audience an
immersive and spacial journey, bringing to life both the emotional and aural
sensations captured in the text.
SC: Do you write at
the piano, do you pre-plan? Can you describe the compositional process?
EH: I usually plan
an harmonic outline, often graphically representing dramatic tension and
texture. I’ll do some work at the piano during this stage until I’ve
established my framework then work away from the piano, writing by hand at
first and once I feel I have a good grasp of my material I’ll move to notating
on Sibelius.
SC: Is it important
to know the performers? Do you write with a sound in mind?
EH: I think it’s extremely
important to be familiar with the skills and strengths of the performers to get
the most out of the opportunity to write for them and to give them the
opportunity to communicate what you’ve written. In addition, as a trumpet
player, I’ve always valued enjoying playing the music put in front of me and
this stays with me when composing, but there are always exceptions…
SC: How would you
describe your individual ‘sound world’?
EH: I’m interested in
colours/timbre, spacial placing of sound, modes, transcribing birdsong and the phoenetic sound of text,
non-Western rhythmic patterns and harmonic fields. I find it a difficult thing
to describe so here are some words that other people have used:
“witty” “vivid” “imaginative”
“impressive instrumental colours and dramatic pacing” “meticulous”
SC: What motivates
you to compose?
EH: As a child I painted and
worked with clay a lot: my dad is an abstract artist and I think I soaked up
that kind of experimentation and curiosity in building layers. There is
something of this in my love of composing. I also love telling stories but am
not very good at doing so verbally! Through music I have a way and this comes
through increasingly in both my vocal and instrumental writing.
SC: Which living
composers do you identify with or simply admire?
EH: Harrison Birtwistle,
Charlotte Bray, Mira Calix, Gary Carpenter, Anthony Gilbert, Roger Marsh, Anna
Meredith, Matthew Sergeant, my colleagues at Sounds of the Engine House Steven
Jackson and Ben Gaunt and numerous others whose names escape me at this
particular moment.
SC: If you could
have a beer and a chat with any composer from the past, who would it be and
why?
EH: I’d probably be absolutely
terrified but it would have to be Olivier Messiaen. His work with birdsong and
instrumental colour have been extremely influential in my development as a
composer. Chaser with Ligeti please...
SC: Now for some
desert island discery – please name eight pieces of music you could not be
without, and then select just one.
EH: Messiaen - Chronochromie
for large orchestra
Ligeti - String Quartet No.
2
Lutoslawski - Grave for
cello and piano
Birtwistle - Punch and Judy
Toru Takemitsu - Rain Tree
Sketch II
Ravi Shankar/Alla Rakka -
Three Ragas
Stravinsky - The Rite of
Spring
Schoenberg - Pierrot
Lunaire
Tricky to choose but I'll
go for the Takemitsu!
SC: …and a book?:
EH: Haruki Murakami: The Wind Up Bird Chronicle
SC: …a film?
EH: Persepolis
SC: … and a luxury
item?
EH: Decent coffee and
associated paraphernalia please!
