Composing on and in.....

Sunday, the 23rd of November 2025 

Composing On The Train 

#composing #orchestrating #inspiration  

I arrived early to sing at all Saints, Fulham, so I had the chance to spend 15 minutes on the 4th movement in the lovely coffee shop opposite Putney Bridge tube. I did some work on the middle section on the train yesterday to Buxted but I was too tired last night to transfer my notes on the printout onto MuseScore. So this morning was a good opportunity to flesh out the orchestration, which builds for each of the five iterations of the big theme, each in a different mode. Doing that also planted more ideas and more sounds as that section ran through my head later in the day while playing Vaughan Williams’ London Symphony with the aerial Orchestra. I was lucky enough to be playing principal cello and some of the solos were curiously reminiscent of the ancient Irish Melody that opens the 4th movement. 

Wednesday, the 12^th of November 2025 

Composing On Eurostar 

#composing #orchestrating #Tide #SeaSymphony  

The big theme from the middle section (4^th movement Sea Symphony) has been swimming around in my head since it landed in my notebook 10 days ago. It has legs. I’ve sketched out five iterations, each in a different mode. Then the orchestration develops from low strings and wind to high violins and flutes to full orchestra, powered by horns and trombones. Next, the flowing accompaniment figure grows from a light wave within a fifth, to rolling modal arpeggio figures, underpinned by swelling brass chords. On the Eurostar this morning, I did more work on the five iterations of the big theme and then started an impromptu development section, growing out of the lovely cadential turn at the end of the theme. 

Here’s the big theme. 

Saturday, the 8^th November 2025 

Composing In A Pub 

#Tide #inspiration #SeaSymphony 

In a pub between the rehearsal and the concert. I’m playing tuba in Sibelius 1 and Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espanol. I am struck by some similar gestures to the 4^th movement of my Sea Symphony in the Sibelius. Has he been listening to my sketches? It's the drop down depth charges in the bass and the use of pedal notes to create big harmonic structures. 

Then, someone comes up to me in the pub and asks what software I'm using – Musescore. He uses Sibelius. Next question is the more obvious – how can I compose with music pumping out of the PA system? I am surprising myself. I’ve reached a more mechanical phase in the middle section. I know what I want, I’ve sketched out all the elements in blocks, now I need to put them together. The middle section has five big pedal notes, with material repeated in a different mode, getting faster and condensing into the final section.