Output details

Suite Inserts

_Suite Inserts_ (solo cello and laptop) adapts and abstracts the form of four dances from Bach’s Cello Suites – two Allemandes, a Courante, and a Minuet. _Suite Inserts_ totals fourteen minutes in length and was written for cellist Audrey Riley (Icebreaker, Coldplay, Muse, Gavin Bryars, Merce Cunningham) with whom I worked to create a bank of sounds and melodic gestures for electronic processing.

_Suite Inserts_ was written to be interpolated into a performance of the first three Bach Cello Suites and was commissioned by the Dance Research Studio for Jacky Lansley’s contemporary dance piece _Guest Suites_. Choreography to _Suite Inserts_ and the Bach Cello Suites (performed both live by Audrey Riley and on historic recording by Pablo Casals) was made by Jacky Lansley. I was also responsible for the overall sound design of 'Guest Suites'.

_Suite Inserts_ has received four performances as part of _Guest Suites_:

Clore Studio, Royal Opera House, London, 17 February 2012

Clore Studio, Royal Opera House, London, 18 February 2012

The Chapter House, York Minster, 3 March 2012

The Barbican Theatre, Plymouth, 16 March 2012

_Guest Suites_ was reviewed in the Guardian newspaper (Judith Mackrell, 19 Feburary 2012), The Press [York] newspaper (Martin Dreyer, 6 March 2012) and on bachtrack.com (Erin Johnson, 19 February 2012).

A film of the Clore Studio performance was made by Roswitha Chesher for the Dance Research Studio archives, and I presented the project at the Orpheus Institute's 'The Matter of Musical Experimentation' seminar on 8 May 2012.

A principle compositional aim of _Suite Inserts_ and my sound design for _Guest Suites_ was to address the challenges of combining live and recorded sound in contemporary dance performances, and to develop the concept of a compositional frame that can provide a coherence to contemporary dance soundtracks which combine music by different composers.