This weekend I released my 2nd album String Sensations! Thanks to your amazing support I’m delighted to have the opportunity to release another album, this time featuring compositions for various string solos and ensembles.
It's come at a difficult time for me both personally and professionally, trying to get everything done while working full-time hours at my other jobs. I plan these albums years in advance and take these plans seriously, as you would with any job, so I didn’t want to postpone it, but it has been difficult. Which is why your support in purchasing and publicising it is even more appreciated and I hope your continued support will help me to eventually find the right work balance, allowing more time for my own music.
Anyway, back to the blog! As I did for my last album, I thought I’d do a little ‘behind the scenes’ blog post to fill you in on all the details about each piece on the album.
If you’d like to follow along as you read, you can find the recordings here:
Score exchange: https://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/abigailbirch-price
1. Rondo in C
Composing:
I wrote this string quartet as part of a tonal composition assignment during my second year at Cambridge University. Despite needing to fit into fairly strict classical constructs, I still couldn’t resist putting my own spin on things in a few places. While it might not be my most freeform composition, I’m still proud of the final product and thought it would make a great opening for this album.
Producing:
This is one of several pieces on the album that features the wonderful Neve Humphreys on cello, as well as myself on violin and viola. Because I was covering both instruments we recorded the parts separately, which also made it easier to adjust tuning and balance. However, aligning the parts did take a while, especially in all the semiquaver sections!
Feature to look out for:
A variation on a theme I used for one of my GCSE compositions (in the part least like Mozart). I haven’t had a chance to transcribe that piece for full orchestra yet but some of you may know it already, and for those of you who don’t it can give you a little taste of what’s to come!
2. Violin Serenade No. 3
Composing:
I wrote this piece for solo violin and piano for my Grandma. It combines a legato melodic classical tune with a pop song structure, exploring a large range of the violin’s register. The aim was to create a beautiful, meditative piece in which the violin could soar above tender piano accompaniment.
Producing:
As one of many solo pieces on this album, the production process took much less time than it does for songs or larger ensemble works. However, it still took a while to get the precision we wanted in terms of tuning and synchronisation.
Feature to look out for:
The violin has a break as the tune is passed to piano for a short solo section.
3. Viola Serenade No. 2
Composing:
In keeping with all my serenades, this is another piece written for family members, in this case for my sister and brother-in-law. They’re both interested in folk music, hence the large influence of folk styles and melodies on this composition. After an initial slow, pining melody, the piece quickly moves into a jaunty, happy song featuring cheerful, cheeky tunes and some call and response phrases between viola and piano.
Producing:
Again as a solo piece it didn’t take too long to produce (relatively), but tuning and aligning still played a big part in making the piece as good as possible.
Feature to look out for:
The glissando in viola before the final section, which was one of my favourite things to play!
4. Mist
Composing:
This is the next string quartet featured on the album. I didn’t write it for anything in particular, a tune just came into my head and I went from there. It is quite contrasting to the Rondo quartet, passing the main motif between the parts in a more mysterious, dramatic way. Pieces like this, which you could imagine accompanying visual scenes of films or likewise, are what I feel most comfortable composing and developing, even if, like Mist, they’re not written with a specific scene in mind.
Producing:
Again this piece took longer than solos to edit, with various challenges, including ensuring the tremolo sections were still effective on the recording.
Feature to look out for:
The countermelody in the last section.
5. Violin Serenade No. 1
Composing:
This piece was written for my cousin. She is a very proficient dancer and wanted a newly composed classical piece which she could choreograph a dance to. After forming some initial ideas I was able to work with her to develop the structure and atmosphere she wanted, and the final product is a romantic style violin solo with varying levels of intensity, allowing for variety and range within the dance.
Producing:
We first recorded the piece fairly quickly for my cousin to use, years before we had and producing experience, so this album was an excellent opportunity to make a recording we were happier with. Hopefully you’ll find this version much more in tune, together and well-balanced!
Feature to look out for:
The final repeated Fs in violin may seem boring, but as well as emphasising the main rhythmic motif of two crotchets and a minim, it also allows the piano to enchant with sumptuous chords inspired by Liszt.
6. A Father’s Joy
Composing:
I wrote this piece for Father’s Day, and since my Dad plays guitar I decided to use guitar accompaniment alongside the violin melody. The tune reminds me of heroic folk or medieval music, which I think is fitting since my Dad is one of my biggest heroes. The title is also inspired by my own name, which means “a father’s joy” in Hebrew.
Producing:
It was nice to utilise another string instrument in the album by writing for guitar. We’re very accustomed to editing guitar recordings for songs but it was interesting to produce a piece where guitar is the sole accompaniment to the tune instrument.
Feature to look out for:
The subtle elaboration of the main tune when it returns at the end.
7. Wistfulness
Composing:
This piece was another case of just getting a tune in my head and working out what I could do with it. I knew it was a folk style tune and wanted to write a fairly simple piano accompaniment to go with it. I had already written Wind in the Waves (track 12) by this point so wanted to make this new piece slightly different by using viola as well as violin, enabling a simple descant to be played by violin for the repeated verse. I could have developed this piece a lot more, or even written it as a vocal song with lyrics, but I found the simplicity endearing and beautiful so decided to keep it as it is.
Producing:
The tune is initially played by violin and then repeated in viola. I could have been tempted to just record it all on violin and hope no one noticed, but I think the viola offers a different tonal quality to the violin, so I hope you can hear and enjoy the variety it offers.
Feature to look out for:
I love the tune by itself but my favourite part is when the two instruments combine in harmony.
8. Destiny
Composing:
I wrote this piece around the time I was re-watching lots of Merlin episodes. Destiny and fate are key features of the Merlin series, hence the choice of this title. The music also reflects the inevitable power of destiny, with the main tune always returning and being pinned down by the tonic (A), despite various elaborate attempts by the violin to escape it.
Producing:
This was one of the harder pieces to play, especially for the violin, meaning it required lots of takes (I mean practise!) to get it exactly how I wanted it.
Feature to look out for:
The cadenza style couple of bars on violin.
9. The Power of Five
Composing:
This piece was written as a first-year university assignment when I was at Cambridge. Though marketed as a free composition module, we were encouraged to explore modern methods of composition and new styles that could be used. As such, especially after just completing a Maths A-Level, I wanted to write a piece based on maths equations. Unfortunately my supervisor didn’t really understand them, so suggested a minimalist style that he was more aware of, which led to this piece being composed with only five notes.
Producing:
If Destiny was hard to play, this piece was hard to put together. Various counter-rhythms, close harmony clashes and changes in tempo made it very difficult to put together the separate parts. However, Zak’s immaculate producing ensured the power of the music consistently shone through in The Power of Five.
Feature to look out for:
Another technique suggested by my supervisor: silently held down piano notes which are then audible in the resonance.
10. Wind in the Waves
Composing:
Similar to Wistfulness, this piece was based on a tune that came into my head quite randomly. It is also similar to Wistfulness in that it is a folk style string duet, this time for two violins and piano. It’s fairly simple music-wise but I enjoy playing it and love writing these folk tunes.
Producing:
I first wrote this piece in E major, but since performing it in F for flute and violin at live concerts, I realised I preferred that key so have used this album as an opportunity to update the recordings and scores.
Feature to look out for:
The close clashes between tune and harmony, especially in the last section.
11. Viola Serenade No. 1
Composing:
I wrote this piece for my Dad and, as you can tell from the number, it was the first solo viola piece I had written. My Dad and I often enjoy watching films together, particularly fantasy or action ones, so I decided to write this serenade in a film music style. It combines dramatic, energetic action-based passages with more relaxed, folk melodies, providing a short glimpse of the variety of styles often employed in film music.
Producing:
We first recorded this piece with some of our earliest recording equipment, so it was exciting to produce a new recording for this album. With some 5/4 bars and rubato, the producing required excellent attention to detail when aligning viola and piano.
Feature to look out for:
The opening few bars with viola melody and ominous piano tremolo.
12. Violin Serenade No. 2
Composing:
Fittingly, this piece was composed for my Mum. She loves so many different genres of music but Klezmer has to be one of her favourites, so this piece was heavily influenced by that style. Since my Mum plays clarinet, and both clarinet and violin sound great playing Klezmer songs, we decided to make recordings of both instruments. So if you enjoy the violin version on this album, you might want to check out any future wind albums too!
Producing:
This, again, is a very hard piece to play live, especially the piano, so it took us a lot of takes to get everything we needed. Luckily I didn’t mind too much as I really enjoy playing it!
Feature to look out for:
The final section where violin plays a high version of the main tune, against piano quavers in the bass and the secondary tune in the right hand.
13. Enigma
Composing:
Like Mist, this string quartet developed from just a tune I had in my head, to a piece evoking all kinds of drama and mystery. From unison passages, sharing out the tunes among all the parts, violin 2 countermelodies against violin 1’s main melody, this piece utilises many of the classic string quartet tropes.
Producing:
As with all the string quartets, the production process involved various challenges such as aligning all the parts together and ensuring balance between parts is perfect.
Feature to look out for:
The weaving violin 2 countermelody in the last section.
Comments