Quiet Thoughts / Myfyrdodau Tawel (after Gwen John), for five players and samples

Composition

This composition was commissioned by Music Theatre Wales and Sinfonia Cymru to open a concert in the Parc and Dare Theatre, Treorchy that included a digital opera by young, local, neurodiverse artists as part of their Future Directions project, new works by young composers that I had mentored, and my large-scale work The Echoes Return Slow. For this composition I responded to a recent short film by local filmmaker Harriet Fleuriot that interviewed local women about what the idea of an 'interior life' meant to them. This prompt had been inspired by diary entries by the artist Gwen John. In this composition I transcribed into musical notation a few spoken phrases by the first woman interviewed and used this music exclusively to create my piece. Samples of the original speech are threaded through the work and interact with the ensemble's playing and furthermore the young composers I'd worked with for the concert had short passages of speech played back too.

Authors: Lewis, L

• Publication date: 2025-09-11
• Language: English