Nick Casswell

Chorisis
for chamber orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet,
bassoon, trumpet, horn, trombone, percussion,
2 violin, viola, cello, double bass)

duration: 10 minutes

 

The word 'chorisis' means to separate into something different from the original starting point, whilst still retaining an element of this starting point in trace. It is an Ancient Greek word but is used in the English language to describe the separation of a leaf or floral organ. For example, harmonically, the declamatory section, beginning at bar 49, is 'filtered out' from the opening of the composition. This section returns later in the piece but is veiled by a low sustained D in the double bass, 'cello, and bass clarinet. The work constantly tries to re-shape itself, whilst still retaining the harmonic 'trace' of previous material.



Nick Casswell
was born in 1974. He completed his undergraduate studies at Dartington College of Arts in 1996 and finished his master's degree at the University of York in 1999. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Leeds where he was awarded the Audrey Pass Charitable Trust Scholarship. He was also awarded the Samsung/Royal British Legion/BKVA Scholarship for study in Korea, and it was here that he undertook a years research into Korean folk music, in particular kaya'gum sanjo. Most recently his string quartet Papillon won the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society Millennium Music Award.

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