Andrew Lewis Eclipse for large orchestra duration: 13 minutes Eclipse is an essay in light and dark, obfuscation and clarity. It is built around a luminescent, leaping melodic idea which is constantly present, yet is often veiled or masked by other, darker material. This ‘dark matter’ consists of many individual sound objects which are built from tiny fragments of sound played on several different instruments. This calls for a particular kind of close ensemble playing, in which the individual parts only make sense when blended and fused together as one entity. The large orchestra is necessary not so much for power, but for colour and texture, allowing the material to achieve sufficient variety and subtlety in its timbral shaping, and to create a music whose first principle is the beauty of sound, both in its conception and its perception. Andrew Lewis (born 1963) read music at the University of Birmingham, graduating in 1984. He subsequently studied composition there with Jonty Harrison, completing a doctorate in 1991. Since 1993 he has been Lecturer in Music at the University of Wales Bangor, teaching composition and directing the Electroacoustic Music Studios. He works in a variety of media, from electroacoustic and acousmatic music to works for conventional forces (chamber, vocal, orchestral) with or without electronics. Whatever the medium, his work reflects a concern with sound as the basic stuff of music, a medium to be controlled, shaped and sculpted as directly as possible. His music has won several prizes, awards and mentions (PRS, Bourges, Prix Ars Electronica, Stockholm Electronic Arts, Hungarian Radio, British Arts Council Bursary, Noroit finalist) and is performed and broadcast in many countries. One vinyl and six CD recordings are available. Back to shortlist.