Briar Rose arrived seemingly out of nowhere. I wanted to compose a chamber work that explored new ways to interpolate between distinct melodies - cuts, fades, blurrings, superimpositions. As the lines emerged, their 'folk song' character took me quite by surprise, as this is not something I had consciously engaged with before. Clearly, they were in the back of my mind, waiting for the opportunity to spring out. I have taken this as a sign to immerse myself in both the folk songs of the British Isles - the Cecil Sharp collections - and their cousins in the folk music of Appalachia. This will be a fascinating journey.

BRIAR ROSE for sextet [2014] - 6'00"

Briar Rose was written for the Hermes Ensemble for their workshop series of May 2014. The piece was later premiered by the Birmingham University Contemporary Ensemble on the 10th of March 2015.

Forces:

• Flute

• Clarinet in Bb

• Vibraphone

• Piano

• Viola

• Violoncello

Download sample score pages or purchase the score below: