The highlight of the evening was the premiered work by young Welsh
composer Mark Bowden (born 1979), who is currently Resident
Composer with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. lyra is a richly
allusive work, full of musical ideas and of extra-musical ideas
effectively translated. Its very title refers simultaneously to the
heroine of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials (Lyra Belacqua) to
the constellation that carries its name, to the lyre and to the
bass viol (which was sometimes referred to as the lyra in the
seventeenth century. Apparently ‘Lyra’ was also the name of a class
of Russian hunter/killer nuclear powered submarines, and one
section of Bowden’s piece carries the title ‘crush depth’ (the
others being ‘vega’ and ‘ayr’), a term which designates the depth
at which the hull of a specific submarine will collapse under
pressure. All of these were informing presences and so perhaps was
the myth of Orpheus, given that some accounts explain the
constellation as the harp of Orpheus transposed to heaven after his
death.
Bowden’s response to all this is a work of considerable scope and
ambition, a work both exploratory and essentially clear in
structure, endowed with that simultaneity of surprise and
(retrospectively) inevitability that so often characterises
successful pieces. This premiere benefited greatly from the
contribution of the highly impressive young cellist Oliver Coates,
whose playing had brightness and poignancy alike and whose control
of both tone and phrase was impeccable. Bowden’s writing exploits
the resources of the orchestra in terms of instrumental groupings
which are often unexpected, though the juxtapositions he creates
never seemed to owe anything to mere show or gimmickry. Everything
made sense, as passages of (starry?) radiance coexisted with
darker, more violent music; elsewhere there is music which clearly
alludes to and echoes the sound world of the bass viol, not least
in the coda in which the C-string of the cello is tuned down almost
an octave, the result suggesting not only the exploration of a kind
of “crush depth” but also an Orphic descent. This is a fine,
challenging but accessible piece and one hopes that it will get
many more performances.
Seen and Heard International | September
2011
…a dark, labyrinthine piece conducted with precision by
Jean-Michael Lavoie and played with deep commitment by cellist
Oliver Coates, lyra ended on a distinctly unsettling
note…
WalesOnline | September 2011
The Camberwell Composers Collective: something to smile about? In
2003 a few like-minded colleagues … founded the Camberwell
Composers Collective, which, in a departure from the usual
structures of classical performance, ran a night at the Crypt jazz
club in Camberwell. Recalling the New Music Manchester group that
included Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle, the move does have
a fresh sense of camaraderie in a context where composers only ever
seem to come one at a time. The Camberwell Composers Collective
ought to discourage the growing sense among young composers that
anyone who wants to get somewhere interesting should jump the
apparently sinking ship of the British contemporary classical music
establishment and put their hopes into jazz or record labels and
their networks… hopefully a new generations of composers will be
inspired by their work enough to bring its relatively broader
outlook with them to the academic study of composition.
Rogue’s Foam | 2009
'the Camberwell Composers’ Collective, offer stripped-down, casual
composition...the most memorable pieces were Mark Bowden’s
invigorating fractus duo, for clarinet and cello, and
Christopher Mayo’s Hereby a Scorecard 2, a faintly
Reich-esque duet for cello and percussion'
Neil Fisher, The Times | 2009
'When W11 Opera started to involve schoolchildren in
the pleasures of performing opera, its search for suitable vehicles
soon led to the commissioning of works for young voices. Since 1971
it has reached an impressive total of 29; the latest, The Song
of Rhiannon, composed by Mark Bowden to a libretto by Helen
Cooper, is inspired by the drama of the mediaeval Welsh legends
collected together in the Mabinogion . It tells of the curse laid
on Rhiannon by her jilted suitor Gwawl when she abandons him to
elope with Pwyll, and of the enchantments and transformations she
and her family suffer before Gwawl relents. In addition to
conjuring up the magic and mystery of these central events,
Bowden’s score gives voice to choruses of warriors, flowers,
gargoyles, blades of wheat, and grey and speckled mice'
Margaret Davies | Opera 2009
'With their riff-driven, electronica-massaged sound, they're
fashioning themselves as a Bang on a Can for this side of the
Atlantic.'
de-composing.blogspot.com | 2009
'the music presented by The Camberwell Composers Collective
suggests that today's young composers are far from radical, angry
young things. Instead of writing difficult music of fiendish
complexity, the mood is more laid-back, using elements of humour
and and personal experience to shape works that are readily
approachable'
The Herald | 2008
'those of us present for Monday’s evening of British contemporary
music from the engaging young Contemporary Consort enjoyed an
absorbing musical experience, with plenty of pre- and
post-performance conversation and illuminating introductions along
the way... Two appropriately Shakespearean works completed the
programme: Court Studies from Thomas Ades’ opera The
Tempest, strongly delivered, and Mark Bowden’s Stealing
Poison. Trained as a dancer, Bowden here gives us a nimbly
choreographic piece, driving with energy in places, jagged in
rhythm, but also with many darkly reflective interludes.'
Christopher Morley | The Birmingham Post
2008
'Eerie and sometimes too close for comfort, the film manages to
transform the familiar and mundane into something poetic and
mysterious'
Lars Kavli | The Kavli Post
2007
'Handel House Museum has
a permanent Composer-in-Residence, the multi-faceted and extremely
talented Mark Bowden'
Gwen Herat, Daily News, Sri Lanka | 2007
'This film about the body as landscape once again shows very
clearly the trademark of the young artist: an enjoyment of the
experimental'
Stefan Loeffler | Südwest Presse 2007
'The Richard Alston Dance Company, its choreographers and dancers,
have teamed up with three experimental composers to elaborate and
expand upon some themes by Shakespeare. What I admire is its
willingness to forge the link between contemporary dance and
commissioned music; the results are cacophonous and "challenging",
as I heard one member of the audience remark - but also ambitious
and exciting. Stealing Poison, Mark Bowden's trio for Hind, King
and violinist David Alberman choreographed by Martin Lawrance, is a
synthesis of clearly recognisable themes from Macbeth, A Midsummer
Night's Dream and The Tempest, it moves cleverly through the
murderers wringing their hands, to the foolish and confused quartet
of lovers in the forest, to what seems like a conflation of Caliban
and Macbeth - a writhing, agonised monster sweeping around the
floor'
Sarah Crompton | The Telegraph 2007
'the exception was Mark Bowden’s Hoist, a
quietly virtuosic piece for “live” stones, duetting with stones on
screen. The link was clear, and as a result the piece was more than
the sum of its parts.'
Ian Matheson | spnm new notes 2007
'Mark Bowden's hoist is an imaginative duet for live and
pre-recorded stone-playing percussionist with accompanying
film'
Rowena Smith | The Herald 2006
'Powerfully dramatic'
Sarah Walker | Hear and Now, BBC Radio 3
2005
'An energetic new piece.. on the one hand, an exploration of
contemporary spectralism - on the other…Tchaikovskian…sweeping
string unisons'
Paul Driver | The Sunday Times 2005
'If you want whacky or bizarre, you can go to the pub-style
Pumphouse. There, over a beer or three, you might hear … the
Camberwell Composers' Collective improvising haunting sounds around
electronically altered treatments of Britten's Four Sea
Interludes'
Shirley Apthorp and Andrew Clark | The Financial Times
2005