Artwork illustration by Joe Gamble joegamble.co.uk

I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL IN THESE STRANGE TIMES, VOL. 4

RELEASED ON FRIDAY 12 MAR 2021 | DL

The fourth volume in our series of compilations released in the shadow of coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns. We asked our extended network of artists to send in submissions – whether they're tracks that they've recorded at home during lockdown or something that they've dug out from an old hard drive.

The result is an eclectic collection of tracks, taking in delicate songcraft, wandering improvisations and re-purposed radio recordings. It's a document of immense creativity in the face of extraordinarily difficult circumstances, and an assembly of artists at a time when coming together in person is impossible

To support artists during ‘these strange times’, Nonclassical are waiving their normal royalty share, meaning that 100% of the revenue generated goes to the artists involved. The album is initially a Bandcamp-only release.

Track Listing

1. Florence Anna Maunders - None Of Them Are Ever Coming Back

Florence Anna Maunders is an award winning composer who's music has been performed across the UK, Europe, the USA and the rest of the world by leading ensembles, orchestras and soloists. One of her main aims as a composer has always been to write music which excites and moves an audience – often drawing together a number of different stylistic currents to make something totally new and original.

2. Folkatron Sessions – Return Again (ft. Juhan Maaker's Tune No. 22)

Folkatron sessions is a collaborative group meeting to create experimental recordings using traditional songs and tunes from around the world. Their music has been played on BBC Radio 2, 3 and 6 and featured in Songlines magazine.

3. Ensemble Bash – Knotwood (composed by Stephen Hiscock)

Since the formation of Ensemble Bash in the UK in 1992, the group has forged a reputation as one of the world’s most innovative and groundbreaking chamber ensembles. Using the music of West Africa as both core repertoire and a guiding spiritual influence, Ensemble Bash mixes contemporary classical, jazz and music theatre into unforgettable performances. Ensemble Bash has been dedicated to commissioning new repertoire for percussion ensemble, and has developed special relationships with composers including Graham Fitkin, Stephen Montague, Nick Hayes, Howard Skempton and Stewart Copeland. They have also premiered work by Tan Dun, Keith Tippett, David Bedford, Nitin Sawhney, Orphy Robinson, Michael Daugherty, John Woolrich, Anne Dudley and Steve Reich.

Stephen Hiscock is a composer, drummer and percussionist. His composing work has covered film, advertisements, theatre and the concert hall, with works performed at the Melbourne Festival, Aardklop Festival (South Africa), Purcell Room, Royal Festival Hall, Glastonbury, Latitude and a national tour of Ghana. Most recently Stephen composed and performed the score for ‘Lionboy’ produced by Complicite which toured from 2013-16 to the UK, Hong Kong, South Korea, South Africa and played on Broadway in New York. Also ‘X&Y’ - a two-hander with Marcus Du Sautoy and Victoria Gould - produced by the Science Museum and performed at the Barbican, the Science Museum, Glastonbury, Latitude and all the major UK festivals.

4. KGB - Studio concert

5. Jasmin Kent Rodgman – 3. warm-blooded vertebrates

London-born British-Malaysian artist and composer Jasmin Kent Rodgman brings together the contemporary classical, electronics and sound art worlds to create powerful soundscapes and musical identities. A regular collaborator across various art forms including dance, word, film and VR, her music explores otherness, memory and plays wiht a sense of narrative. Activism also has an important place within her music and wider creative work; she is equally passionate about gender and racial equality and empowering others within the industry and beyond.

6. Adrian Lever – watermark prelude i.

Adrian completed undergrad music studies at City University London under electro-acoustic composers Denis Smalley and Simon Emmerson, taking piano lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and graduating in 2001. Initiating Confluence Project, a multi-media piano improvisation performance project in 2016, Adrian worked with sound artist Bill Vine, performing at The ‘Cello Factory Southbank London, Anteros Arts Foundation Norwich, and Cley Calling Festival, North Norfolk. The project enabled exploratory lessons with leading pianist/improviser Alexander Hawkins. Confluence has expanded following sound art studies to includea field recording practice based on river and water systems and instrumental response using dual pianos, microtonal tuning systems, preparations and extended techniques - this new work is titled Watermark.

7. Tuulikki Bartosik – Internal Dialogue

From crafting introspective solos to expanding notions of traditional music through international collaborations, Tuulikki Bartosik's inspiration is rooted in her Võrumaa origins in Estonia, growing with the people and places she encounters elsewhere to create spontaneous, unorthodox musical adventures. Tuulikki continually explores how to adapt her accordions for different surroundings, from a busy city street to a Welch hillside cave, to her beloved deep forests in South Estonia.

8. Molly Edwards – GALLUS D/H_z (composed by Harry Gorski-Brown)

Harry Gorski-Brown is a musician living and working in Glasgow, Scotland.

9. Mark Dicker – Schwarzschild Radio Record

10. rand – Siegfried 2.0

rand, consisting of musicians Jan Gerdes (piano, composition) and Frank Bogdanowitz (electronics, composition) creat new urban and sensitive music for piano and electronics with links to minimal, romantic and contemporary music, Jazz, Ambient, Industrial and Glitch.

11. Solem Quartet - Two-way mirror (composed by Larry Goves)

The Solem Quartet has established itself as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation. Since winning the 2014 Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Competition they have enjoyed a busy concert schedule, ranging from international tours to performances at venues such as London’s Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and Oxford’s Holywell Music Room. Alongside this, their groundbreaking series ‘Solem Lates’ has seen the Quartet rise to prominence as leading exponents of new music, working closely with living composers in pioneering multimedia performances.

Larry Goves is a British composer and artist based in Manchester (UK). His work has been presented, performed, about broadcast around the world by numerous groups and musicians including the London Sinfonietta, the Nash Ensemble, The London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, The Britten Sinfonia, Psappha, The Solem String Quartet, The Argonaut Ensemble (Australia), The Hallé, BIT20 (Norway), 175 East (New Zealand), L’Instant Donné (France), Divertimento Ensemble (Italy), Oliver Coates, Sarah Nicolls, Kathryn Williams, Tom McKinney, Carl Raven, and many others all over the UK and abroad.

12. Liam Mattison – In the absence of heather

Liam Mattison (b. 1990) is a London based composer, originally hailing from Leeds. Having started his musical life as a clarinet player in local wind bands and orchestras, Liam naturally progressed to orchestrating music for the musical theatre revues his school annually produced and found a true passion in composition soon after. After moving to London in 2008, he began to form a strong and individual artistic voice, often employing physical space to nurture harmonious relationships between the musical objects that he creates, whilst always striving to create the most beautiful sounds he can imagine

13. Colin Riley – The Years Midnight

Colin Riley’s music draws on a range of elements including new technologies, improvisation, song-writing and large-scale classical form. His work is difficult to categorize integrating many stylistic approaches. His latest albums include Shenanigans (NMC) and In Place featuring Melanie Pappenheim. Other recent works include Warp and Weft a concerto for 2 cellos (Gabriella Swallow / Guy Johnston). Colin has just completed a violin concerto for Philippa Mo Stream-Shine and a new large-scale piece for the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Sweden Earth Voices. He is a Senior Lecturer at Brunel University and a mentor for Making Music’s Adopt A Composer Scheme.

14. Sophie Fetokaki – The Resurrection

Combining voice, poetry, and detailed research to create site-specific installations and music, Sophie Fetokaki is a composer and performer currently based in Cyprus. Often taking inspiration from themes such as desire, language and ceremony, Sophie’s work is largely centred around the frame of duration and collective movement through time.