2024

This piece was commissioned by the Thailand Music and Arts Organisation as part of the IntAct Festival 2024 with the theme of 'Machine, Labour, Rock'. It encapsulates the aesthetics of heavy metal within an acoustic chamber ensemble. Especially in hard rock and metal genres, noise forms the basis of rock and roll’s raw power, achieved via multiphonics in the woodwinds and scratch tones in the strings. This mimics the effects of electric guitar distortions and drum fills. The structure is like a manual gearshift in a car. Also featured are virtuosic ‘guitar’ solos in the woodwinds, another feature of heavy metal soloing. To be premiered by Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music Youth Orchestra chamber.

Instr: Ob.Bsn.2Vln.Vla.Vc.

Inspired by the most recent eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1944. It follows the process of the volcano from magma forming from inside the earth to it oozing out onto the planes of Pompeii. Premiered by the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Dr John Traill.

Instr: 2.picc.3(3=ca).2.bcl(=Ebcl).2.cbsn - 4.3.3.1 - timp.perc(3) - strings

This quintet is a microcosm. The flute, clarinet, violin, and cello represent societies across planet Earth, embodied in the piano. When they gather, disagreements lead to a brawl for dominance. They fight until they eventually reach a resolution, arriving at a unison B (for ‘being’). From there, they step back and reflect on the damage they have inflicted onto their world. They realise that by slowing down and thinking more, they can create peace and harmony, spreading the message of love all over the world. In the the words of Helen Keller, ‘alone we can do so little; together we can do so much’. Premiered by klang.kunst.

Instr: Fl(=Afl).Cl(=BCl).Vln.Vc.Pno

Commissioned by Dr Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey as part of a collaboration with Postdoctoral biologist Katrina Siddiqi-Davies in her research on the Manx Shearwaters. Siddiqi-Davies is also a poet and has written a poem about the migration of the shearwaters, to which the music accompanies. Premiered by the Oxford Millennium Orchestra, conducted by Dr Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey and narrated by Katrina Siddiqi-Davies at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford.

Instr: 2.2.2.2 - 4.2.3.0 - timp - narrator - strings

Like how Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht was inspired by Richard Dehmel's eponymous poem, this piece is a similar process taking from William Blake's 'The Clod and the Pebble'. It displays two juxtaposing views on love; the innocent clod views it as selfless and is easily manipulated, while the experienced pebble is selfish. Premiered by Ensemble ISIS under Dr John Traill at University of Oxford.

Instr: 1(=afl).1(=ca).1.1 - 1.1.1.0 - perc(1) - strings(1.1.1.1.1)

A duet containing text from two episodes of the TV series Doctor Who. One is a deleted scene from the episode ‘Human Nature’ (2007), written by Paul Cornell; the other is ‘The Doctor Falls’ (2017) by Steven Moffat. The Doctor is the protagonist who travels through space and time in a time machine called the TARDIS. The ‘Human Nature’ deleted scene contains nonsense vocables, lending well to the sound of machinery in the TARDIS. In ‘The Doctor Falls’, the recently-shot Doctor begins to regenerate but ultimately resists. In this piece, the Mezzo-Soprano represents the TARDIS while the Baritone is the Doctor. Premiered by Elizabeth Fitzpatrick and Henry Le Faber Robertson.

Commissioned as part of the Oxford International Song Festival, this piece has its lyrics based on the Richard Dehmel poem, Verklärte Nacht. It recounts the story of a couple walking through the dark forrest under moonlight. The woman confesses to being impregnated by a stranger and griefs and repents for her actions. Despite her apologies, the man forgives and accepts the child as theirs, claiming that love shall transfigure the stranger's child to be theirs. Premiered by Jonathan Eyers and accompanied by Thomas Eeckhout.

A British-style march which was composed on the occasion of the coronation of King Charles III. Premiered by the Shrewsbury International School Bangkok Symphony Orchestra as part of the 'Last Night of the Proms' concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of Shrewsbury International School.

Instr: 2.2picc.2.ca.Ebcl.2.bcl.2.cbsn - 4.4(3&4=cor).3.1 - timp.perc(3) - harp - organ - strings

It is another British-style march but with oriental flavours by the use of pentatonic scales and is aimed at youth players since it was originally submitted for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain Composition Competition.

Originally composed for the Finzi Trust International Composition Competition, this unaccompanied choral piece takes its lyrics from Shakespeare's 'Sonnet VIII', which compares man's disillusionment of raising a family to listening to music without appreciation.

It is a retelling of the classic German fable and uses the same text as Schubert's and Lowe's Lieder settings. This takes more the form of a micro-opera, whereby the three of the singers are assigned three main characters: the Son, the Father, and the Erl King. This was premiered by EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble and directed by Dr James Weeks.

Voices: Soprano (Son), Mezzo-Soprano, Countertenor (Erl King), Tenor 1, Tenor 2 & Bass (Father)

A four-movement tone poem that encapsulates the sounds of the Caledonian Sleeper overnight train that runs from London Euston to Inverness, Scotland. It starts with noises associated with the train arriving, parking, and departing from Euston station. Once settled down, a traditional Scottish meal is served onboard: Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties. The name 'Haggis' is transformed into a musical cryptogram (H-A-G-G), similar to B-A-C-H, Holst (G-Es-A-H), and Shostakovich (D-S-C-H). The atmosphere picks back up again as the boarder from England to Scotland is crossed, including subtle references to Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture and 'Chattanooga Choo Choo'. Bagpipe tunes that were hinted throughout the journey are finally fully-fledged once stepped down from the train at Inverness.

Instr: 2.picc.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn - 4.4.3.1 - timp.perc(3) - strings

Winning submission for the annual Durham University Brass Band Composition Competition 2022. It is a play on two themes, 'zinc' and 'copper', both of which are the main components of a brass alloy. It also encapsulates the celebratory spirit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, having been composed shortly before the event. Premiered by the Tredegar Town Band and conducted by Ian Porthouse at Durham University.

This work had its Thailand premiere in 2024 by the Mahidol Brass Band.

Commissioned for a short-film of a thriller comedy about a university student waking up after a night of partying, only to find an unwanted text sent to a friend.

Winning submission for the Durham University Classical Ensemble Composition Competition. ‘An Orient Overture’ is a single movement work in sonata form. The ‘orient’ comes from the extensive use of pentatonic scales and modality throughout the piece, which is partially inspired by Jean Sibelius’s scoring of his later symphonies (i.e. classical form but with the harmonic language outside of the classical idiom). The orchestration of this overture is akin to late 18th and early 19th century styles, yet explores many remote keys and uses sudden, unprepared modulations for heightened dramatic effect. Premiered by the Durham University Classical Ensemble and conducted by Charlotte Smith.

Instr: 2(II=picc).2.2.2 - 2.2.0.0 - timp - strings (original)

Instr: 2(II=picc).2.2.2.cbsn - 4.2.3.0 - timp - strings (published)

This work was also arranged for 8 Trumpets as part of the International Trumpet Guild 2023 by the Mahidol Trumpet Ensemble, as well as for Brass Section.

An exploration of the sonics of the string quartet by using extended technique to imitate the sound of the river flow. It is a love-letter to Thai geography as it deals with four tributaries, Ping, Wang, Yom, and Nan, forming from their sources all the way up in the north of Thailand. Their origins are very rocky, turbulent, and narrow. As the four flow downstream, they widen, smoothen, and eventually join together in a confluence, which is the start of the Chao Phraya river (translation: 'River of Kings'). The Chao Phraya river flows southwards, getting even wider and wider until it reaches the mouth and spills out into the Gulf of Thailand. Premiered by the Frankland String Quartet.

Largely inspired by Beat Furrer's 'Voicelessness', this is essentially a canon where one hand is in triple metre while the other is in quadruple metre in any time. There are five five-bar rounds altogether, further cementing the Pythagorean theorem involving right-angled triangles. With the theorem, a right-angled triangle with lengths of 3, 4, and 5 units are the smallest rational numbers in that form. Premiered by Ben Smith.

A sonic experimentation depicting the process of taking off for an aeroplane. It was written during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when air travel proved to be impossible and that the airline industry was in turmoil. Premiered by the Tacet(i) Ensemble and conducted by Ryo Hasegawa as part of the Thailand New Music and Arts Symposium 2021.

Originally a pseudo-two-part fugue written for solo Flute but arranged for Classical Guitar. Premiered by Robert Butler.

A prelude and fugue which is based heavily on the musical cryptogram D, E, A, and D, conveniently translating into note names. The subject matter of this cryptogram is also related to the 'Dies Irae' plainchant which was a popular connotation of death. Premiered by the Tacet(i) Ensemble as part of the Thailand New Music and Arts Symposium 2020.

Commissioned for the Pearson Edexcel Outstanding Learner Awards ceremony, where coincidentally the composer himself won the highest mark in Thailand for GCSE Music. Premiered by the Shrewsbury Ensemble.

Composed at the age of 15 but premiered in 2018, the lyrics are based on Act 2 Scene 7 of William Shakespeare's 'As You Like It', comparing the seven stages of man's life to seven acts in a play. Premiered by the Sunrise String Orchestra, Manasanun Aksornteang, and Usa Napawan, with the composer conducting.

Composed the end credits music to the documentary ‘Lost in the Mists of Time’ (2016). Premiered on Thai Public Broadcasting Service, as well as SEA Studies Symposium 2016, University of Oxford.