Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Quartertonal harmony has always had a quality of saturated sweetness to my ears, a somewhat sickly feeling of overindulgence, due to the richness and resonance of its close beating patterns. For my first piece properly engaging with quartertonal writing, the topic of sugar therefore seemed a suitable starting point. Our relationship with sugar has a complex history, from its medicinal use in the ancient world, the wealth it generated as a luxury spice, or the terrible and bloody history of its production on cane sugar plantations. Its ubiquity in modern times has increased our awareness of its effects on us: we are warned with bright red symbols of high sugar content in our food, informed of its addictive, drug-like qualities, and conscious of the profound effects that over-consumption or withdrawal of sugar can have on our mental state.
The structure of 'Rusted Sugar' loosely follows a chemical process: the stages of burning sucrose sugar until its molecules break down and separate, leaving only carbon behind. The musical relationship between the violin and electronics vacillates between coalescence and disintegration, moments of harmonic or metric unity dissolving into friction before aligning again.
Note by Anselm McDonnell
Larissa O’Grady violin
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra #ContemporaryMusic #Composer #Violin
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Biographies
Anselm McDonnell is an Irish/Welsh composer who has composed over 90 for orchestra, chamber groups, choirs, soloists, and electronics. His music has been performed in fourteen countries and includes commissions by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, BBC Concert Orchestra, the Crash Ensemble, Hard Rain Solosit Ensemble, the BBC Singers, BBC Radio 3, British Council, and NCH Dublin. His music features on fifteen CDs, including three self-released albums, the third, Politics of the Imagination, an upcoming CD with the LSO, Crash Ensemble, and a trio of rap artists from Birmingham. He is one of 25 composers commissioned for BBC Radio 3’s quarter-century celebration in 2025, a broadcast series leading up to BBC Proms 2025.
In 2023 he had portrait concerts dedicated to his music in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand, by the TACETi Ensemble. His music has been played at NCH Dublin, LSO St. Luke’s (six performances), Wigmore Hall, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Hugh Lane Gallery (four performances), and New Music Dublin Festival (ten performances). He is a LSO Jerwood Composer+ for 2023/24 and has held residencies at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris (Oct/Nov 23) and Belfast City Council (2021-2022). His recent interview with the BBC Music Magazine features in their March 2024 issue. His compositions have been described as 'abrasive and compelling' (Irish Times), 'bright as fluorescent light’ (Journal of Music), ‘a wide musical imagination with a vision to match’ (Morning Star), and 'perhaps the contrasts and complexities that it contains are a musical reflection of the multi-layered nature of what it means to be a composer in a community as complex as Northern Ireland.' (Robert Hugill)
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Larissa O’Grady is an Irish violinist dedicated to performing contemporary music and exploring adventurous interpretations of the standard repertoire. Recently performing as the Music Network RESONATE Artist in Residence at the Dock Arts Centre in Leitrim and as an Artist in Residence at Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris.
Quartertonal harmony has always had a quality of saturated sweetness to my ears, a somewhat sickly feeling of overindulgence, due to the richness and resonance of its close beating patterns. For my first piece properly engaging with quartertonal writing, the topic of sugar therefore seemed a suitable starting point. Our relationship with sugar has a complex history, from its medicinal use in the ancient world, the wealth it generated as a luxury spice, or the terrible and bloody history of its production on cane sugar plantations. Its ubiquity in modern times has increased our awareness of its effects on us: we are warned with bright red symbols of high sugar content in our food, informed of its addictive, drug-like qualities, and conscious of the profound effects that over-consumption or withdrawal of sugar can have on our mental state.
The structure of 'Rusted Sugar' loosely follows a chemical process: the stages of burning sucrose sugar until its molecules break down and separate, leaving only carbon behind. The musical relationship between the violin and electronics vacillates between coalescence and disintegration, moments of harmonic or metric unity dissolving into friction before aligning again.
Note by Anselm McDonnell
Larissa O’Grady violin
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra #ContemporaryMusic #Composer #Violin
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to the LSO's channel: bit.ly/LSOsubscribe
Subscribe to LSO newsletter: https://smarturl.it/lsonewsletter
Follow the LSO on:
Instagram: instagram.com/londonsymphonyorchestra
Facebook: facebook.com/londonsymphonyorchestra
TikTok: tiktok.com/@londonsymphonyorchestra
Twitter: twitter.com/londonsymphony
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/london-symphony-orchestra
Website: lso.co.uk
Apple Music: geni.us/yH0sXY
Spotify: spoti.fi/291cCk0
LSO Live: lsolive.lso.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Biographies
Anselm McDonnell is an Irish/Welsh composer who has composed over 90 for orchestra, chamber groups, choirs, soloists, and electronics. His music has been performed in fourteen countries and includes commissions by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, BBC Concert Orchestra, the Crash Ensemble, Hard Rain Solosit Ensemble, the BBC Singers, BBC Radio 3, British Council, and NCH Dublin. His music features on fifteen CDs, including three self-released albums, the third, Politics of the Imagination, an upcoming CD with the LSO, Crash Ensemble, and a trio of rap artists from Birmingham. He is one of 25 composers commissioned for BBC Radio 3’s quarter-century celebration in 2025, a broadcast series leading up to BBC Proms 2025.
In 2023 he had portrait concerts dedicated to his music in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand, by the TACETi Ensemble. His music has been played at NCH Dublin, LSO St. Luke’s (six performances), Wigmore Hall, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Hugh Lane Gallery (four performances), and New Music Dublin Festival (ten performances). He is a LSO Jerwood Composer+ for 2023/24 and has held residencies at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris (Oct/Nov 23) and Belfast City Council (2021-2022). His recent interview with the BBC Music Magazine features in their March 2024 issue. His compositions have been described as 'abrasive and compelling' (Irish Times), 'bright as fluorescent light’ (Journal of Music), ‘a wide musical imagination with a vision to match’ (Morning Star), and 'perhaps the contrasts and complexities that it contains are a musical reflection of the multi-layered nature of what it means to be a composer in a community as complex as Northern Ireland.' (Robert Hugill)
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Larissa O’Grady is an Irish violinist dedicated to performing contemporary music and exploring adventurous interpretations of the standard repertoire. Recently performing as the Music Network RESONATE Artist in Residence at the Dock Arts Centre in Leitrim and as an Artist in Residence at Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris.
