Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Isaac's original work 'Burnt Norton’ won second prize in the Release the Creativity category of Guildhall Young Artists (GYA) composition competition, RELEASE 2026.
Isaac, from Junior Guildhall, says: "Burnt Norton is the first in a cycle of four string quartets, each based upon one of the poems of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. Eliot’s ‘Burnt Norton’ is inspired by the house of the same name in the Cotswolds. My musical interpretation of Eliot’s poem follows Eliot’s ABCBA structure, and explores the same themes of disillusionment and death alongside nature and childlike excitement. The extended techniques such as harmonics and left-hand pizzicato are intended to imitate birdsong – birds being a constant presence in Eliot’s poem. This movement of Burnt Norton was workshopped by a quartet from the senior department of the Guildhall School in December 2025, and, having listened to their playing and comments, I revised it to make it more idiomatic and improve ease of interpretation."
The category judge for Release the Notes was Tim Watts, Sub-director of Studies and Teaching Associate at St John's College, University of Cambridge.
Find out more about GYA here: gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/children-and-young-people/guildhall-young-artists
Isaac's original work 'Burnt Norton’ won second prize in the Release the Creativity category of Guildhall Young Artists (GYA) composition competition, RELEASE 2026.
Isaac, from Junior Guildhall, says: "Burnt Norton is the first in a cycle of four string quartets, each based upon one of the poems of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. Eliot’s ‘Burnt Norton’ is inspired by the house of the same name in the Cotswolds. My musical interpretation of Eliot’s poem follows Eliot’s ABCBA structure, and explores the same themes of disillusionment and death alongside nature and childlike excitement. The extended techniques such as harmonics and left-hand pizzicato are intended to imitate birdsong – birds being a constant presence in Eliot’s poem. This movement of Burnt Norton was workshopped by a quartet from the senior department of the Guildhall School in December 2025, and, having listened to their playing and comments, I revised it to make it more idiomatic and improve ease of interpretation."
The category judge for Release the Notes was Tim Watts, Sub-director of Studies and Teaching Associate at St John's College, University of Cambridge.
Find out more about GYA here: gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/children-and-young-people/guildhall-young-artists
