Uploaded July 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Benjamin Powell - Piano
Leighton Moody - Director of Photography
Rob Kelledy - Sound recording and Mastering
Tim Williams - Editor and Producer
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Christian Drew - More Parlour Music
'More Parlour Music' draws loosely on the sounds and performance practices of eighteenth and nineteenth century keyboard music. There are no direct quotations; instead I tried to let my subconscious warp and reimagine my own experiences of romantic harmony and baroque melody. I possess no profound theoretical knowledge of how this music works, nor did I listen to any specific works when putting the piece together, so the composing process was led by my intuition, memory and embodied understanding of the keyboard. Although the music is often rapid and flowing, it was made by improvising slowly, paying close attention to the sound and feel, note by note.
The title references a previous piece of mine, Parlour Music (2021) for solo harp. It’s a twangy, sprawling amalgamation of rococo, folk and medieval music; a long, ornamented melody harmonised in dyads. Unlike the harp piece, More Parlour Music started as a very long stream of chords, allowing the harmonic nature of the piano to lead the music, with melodies later following and spiralling around the chords.
learn more about Christian: christiandrew.com
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LEARN MORE AND FOLLOW PSAPPHA
Website: psappha.com
Subscribe to Psappha's Enewsletter: shorturl.at/ryFGO Twitter: twitter.com/PsapphaEnsemble Facebook: facebook.com/psappha.ensemble Instagram: instagram.com/psapphaensemble
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Psappha is grateful for the support its ‘Composing For…’ programme receives from: Arts Council England; PRS Foundation Talent Development Partner scheme; Fidelio Charitable Trust; RVW Trust; and the Granada Foundation.
Benjamin Powell - Piano
Leighton Moody - Director of Photography
Rob Kelledy - Sound recording and Mastering
Tim Williams - Editor and Producer
----
Christian Drew - More Parlour Music
'More Parlour Music' draws loosely on the sounds and performance practices of eighteenth and nineteenth century keyboard music. There are no direct quotations; instead I tried to let my subconscious warp and reimagine my own experiences of romantic harmony and baroque melody. I possess no profound theoretical knowledge of how this music works, nor did I listen to any specific works when putting the piece together, so the composing process was led by my intuition, memory and embodied understanding of the keyboard. Although the music is often rapid and flowing, it was made by improvising slowly, paying close attention to the sound and feel, note by note.
The title references a previous piece of mine, Parlour Music (2021) for solo harp. It’s a twangy, sprawling amalgamation of rococo, folk and medieval music; a long, ornamented melody harmonised in dyads. Unlike the harp piece, More Parlour Music started as a very long stream of chords, allowing the harmonic nature of the piano to lead the music, with melodies later following and spiralling around the chords.
learn more about Christian: christiandrew.com
------
LEARN MORE AND FOLLOW PSAPPHA
Website: psappha.com
Subscribe to Psappha's Enewsletter: shorturl.at/ryFGO Twitter: twitter.com/PsapphaEnsemble Facebook: facebook.com/psappha.ensemble Instagram: instagram.com/psapphaensemble
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Psappha is grateful for the support its ‘Composing For…’ programme receives from: Arts Council England; PRS Foundation Talent Development Partner scheme; Fidelio Charitable Trust; RVW Trust; and the Granada Foundation.
