Tender Pray:
Larry Goves on The Devotions Interview : Abi Bliss The Manchester-based composer tells hcmf// about his new J.D. Salingerinspired work for BIT20 and why he writes music to watch people by Not yet 35 and already onto his fifth appearance at hcmf//, Larry Goves' sizable list of works ranges from the solo to the orchestral. With a CV that also includes collaborating with Mira Calix and performing electronics as part of the house of bedlam, he's currently curating a series of concerts at the Royal Northern College of Music, whilst his most recent recording, Just Stuff People Do, features Sarah Nicholls, Oliver Coates and London Sinfonietta.
I personally love small repetitious rituals and the privilege of being let in on something completely private Not yet 35 and already onto his fifth appearance at hcmf//, Larry Goves' sizable list of works ranges from the solo to the orchestral. With a CV that also includes collaborating with Mira Calix and performing electronics as part of the house of bedlam, he's currently curating a series of concerts at the Royal Northern College of Music, whilst his most recent recording, Just Stuff People Do, features Sarah Nicholls, Oliver Coates and London Sinfonietta. As the title suggests, his new work The Devotions explores themes of prayer and ritual; Norway's BIT20 Ensemble give the world premiere at hcmf// on Saturday 22 November, in a concert which will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. hcmf//: What do you mean when you describe The Devotions as 'music as secular prayer'?
idea of 'praying without ceasing' and of the changing meditativelike states and deeper understanding through repetition that she relates to this. It is uncomfortable when she actually practises this how separate she seems from the middle-class American backdrop. I love the evocative suggestion of sound through repetition, the narrative shift from speculation to practice and the stark juxtaposition of two worlds. hcmf//: What musical ideas or techniques are you introducing in the piece? LG: Two of the movements of this piece are dramatic elaborations of ideas explored in existing pieces which take the sounds into (hopefully) new territory. The first three sections of music are from three separate ensembles that are stated separately then gradually come back together. As they come back together each section undergoes a large number of permutations. When they finally realign the material is dramatically transformed and throughout the piece the collisions that take place in the music generate surprising sounds and interactions.
Larry Goves: This idea began with a short extract from the Salinger novel Franny and Zooey but became a starting point for a sequence of musical explorations. In my mind were ideas related to prayer but separated from religious faith; ideas of private ritual and repetition, of pleading, of deliberate isolation and love. The second is three simpler sections of music with a gradually transforming diatonic accompaniment for vibraphone, piano More precisely, the very short story Franny [part of Franny and and harp. This trio is rhythmically independent and as they stray systematically further and further from the original material the Zooey], was the starting point for the piece. Franny, disillusioned with a life of privilege and excess, talks about the music becomes increasingly idiosyncratic. I have also added a
Tender Pray: Larry Goves on The Devotions
Photographs: Andy Sawyer
subtle theatrical element to this piece though lighting and ideas of tying knots and lighting candles for prayer. hcmf//: Human ritual, behaviour and everyday life seem to be a large inspiration for you. How do you explore that in instrumental music? LG: A lot of my music is inspired by thinking about and observing people, real and imagined. I personally love small repetitious rituals and the privilege of being let in on something completely private, whether it is someone's habitual prayer driven by faith or just the fact that I have to walk the length of any platform when I'm waiting for a train or a tram. I find that writing music is a way of thinking about and refining my thoughts on all kinds of real life situations - the two are inexorably linked. And I like to reference everyday things, as I would not want any of this to sound too grand. I think about stuff that matters to me and I sometimes think about ridiculously trivial things because they're fun or catch my eye or sound great. I write music about stuff that matters to me and I sometimes write music about ridiculously trivial things because they're fun or catch my eye or sound great. That's all it is. hcmf//: What qualities do BIT20 bring to this performance of The Devotions? LG: BIT20 have been fantastically generous. I went to Bergen for a workshop and they approached the music with real
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enthusiasm and warmth. This affected the way I finished the score. There is nothing more thrilling than when great players who clearly care about their repertoire start to decode and get inside a piece you're written. It is always humbling, rather scary and great fun. hcmf//: What are you doing next? LG: I'm currently looking forward to writing two pieces. A short solo oboe work for Gareth Hulse as part of the London Sinfonietta Shorts series of commissions and a piece for saxophone, cello and piano commissioned by Meriel Price. Both are interesting projects: in the former I'm planning to try out some brand new ideas and in the latter I'm reflecting on a piece I wrote for Meriel in 2006 that was the starting point for a chain reaction of creative responses by various composers/artists, with my new piece as the last in the chain. And I'm still reflecting on a large orchestra work from the end of last year - The Rules written for the NYO and thinking about working on a larger scale than I have previously in different ways. I'm enjoying going to a lot of orchestral concerts at the moment. It has become a little addictive.
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2014
Saturday 22 November |BIT20 featuring The Devotions
@hcm fuk
Fri 21 - Sun 30 November 2014