Annually, the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and the Manchester Writing School run a collaborative competition which culminates in a concert demonstrating the works of both composition and literature students called the Rosamond Prize.
My Work, ‘Samson’, is a short piece for soprano, viola and electronics based on the poem by the same name by Elisabeth Sennitt Clough. The voice takes on the role of a Biblical Delilah figure by acting as an alluring character at the outset with a growing intensity that leads to some more hostile moments later in the piece, as the motives of her actions become more apparent. The viola and electronics seek to create an underlying soundworld of the beautiful simplicity of the character at the beginning, which becomes tenser in accordance with the voice. The viola part is also present in the electronics to highlight the close relations between Samson and Delilah, which strays and converges.
This year the concert was rather long and featured many contrasting works, but I was shocked as well as pleased that my collaborative piece won the 'Rosamond Prize' overall! If you would like to hear the performance, the recording is below!
