News

The premier of Wild Places featuring soprano Emma Tring with violin, gongs, crystal bowls, sampled sounds and more took place in Highgate, London recently.

The work sets words by Wendell Berry, Charles Austin (grandfather to the composer) and Michael Cullup.

It was recorded at Lossenham Farm Studio, Kent (to hear the recording, see the LISTEN page of this website).

Edward Thomas

Midnight Rain, settings of Edward Thomas for tenor, natural horn, string quartet and keyboard was premiered and recorded at the Oxford May Music Festival in 2023.

The second of two commissions from the London Chamber Orchestra and the Guild of Horn Players, Midnight Rain follows the successful first performance of Inscapes for tenor, natural horn and string orchestra in February 2022 at St John’s Smith Square, London in which the London Chamber Orchestra was conducted by Christopher Warren-Green with Toby Spence, tenor and Nicholas Korth, horn.

Inspired by Britten’s Serenade, Inscapes explores further the natural tuning of the horn. The title refers to Gerard Manley Hopkin’s concept of the uniqueness of each component of the natural world, and is both a celebration of it and an elegy to its defilement by humanity.

Nicholas Korth and Toby Spence

Emma Tring

In 2022 Nicholas was appointed as Composer in Residence with the English Sinfonia.

Mehta Songs for soprano, string quartet and Planet Gong received was prmiered in 2023 by members of the Sinfonia with the wonderful soprano Emma Tring of the BBC Singers. A recording can be heard on the LISTEN page of this website (item 2).

Nicholas is currently working on Osden, a Sci-Fi themed opera based on a short story by Ursula Le Guin, involving overtone singing and conventional vocal techniques and the resulting rich sonic possibilities. He has also become fascinated by the extraordinary Stahlcello devised by the late great overtone singer and musicologist Jan Heinke as well the wondrous sound world of Gongs.