Selected music creator for the 2023 Picture Gallery Composer-in-Residence Scheme
About the installation piece
This DAW-composed work is a response to a group of Victorian paintings by Thomas Creswick, Richard Ansdell and Thomas Sidney Cooper, all themed around British (especially Scottish) pastoral life, along with a gathering at a train station painted by William Powell Frith, who regularly collaborated with painters including Creswick and Cooper. I aim to portray the pictured scenarios and bring them to life through various means, specifically incorporating various instruments associated with pastoral life and with Europe and the Celtic regions, along with adding samples of cattle and sheep vocalisations, all through the use of 11 distinct tracks: French horn and trombones, Celtic harp, Celtic tin whistle, the Polka accordion and some percussive instruments (including the Irish Bodhran) from the European folk kit. In addition, each of the 11 tracks got assigned to one of six stereo outputs or ‘buses’ (2 of 12 speaker positions): namely the brass instruments in outputs 1 and 6, the harp and water fountain in output 2 representing Creswick’s river-themed ‘Trentside’ painting, the group of Celtic folk instruments, namely the Celtic tin whistle, the accordion and in output 3, the animal calls in output 4, and the bells (meant to imitate the bells announcing the train arriving at the station) in output 5; underlying all of these in all outputs is a synthesiser pad preset of strummed strings, giving an additional Victorian soundscape touch to it.
About the music creator
Neel Anand (b. 2002) is an aspiring composer specialising in classical contemporary composition, as well as being a multi-instrumentalist. Born and raised in Mill Hill in North London, he started classical piano lessons at the age of 6, then went on to take up the flute and drums at age 8 and age 10 respectively which culminated in him passing his grade 8 examinations in 2018, with a distinction in piano. Neel gained a large chunk of his musicianship during his time at St Columba’s College in St. Albans where he was an integral part of the music scene. He took turns as the drummer and a flautist in both the college wind band and jazz band, as well as performing piano and drums at occasional public recitals. He also had the privilege of undertaking the role of music subject mentor in his final year, allowing him to assist the subject leaders at the sixth form open day and the pupils in musical studies. Even though Neel did not properly get involved in composition until he commenced his undergraduate studies at Royal Holloway in 2020, he is readily developing his compositional skills whilst studying under the supervision of professional composers including (but not limited to) Nathan James Dearden and Tonia Ko, also having learnt the music technology software Logic Pro X under PhD student Thomas Baynes last year. Alongside this, Neel also is working towards an ARSM in piano performance and also participates in numerous ensembles at Royal Holloway, both staff and student-led. Most recently Neel travelled to Aberystwyth last summer to attend a compositional course hosted by Nathan James Dearden; he composed a harp piece performed in a workshop by renowned harpist Catrin Finch and a piano piece performed in another workshop by Royal Holloway Alumni and professional pianist Oliver Cuttriss.
