Anna Clyne on Being Inspired by Folk Music

Composer Anna Clyne is a longtime fan of folk music, instruments, and dance. She discusses the ways in which her music is influenced by folk music, whether through direct quotation of traditional melodies or rhythms and meters associated with the genre.
Inspired by four folk tunes, Clyne's violin concerto "Time and Tides" receives its UK premiere with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on March 13-15. Learn more: www.sco.org.uk/events/time-an...
Music:
Masquerade for orchestra
Composed by Anna Clyne
Performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop
Film by Jesse Yang

[@adrianstrickland7600]

of course, if I was going to set a certain poem about a bird to music and had the means to get that piece performed, I would prefer that it would be for orchestra rather than voice and quartet 😏

[@adrianstrickland7600]

The foot stomping feel of the primula vulgaris quartet is why I think I prefer your writing for small groups to the orchestral stuff. Despite the intense technical difficulty it still manages to feel informal. I don't really know about the label "folk music", tho. Isn't that just a term used by people in suits who are running a museum or something ? I mean, I love museums but I'll bet when William Bolcom was composing Songs of Innocence and Experience that he was thinking lets use "folk music" in a lot of places and you know what? It didn't really work on a large scale. Sorry. I don't know if I agree with you that the layering really helps to transfer that intimate or informal feel into an orchestral context. What you ARE dead on about is the connection to dance, which is what definitely helps the cello concerto to retain integrity but mostly during the solo sections. Still, if you write a concerto for banjo, how the fuck can that NOT sound folky ? Go for it by all means. I look forward to hearing it.