Georgia Rodgers — September
September collects a selection of work from young modern British composer Georgia Rodgers. The CD takes in seven chamber works, one track for piano & sine tones, and one track for electronics. The collection highlights Ms Rodgers ability to pen both gloomy drifting-yet-at times harmonic work, and more scorched to angular composition
The release appears on Another Timbre, the Sheffield based label that releases all that’s good & great in modern composition & modern classical genres. The CD comes presented in the labels house style mini white gatefold- this feature on its front cover a painting by South London media varied artists Daisy Jarrett.
In 2009/ 2010 Ms Rodgers earned a bachelor's in science physics and music, and a master of science in digital composition at the University of Edinburgh. And has since been actively composing her own work - her body of work taking in both formal modern classical composition, electroacoustic work, Installations and soundwalks.
The eight compositions featured here date from between the years 2010 and 2021- with runtimes varying from four to thirteen minutes. The chamber works are played by members of the respected modern ensemble Apartment House, the piano sine tone composition by London and Sydney based pianists/ composer Zubin Kanga, and the electronic work by Ms Rodgers herself.
The release opens with “Base”- a wonderful lumbering and forlornly harmonic work for double bass and Bassoon. As we move on we come the gloomy tolling piano and glumly seared Violin bay of “St Andrew’s Lyddington” Track four “Ringglow” is the piano and sine waves composition- the nearing twelve-minute tracks starts out with starkly placed- yet gloomy harmonic notation, but as it processes the sine tones start to seep and weave their way through the plod key patterns, giving a wonderful feeling of growing malevolence and even threat with-in the stark melancholia.
Moving onto the second half of the CD, and we have the rattling to spinning and lightly seared electro texturing’s of “Logistics”. There’s the hoovering-to-lightly shrill drift and build of “Masking Set” which is for female voice, Viola and Cello. And finally, we have the title track- this is spread over three tracks, and is for piano, violin, viola, cello and percussion. It starts off blending constantly tolling key patterns with layers of angular string simmer ‘n’ swoon. As we move on the strings start take on the melody of the piano, but just when you think it’s going where you expect it drops back to just delicately stark strings, that sit between harmony and lightly rocking sear. As we progress basic and quirky percussive tones come into play with the gently swooning blend of lightly tolling keys and strings. With the track concluding with a blend of on-off tolling keys, string sail, swoon and dive, and spaced percussion bash
As a collection September highlights Ms Rodgers as a versatile and self-assured composer- as she can move from the forlornly harmonic, through to the angular and seared, onto the textured and ambient. I certainly look forward to hearing more of her work in the future, and this is a great collection of work.