Performers: Jessica Danz, Ben Norris & Katrina Lee (violins),

Rhoslyn Lawton (viola), Alice Allen (cello).

Score available on request.

the Ballad of muriel spark

In 2018 I completed a new work for string quintet inspired by the poetry of Muriel Spark which was premiered at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh. I performed alongside the Brodick Quartet, an ensemble comprised of four of Scotland’s most outstanding young string players. The project was supported by Creative Scotland’s Muriel Spark 100 fund, as part of the centenary celebrations for Dame Muriel Spark, one of Scotland's finest and most internationally respected writers.

Spark wrote in the introduction to her collected poems: 'Although most of my life has been devoted to fiction, I have always thought of myself as a poet… Whether in prose or verse, all creative writing is mysteriously connected with music and I always hope this factor is apparent throughout my work.'

I selected nine of Spark's poems to respond to, exploring their characters, and their individual structures and rhythms. The nine movements include a song without words, a theme and variations based on the fragment of an ancient Gaelic lament, and a mad, melodramatic waltz.

mosquito war dance

In 2002 I took part in a residency for Western Australian composers and improvisers in New Norcia, north of Perth. Our accommodation was in the dormitories of an old boarding school, and at night we were plagued by mosquitoes - partly the inspiration for the work. It began as a piece for trio, and then I arranged the work for the full ‘pi’ ensemble: the new version was premiered at the Perth Concert Hall in 2003.

Performers: Jessica Danz & the Pi Ensemble, live at Perth Concert Hall. Score available on request.

There is a time

“To everything there is a season

A time to every purpose under the heaven.”

A work for soprano voice and violins, There is a Time was completed in 2004. An instrumental arrangement of this work (for string quintet) also forms part of the composition The Ballad of Muriel Spark.

Music written and performed by Jessica Danz (voice and violins)

Words: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8.

Score available on request.

the shadow

I recorded two versions of this work on my 2004 album Nightfall: one very minimal arrangement for violin and piano, and the other a larger ensemble version with piano, multiple voices and strings.

Music and words by Jessica Danz. Scores available on request.