Andrew Lewis (born in

Sutton-in-Ashfield Sutton-in-Ashfield is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of 36,404 in 2021. It is the largest town in the district of Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Ashfield, four miles west of Mansfield, from the Derbyshire border and ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

on 14 May 1963) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

known mainly for his

acousmatic music Acousmatic music (from Greek ἄκουσμα ''akousma'', "a thing heard") is a form of electroacoustic music that is specifically ''composed'' for presentation using speakers, as opposed to a live performance. It stems from a compositional tradit ...

, that is, electroacoustic music heard only over

loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or, more fully, a speaker system) is a combination of one or more speaker drivers, an enclosure, and electrical connections (possibly including a crossover network). The speaker driver is an ...

s, though he also composes some chamber and

orchestral music An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...

Education

He studied music at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, first as an undergraduate (1981–84), then as a postgraduate studying composition with

Jonty Harrison Jonty Harrison is an electroacoustic music composer born 27 April 1952 in Scunthorpe, and currently living in Birmingham, England. Career Jonty Harrison studied with Bernard Rands at the University of York, graduating with a DPhil in Compositi ...

. It was during this time that he became one of the original members of BEAST, performing electroacoustic music throughout the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

under Harrison's direction. After gaining a PhD in 1992 he worked briefly in the Music department at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

(England) (1992–93) before becoming lecturer at the

Bangor University Bangor University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 ...

(Wales). He is currently a Professor of music there, as well as directing the work of the Electroacoustic Music Studios and Electroacoustic WALES, which performs electroacoustic and acousmatic music.

Music

Much of his

displays an interest in the abstraction of unseen and unrecognisable sounds, an approach particularly strongly evident in earlier works such as ''Arrivals'' (1987) and ''Time and Fire'' (1991). However, with the composition of ''Scherzo'' (1992) a parallel concern with the

anecdotal Anecdotal evidence (or anecdata) is evidence based on descriptions and reports of individual, personal experiences, or observations, collected in a non- systematic manner. The term ''anecdotal'' encompasses a variety of forms of evidence. This ...

and

pictorial An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a project ...

possibilities of recognisable sounds began to emerge, and much of his subsequent work plays on the tensions between these two approaches. Since moving to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, much of the evocation of image in his music relates to the landscape of the area in which he lives and works. ''Ascent'' (1994) evokes the wildness of the mountain landscape of

Snowdonia Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

, which was awarded a ‘Euphonie d’Or’ by the Bourges electroacoustic music competition, as one of the most notable former prizewinning works between 1975 and 2005. The cycle of works ''Four Anglesey Beaches (Penmon Point; Cable Bay; Benllech Shells; Llanddwyn Skies)'' (1999-2003) takes as its inspiration the seascapes and coastal locations of the area. 'Skyline' (2016) uses the sound of a blackbird's song, while 'Two Lakes' (2022) and 'Three Storms' (2023) use sonified climate change data. Lewis's more recent work includes more music for orchestras and ensembles, though an acousmatic concern with the materiality of sound remains: ''Eclipse'' (orchestra, 2004) was premiered under

Elgar Howarth Elgar Howarth (4 November 1935 – 13 January 2025) was an English conductor, composer and trumpeter. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grove noted that "his performances are marked by powerful concentration and a clear communicat ...

, while in the same year ''Tempo Reale'' (string quartet, 2004) was chosen by Sir

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

for a performance in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

. ''Fern Hill'' (orchestra and electronics, 2014) combines the orchestra with recordings of Dylan Thomas reciting his poem of the same name, and ''Lebenslieder'' (orchestra and electronics, 2017) takes a similar approach using recordings of interviews with people with dementia. ''In Memory'' (orchestra and electronics, 2021) was a BBC Radio 3 commission, and also explores dementia, using interviews with unpaid family carers. Some writings on the analysis of electroacoustic music exist, in particular ‘Francis Dhomont’s ''Novars''’ in ''Journal of New Music Research,'' and ‘Spectromorphology, motion and meta-motion in Denis Smalley’s Vortex’ in Polychrome Portrait No. 15.‘Spectromorphology, motion and meta-motion in Denis Smalley’s Vortex’, Polychrome Portrait No. 15 : Denis Smalley (INA, Paris, 2010)

Works

*''The Song of Five Anger'', acousmatic (1982) *''Empire canons'', two trumpets (1982) *''Logos'', acousmatic (1983) *''Quad'', four clarinets (1983) *''Sonnerie aux morts'', acousmatic (1984) *''La Corona'', ensemble (1984) *''Adagio'', acousmatic (1985) *''Rond'eau'', acousmatic (1985) *''FM'', music theatre for solo guitarist (1985) *''Principles of Flight'', shakuhachi and electroacoustic sounds (1986, rev. 1991) *''MARanaTHA'', four amplified voices and live electronics (1986) *''Storm-song'', piano and electroacoustic sounds (1987) *''Arrivals'', acousmatic (1987) *''...a cord of three strands...'', ensemble, computer and live electronics (1988) *''Time and Fire'', acousmatic (1990) *''Changes'', flute, viola and harp (1990) *''Tracking'', piano trio (1990) *''int/EXT'', harpsichord and electroacoustic sounds (1991) *''PulseRates'' (with BEAST), acousmatic (1991) *''Scherzo'', acousmatic (1992, revised 1993) *''Ascent'', acousmatic (1994, revised 1997) *''Eclipse'', orchestra (1996, rev. 2004) *''môr(G)wyn'', acousmatic (1996) *''Cân'', acousmatic (1997) *''Nunc dimittis'', boys' choir and organ (1998) *''Cable Bay'', acousmatic (1999) *''CHROMA - Thema'', flute (alto flute), oboe, horn, trombone, viola, harp (1999) *''Shadow Play'', small orchestra (1999) *''Tempo Reale'', string quartet (1999, rev. 2004) *''Dawns'', harp and electroacoustic sounds (2000) *''Jeux d'ombres'', flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano (2000) *''double (fragment)'', 2fl, 2ob, 2clt (2bcl), hn, 2pno, 2vln, vla, vlc, elec bs (2001) *''double (serenâd)'', 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 basset hn, 2 bsn, 4 hn, cb (2002) *''Penmon Point'', acousmatic (2003) *''Llanddwyn Skies'', acousmatic (2003) *''Benllech Shells'', acousmatic (2003) *Budo' Variations'', trumpet, percussion and computer (2006) *''Danses acousmatiques'', acousmatic (2007) *''Schattenklavier'', piano and computer (2009) *''X-over'', piano or toy piano (2009) *''Number Nine Dream'', orchestra (2010) *''Vox Populi'', interactive installation (2011) *''Vox Dei'', 8 amplified voices and live processing (2011) *''Dark Glass'', acousmatic (2011) *''Tantana'', acousmatic (2011) *''Air'', bassoon and computer (2012) *''Lexicon'', acousmatic with video (2012) *''Il re lunaire'', fl, cl, vl, vc, vib, pno (2013) *''Fern Hill'', orchestra and electronics (2014) *''Straatmuziek'', flute (alto fl), clarinet (bass cl), piano (2016) *''Skyline'', acousmatic (2016) *''Lebenslieder'', orchestra or chamber orchestra and electronics (2017) *''Étude aux objets'', alto fl (picc), cl, bn, sop tbn (or tp), perc, hp, 2 vln, vla, vlc, cb (2018) *''Earthline,'' solo bass & alto flutes and electronics (2019) *''Canzon in Double Echo,'' large ensemble and electronics (2020) *''In Memory,'' orchestra and electronics (2021) *''Fantazia Upon One Note,'' solo violin and electronics (2022) *''Cori Spezzati,'' acousmatic (2022) *''Three Storms,'' acousmatic (2022) *''Two Lakes,'' acousmatic (2023)

References

External links

Sonic Arts Research Archive

Composer's websiteLewis's staff page at the University of Wales BangorAndrew Lewis on electrocd (acousmatic music)Andrew Lewis on Composers' Edition (notated music)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Andrew 1963 births Living people English composers People from Sutton-in-Ashfield Musicians from Nottinghamshire Academics of the University of Surrey Academics of Bangor University Alumni of the University of Birmingham

Education

Music

Works

References

Further reading

External links