Maddy – I’ve been working on a piece that had to be no longer than two minutes long and had some form of randomness to its creation (aleatoric is the tech term meaning ‘dice’).

So I placed the 12 notes of the musical scale in a hat 6 times over and then started to pull them out one by one to create some chords!

There were some great chords in amongst some not so inspirational sounds! I chose 5 chords that I liked the sound of… It felt each one of them had its own emotion;

The first sounded energised and mysterious

The second joyful

The third made me think of a warm ‘inner sunlight’

The forth was majestic with its own strength

The five had an inner calm

I then created a sequence of notes with an upward motion – one sequence each to echo the mood of each chord.

At this point I liked the musical idea but didn’t know where to take it next!

I then came across a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins called ‘The Sea and the Skylark’.

Gerard apparently write it whilst walking along the welsh coastline on a beach – with the sea to his right and open hilly countryside to his left – from where came the skylark!

I loved the poem’s ability to conjure up the ebb and flow of the tides, the majestic singing and flight path of the Skylark.

Here are two lines from the poem that really capture the mood;

On ear and ear two noises too old to end

Trench—right, the tide that ramps against the shore;

With a flood or a fall, low lull-off or all roar,

Frequenting there while moon shall wear and wend.

Left hand, off land, I hear the lark ascend,

In crisps of curl off wild winch whirl, and pour

His rash-fresh re-winded new-skeinèd score

And pelt music, till none ’s to spill nor spend.

I immediately wrote the violin part to draw out the serenity and peace the Skylark felt as it soared into the sky high above the crashing waves.

The harp was added to connect both earth and sky – with dark rich low tones of the earth followed by the sparkling high tone of the skylark and the sea spray as it reached towards the sky.

I then added the Tam Tam and the bowed cymbals to create the crashing waves and the ebb & flow of the tide!

Hope you like the piece!

Love and Light,

Maddy. x

Hi Everyone,

Wow! We cannot believe it’s been so long since we last did an update!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying whichever season you’re in depending upon where you are on the planet!

It’s mid-Summer here in England and we’re enjoying experiencing the Sunlight as it shimmers through the trees and organic plant life that is now in full bloom.

This update is a little longer than usual – hope that’s OK but there’s so much to catch up on!

BBC Proms

The breaking news is that we’ve just found out Maddy has won the BBC Proms Junior Composer of the Year 2019! It’s the most famous Classical Music Festival on the Planet with an audience of millions. And hopefully a great opportunity to bring the healing power of music to a larger audience.

This is an extract from the Proms Programme introducing the ‘Cycle of the Sun’ by Maddy;

I wanted to write a piece that could be used as a meditative mandala to celebrate the ebb & flow of seasons – leaving the listener contemplating the cyclical nature of life.

By appreciating the cyclical nature of life and realising how much it is at odds with the modern world’s linear way of thinking, I hope it will allow us all to make better, more environmentally sound decisions in the future.

***

The shimmering timbre of the piano’s high register represents the energy of the sun as it brings nature to life. The electronic drones ebb & flow to represent the surges of growth and decay as each season peaks and fades. The Moon Bowl and Prayer Bell represent those sudden moments of seasonal change – which seem to appear suddenly after much anticipation. The shimmering gong and lower registered notes on the piano are designed to root us firmly to the earth – appreciating that this organic, life force, this miracle of creation, is ultimately our home.

***

You can listen to ‘Cycle of the Sun’ on our website at https://thishealingplace.com/ (please scroll down the home page to find it!).

You can follow the seasons as they appear in the piece at the following timings;

Winter Solstice (0.00)

The Light of the Sun flickers into life again after the long winter

Life returns and the first flowers of Spring appear out of the frozen earth

Spring Equinox (1:50)

Day and Night are in perfect balance as the first day of spring arrives

Fertility and the potency of the life force reaches its peak

Summer Solstice (3.10)

Mother Earth is expansive and organic growth is rife

The Summer’s peak brings the harvest, the sun king dances in the warm evening shadows

Autumn Equinox (4.22)

Day and night are in perfect balance, nature’s harvest is complete

Nature prepares to rest and take shelter

We’re travelling down to London to Maida Vale Studios to record the piece live during August. We’ll send news and timings once we know them – and links to where you can hear Maddy’s interviews and the piece being played live at the Proms.

New Releases

We’ve also released two new albums during the past 12 months.

The latest being ‘Weeping Snow into Blossom’

You can hear the complete album at https://thishealingplace.com/sound-journeys/

Album Statement…

“At a time when we are constantly told the world is in crisis, we need to raise our sights to the future & to what is possible. We need to find new visions, new stories, new ways of organising our lives that are sustainable and in harmony. We need to transcend the Winter of the old and find the Spring of the new.

This work explores the vibrant energy of change. The transition from the dark to the light. The shift from the old to the new. The transformation from Winter to Spring. The journey from Snow to Blossom. To save our planet and live in harmony with the natural world – it is time to weep snow into blossom”.

We also released ‘First Circle’ which captures the atmosphere of our live concerts during the magical Summer months of 2018. This was something new for us as it includes meditations and visualizations written by Maddy and Sam…

BBC ORCHESTRA COMMISSION

Maddy has been commissioned by the BBC to write a piece for full orchestra. We’re due to be briefed during September so we’re very excited to find out what the theme will be! Again, once we know the timings for broadcast we’ll send over the dates and details!

WHAT WE SEE IN THE STARS & SKY

“What we see in the stars & sky” is a meditative piece written for piano & harp – along with orchestral textures and harmonics. It will also feature recordings of the earth’s ‘ambient energy’ we’ve captured and recorded in certain magical places – one being the sacred Swallow Head Spring at Avebury as the sunlight flickered through the willow trees and another an evening sky high in the hills – notice the Moon on the picture – a magical moment! https://thishealingplace.com/2019/07/what-we-see-in-the-stars-sky/

A MESSAGE FROM EARTH

Two happy experiences have come together to inspire a new piece we’re currently working on;

The first was we recently discovered a poem by Brecht, called A List of Pleasures via a BBC Radio 4 Programme (which we’d recommend listening to as it’s a beautiful reminder of what a gift it is to be alive in the moment – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07gc78p). The programme explores why the poem is such a powerful reminder that life is a gift.

This is the poem;

First look from morning’s window

The rediscovered book

Fascinated faces

Snow, the change of the seasons

The newspaper

The dog

Dialectics

Showering, swimming

Old music

Comfortable shoes

Comprehension

New music

Writing, planting

Traveling

Singing

Being friendly

The second source of inspiration came from the “Golden Record” – the gold-plated copper record disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. It was launched in 1977 in the hope that one day, in interstellar space, intelligent life would come across it.

***

We immediately thought it was time to update this interstellar message. To collect people’s special moments given our enlightened state 2019, by recording those special, simple experiences that remind us what it a gift it is to be alive.

To date we’ve had entries such as ‘Morning sunlight streaming through my bedroom window’, ‘The smell of fresh bread at home’, ‘the smile of a new born baby, ‘the dance of autumn leaves in the wind’.

We are looking for recordings no longer than in 7 words – all of them depicting the magic of being alive.

Please send in your ideas. Each one will be acknowledged on the album. We are hoping to have the piece played on BBC Radio 3 before Christmas so it will be fun!

A LIVE CONCERT IN THE HILLS OF THE WELSH BOARDERS

We’re planning to video a live concert at our place in the hills. There will be no charge – it’s a big thank you to everyone for supporting our creative output – we truly appreciate it.

We’ll be playing live in our gardens, they’ll be simple, vegetarian food, open fires and wonderful conversation – Maddy and Sam will play early evening.

We need to ensure the sunlight is just right (a bit hit and miss here in the UK!).

Please email us at hello@thishealingplace.com if you’d like to come along. It’s going to be before the end of Sept.

We’ll send along accommodation suggestions for those coming from further afield.

Think that’s everything!

Please get in touch with your ideas – with love hearing from everyone!

Love and Light,

Maddy and Sam. x