Francisco Coll Brochure March 2018
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FRANCISCO COLL CATALOGUE OF WORKS ‘A major talent, with a potent, dark-hued voice all his own… Could Coll be the composer Spain has long been waiting for?’ BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE FRANCISCO COLL Abbreviations WOODWIND picc piccolo fl flute afl alto flute bfl bass flute ob oboe bob bass oboe ca cor anglais acl alto clarinet Ebcl clarinet (Eb) cl clarinet bcl bass clarinet cbcl contra bass clarinet bsn bassoon cbsn contra bassoon ssax soprano saxophone asax alto saxophone tsax tenor saxophone bsax baritone saxophone BRASS hn horn fl.hn flugel horn ptpt piccolo trumpet (Bb) tpt trumpet trbn trombone btrbn bass trombone Francisco Coll (b. Valencia, 1985) studied at the Valencia and Madrid Conservatoires scrt soprano cornet crts cornets before moving to London as a private pupil of Thomas Adès (his only pupil to date). He rcrt repiano cornet was also a student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he won the 2010 btuba bass tuba euph euphonium Ian Horsburgh Memorial Prize for the best postgraduate composition. bar baritone PERCUSSION Coll’s music has received the advocacy of some of the world’s leading ensembles ant.cym antique cymbals including the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, Ensemble intercontemporain, BD bass drum c.bell cow bell Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and the London Sinfonietta. In 2014 his cast castanets chamber opera Café Kafka, to a libretto by Meredith Oakes, premiered to great acclaim ch.bl chinese block chic.cym chic cymbal in a production by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Aldeburgh Music, and ch.dr chinese drum Opera North, and has since been staged at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia. chtpl.bl chinese temple block chimes wooden chimes The Piano Concertino ‘No seré yo quien diga nada’, one of several works written as chi.ba chime bars Composer in Association with the Joven Orquesta de la Generalidad Valenciana, crot crotales cyms pair of cymbals was given its UK premiere by Nicolas Hodges and the City of Birmingham Symphony glsp glockenspiel Orchestra under Thomas Adès, and featured at the Aldeburgh Festival. Other festivals mcas maracas mar marimba that have presented his music include Aspen, Cheltenham, Huddersfield and Verbier. met.bl metal block Hidd’n Blue – originally written for the London Symphony Orchestra and François- mil.glsp military glockenspiel riv.cym rivit cymbal Xavier Roth – has since been performed by the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden SD side drum und Freiburg, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Munich Philharmonic and the siz.cym sizzle cymbal susp.cym suspended cymbal Mediterranean Youth Orchestra. t.bells tubular bells t.mil tambour militaire tab tabor In 2016 Coll made his BBC Proms debut with a performance of the Four Iberian tam t tam tam Miniatures for violin and chamber orchestra by Augustin Hadelich and the Britten Sinfonia tamb tambourine TD tenor drum conducted by Thomas Adès. 2016 also saw the premiere of Mural by the Orchestre tgl triangle Philharmonique du Luxembourg under Gustavo Gimeno, and a Harpsichord Concerto timb timbales tpl.bl temple blocks for Mahan Esfahani and the Britten Sinfonia. The performance of Mural at the 2017 BBC vib vibraphone Proms by Thomas Adès and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain was televised, wdbl wood block xyl xylophone and a recording by La Joven Orquesta Nacional de España under Cristóbal Soler is xylrim xylorimba currently in production. STRINGS vln violin Coll has written two works for Cuarteto Casals: a short quartet movement entitled Cantos, vla viola vlc cello and a Concerto Grosso for the Orquesta Nacional de España and David Afkham, both of db bass which premiered in 2017. Other recent pieces include Stella, an unaccompanied motet KEYBOARDS for ORA and Suzi Digby, and Turia, a concerto for guitar and ensemble premiered by pno piano Jacob Kellermann and Norrbotten NEO under Christian Karlsen. cel celesta synth synthesizer Future projects include a second chamber opera – based on Dostoyevsky’s The Dream of OTHERS a Ridiculous Man – and several works for the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, including a gtr guitar bgtr bass guitar concerto. In 2018 Coll begins a two-season residency with the Orquesta de Valencia. All other instrument names are given in full. March 2018 CHAMBER OPERA Café Kafka ‘Quite dazzling, both in terms of its originality and sonically... [The] treatment of disconnected fragments, mainly dialogues, had a Pinterish insouciance with non sequiturs, a dramatic freedom and indeed a poetic quality… Astonishing compositional assurance.’ The Sunday Times (Paul Driver), 23 March 2014 ‘A major talent, with a potent, dark-hued voice all his own. Oakes has distilled the claustrophobia and despair of Kafka’s writing into a few brief lines that drive a hot-blooded score, voices and instruments sparking off each other in an intimate dance, mirrored by the vivacious jiving on stage… Café Kafka (2013) Could Coll be the composer chamber opera in one act for 5 singers and 10 players Spain has long been waiting for?’ text: Meredith Oakes, after Franz Kafka (Eng) BBC Music Magazine (Helen Wallace), 20 March 2014 45 minutes 5 singers: GIRL (ColS)/MAN 1 (T)/WOMAN (MS)/MAN 2 (CT)/THE HUNTER ‘Spikey and energetic.’ GRACCHUS/POLICEMAN/MAN 3 (BBar) Musical America (Keith Clarke), picc(=fl).cl.cbsn (or contraforte) – trbn (with splash.cym ) – perc(1): glsp/ 24 March 2014 crot/small cyms/susp.cym (dark)/large susp.cym/small splash.cym/2 wdbl ‘A brightly-coloured high-wire (small and large)/3 tpl.bl (very small, medium, large)/3 opera gongs (very act; its musical coup de théâtre small, small, medium)/2 tins (small, medium)/very small tuna tin/sleigh bells/ revealed Coll to be a master tamb/guero/bamboo/wine bottle/flamenco cajón – pno – vln.vla.vlc.db of his art. This could become a FP: 14.3.2014, Britten Studio, Snape, Suffolk, UK: Suzanne Shakespeare/ Daniel Norman/Anna Dennis/William Purefoy/Andri Björn Róbertsson/ classic.’ The Independent (Michael Church), CHROMA Ensemble/Richard Baker 18 March 2014 Commissioned by Aldeburgh Music, Opera North and Royal Opera Covent Garden with support from Arts Council England Britten Centenary Fund ‘A witty fantasy set to music of Vocal score 0-571-53931-9 on sale, full score and parts for hire real imagination and prodigious technical skill… it entertains in a ORCHESTRA sophisticated fashion… My guess is that it will have an afterlife.’ The Stage (George Hall), 18 March 2014 Aqua Cinerea (2006) ‘A taut, memorable work… An orchestra assured musical voice, sensitive 12 minutes to nuanced sonorities and picc.2.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn – 4.3.2.btrbn.1 – perc(5): glsp/crot/crash.cym/anvil/crash.cym (pair)/wdbl/flexaton/ possessing a broad expressive xyl/t.bells/vib/glsp/wood bells/gong/pang.cym/geophono/macetofono/xyl/BD/t.bells/metal.cast/crash.cym/ palette.’ splash.cym/verga/bass drum/pair of frying pans/tgl/snare drum/stones/rattle/metal desk/hi-hate/cabasa/ Bachtrack (Katy Wright), 18 March 2014 BD/metal fork/bata/c.bell/swish.cym/chinese.cym/bidon/bag full of paper/sizz.cym/BD/dark.cym/tam-t/freno drum/tom-t/c.bell/sml.bidon/vibraslap – harpsichord – pno – strings ‘The music conveyed loneliness, FP: 18.9.2007, Palau de la Música, Valencia, Spain: dizziness and restlessness… Orquesta Filarmónica de la Universitat de Valencia/Cristóbal Soler perfectly calibrated, producing a Score and parts for hire limpid and clear effect.’ Cultur Plaza (Rosa Solà), 23 May 2016 Hidd’n Blue (2009) Hidd’n Blue orchestra 4½ minutes ‘Its scary view of a polarised picc.2.3.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn – 4331 – timp – perc(3): glsp/vib/xyl/mar/t.bells/crot/c.bells/susp.cym/crash.cym/ world of extremes seemed full sizz.cym/Chinese.cym/hi-hat.cym/2 tgl/2 temple blocks/ratchet/cabasa/sleigh bells/plastic bag full of crinkled of Adès-like gestures refracted paper/roto-t/tom-tom/conga/snare drum/BD/tam-t – harp – pno – strings through an extended scream, FP: 15.1.2012, Barbican Hall, London, UK: London Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Adès Commissioned for the London Symphony Orchestra through the LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composers leaving only a lone violin Scheme, supported by the Helen Hamlyn Trust wailing. Coll is clearly one to Score and parts for hire watch.’ Bachtrack (David Allen), 16 January 2012 ‘The piece certainly lives up to Coll’s description as “3D music for a virtuoso orchestra of the 21st century”. It displays a brilliant colouristic range.’ The Guardian (George Hall), 17 January 2012 In Extremis ORCHESTRA (cont.) ‘The excellence of In Extremis justifies Coll’s residence with In Extremis (2012) the Valenica Youth Orchestra. cantata for choir and orchestra Its movements are handled by a Texts: 32 and 56 from the poems of Catullus (Latin) large and constantly spectacular 17 minutes orchestral apparatus.’ picc.2.2.ca.E¨cl.2.bcl.2.cbsn – 4.3.2.btrbn.0 – perc(6): glspn/xyl/mar/bag full of paper/BD/chimes tree/2 Levante (Alfredo Brotons), Chinese.cym/c.bell/crot/glass/2 hi-hat/large wood/3 metal bars/opera gong (dead sound)/2 siz.cym/sleigh 31 July 2012 bells/2 snare drums/splash cym/2 susp.cym/2 tamb/2 tam-t/4 tpl.bl/6 tpl.bl/tin (large and small)/2 large tom-t/1 medium tom-t/traffic signal “stop”/tgl/tubular bells/tuned gongs/4 wheel rims/whip/wdbl/vibraslap – harp/pno/ Mural cel – SATB choir – strings ‘Adès’s only pupil shares his FP: 26.7.2012, Teatre Romá, Sagunto, Spain: Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana/Jove Orquestra de la Generalitat Valenciana/Manuel Galduf teacher’s ear for alluring Commissioned by the Institute of Music of Valencia for the Jove Orquestra de la Generalitat Valenciana orchestral effects.