Sam Perkin
String Quartet [2011]
1. Andante maestoso
2. Allegro con fuoco
3. Lento con grazia
4. Prestissimo scherzando
Performed by the Gealán Quartet
National Concert Hall, Dublin, 7th November 2021 (live audio recording)
What follows is an honest and genuine reflection on my String Quartet, a work which I wrote 10 years ago now. I hope it may give you an insight into some of the challenges faced by the artist, things that you may not be aware of. I hope you find it a good read.
When I think of my String Quartet now in 2021, a work which I composed what seems like an eternity ago (10 years), I feel a number of different things. The first is how different the work is aesthetically when compared with my voice as a composer today. Artists change, just as we all change. Some of us change more than others, and some of us change less. Some of us accept change more easily than others, and some of us find it quite difficult. I find it fascinating thinking of how this work, which was my first commission as a composer, was at once a key stepping stone for me as a composer and at the same time how it can now be a work which no longer represents me as an artist today in 2021. I find this a challenging thought to grasp, but a very real one that most creative people must face. The work, which I am very proud of in its musical textures, revealed to me that texture is one of the most important elements in music to me personally, second only to harmony. Texture and harmony would be the two fundamental elements which music gifts us with that I would go on to explore, each time more thoroughly, in detail over the next 10 years; each time refining and going deeper. This endless exploration allowed me to discover what I now consider to be my genuine voice as an artist today. I believe that the over-consideration of the idea that a composer must ‘have a distinctive style which is instantly recognisable’, often stunts the growth of the artist. It is better to let the voice flow out of the artist, just as they are. We are all fundamentally creative beings, which is important to remember, and many of us do not let the artist within come out. I feel I have managed to find this flow, though it has not been easy, and it takes a love for and commitment to music that can simply not be forced. My advice to any creative person is to try to find a way to let your voice flow without worrying about finding ‘your thing’. It will come out if you let it, as long as it has the space to do so. This will ensure that it is not forced, but genuine, honest both to yourself and to the people your are presenting your creations to.
All this does pose some inevitably un-useful questions that are nevertheless difficult to avoid: Is my writing today going to continue to evolve? Is my style set now, or will it change once again? Have I found my ‘thing’? Let’s forget these questions for this evening and just enjoy the music.
I sincerely thank Cork Orchestral Society for originally commissioning the work, having faith in me, and giving me the opening to begin to let out what needed to flow out. I also thank The RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet for originally performing the work and I think back fondly of rehearsing in Greg’s house in the countryside, no better place for a young composer to rehearse his first commission. Sam Perkin (June, 2021)
Return to NSQF Irish Quartet Archive main page
Based between France and Ireland, Cork-born Sam Perkin composes music for leading musicians and ensembles in Ireland and abroad. He completed a residency in 2022 with Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s leading new music ensemble. In the space between classical and experimental music, his artistic work has a particular focus on the exploration of awe. Grey Area (2017-19), his first major work for Crash Ensemble, imaginatively blends the worlds of Street Skateboarding with Contemporary Music and received its first three performances at Music Town Dublin, Sounds From A Safe Harbour Cork, and Musica Nova Festival Helsinki. Waves (2016-18) is an attempted self-cure for tinnitus and is one of the fruits of a bountiful collaboration between The Irish Chamber Orchestra and the composer over a number of years, supported by The Arts Council of Ireland. Language (2017), a substantial work for Solo Violin, was commissioned by West Cork Chamber Music Festival for contemporary violin specialist Miranda Cuckson and explores the inner workings of different human languages. Twitter (2018) for Flute Choir, Audience, Smartphones and Video was commissioned by La Côte Flûte Festival Switzerland. In Orchestra In The Digital Age (2019), he blends the Symphony Orchestra and Sine Tones together in a piece that glows and completely immerses the listener, composed for the CMC’s Composer Lab performed by the RTÉ NSO. In ‘<3’ (2019), composed for double bassist Caimin Gilmore, he notably explores the musicality of children giggling. In Alta (2019), Sam collaborated with Finnish scientist and Northern Lights specialist, Unto K. Laine, to include the recently discovered and recorded apparent sounds of the Aurora Borealis in a work commissioned by Alta Chamber Music Festival, Norway. Premièred in 2021, Sam’s highly visual and imaginative new work Visualization (2021) was performed by Luminosa Orchestra at Galway Cathedral. Inspired by the Sonic Meditations of Pauline Oliveros, the work of Andrei Tarkovsky and Dalcroze specialist Diane Daly, the new work signalled a ritualistic return to live performance, exploring through physical gesture what it means to be together at a concert. Suburban Distortion (2021), for Three Guitars (Distorted Electric Guitar, Clean Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar), was composed for Network For New Music, Philadelphia, for guitarist Thomas Schuttenhelm. Children In the Universe (2020-22), a large-scale symphony for Crash Ensemble with Diamanda Dramm as Guide, was performed at Galway Arts Festival and New Music Dublin in 2022 and released by Crash Ensemble in 2023. In 2023 he received his debut performance at Wigmore Hall, London, in which his Piano Trio "Freakshow" was performed by The Sitkovetsky Trio.
Sam Perkin has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with artists such as Crash Ensemble, Finghin Collins, The Irish Chamber Orchestra, Miranda Cuckson, Vanbrugh Quartet, Fidelio Trio, Thomas Schuttenhelm; and festivals such as Ortús Festival, Engage Arts Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Killaloe Festival, New Ross Piano Festival, West Wicklow Festival, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Gregynog Festival Wales, La Côte Festival Switzerland, Sound Scotland Festival, Musica Nova Festival Finland, Alta Festival Norway, and Network for New Music Philadelphia. In 2017, he was awarded The Next Generation Bursary from The Arts Council of Ireland. He has done education workshops at The Irish Association of Youth Orchestras and taught as a guest at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and Maynooth University. Sam holds degrees in Composition from CIT Cork School of Music, Ireland, and an Artist Diploma from Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon, France, where he was awarded the Prix Salabert for Composition.