To my daughters

This work is based largely on field recordings I made in New York City (USA). Despite the presence of some recognisably ‘real-world’ sounds, the intention is not to evoke a consistent sense of place. Rather, I have aimed to investigate the energy and spatial depth afforded by the sounds I captured, which are inevitably shaped by human expressions full of intensity and zeal. The chance recording of subway preachers eventually suggested to me the title — borrowed from David Huron’s wonderful study of musical expectation — framing the real intention of the work: to explore ways in which interactions of sound, silence, and timbral blending might evoke implications, expectations and questions.

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Sweet Anticipation was realized in 2018 in the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Laboratory at De Montfort University (Leicester, UK), and premiered on November 3, 2018, at Firth Hall of The University of Sheffield during the Sound Junction Autumn 2018 festival in Sheffield (England, UK).

Composition

• 2018, MTI Research Centre — De Montfort University, Leicester (England, UK)

Premiere

• November 3, 2018, Sound Junction Autumn 2018: Concert 4: John Young, Firth Hall — Firth Court — The University of Sheffield, Sheffield (England, UK)