Inner Voices is an album of extraordinary new compositions for solo viola commissioned and performed by Irish violist Laura Sinnerton. Each track showcases striking and fresh approaches to composition for the viola by composers under the age of 35. Carlijn Metselaar’s Lift is formed from supple, almost muscular musical gestures that are flowing and dance-like whilst Jimena Maldonado’s Where there was wood is now water layers multiple recordings of Sinnerton’s solo viola, combining natural notes and their slow transition to harmonics. Both Anselm McDonnell’s The Testimony of John Paton and Patrick Ellis’ Combinations, Phrases explore the potential of discrete musical fragments to create larger structures, and Weathering by Sarah Lianne Lewis reflects on how the act of weathering can create something new; an object being worn down through prolonged intense pressure. The final track, Ruminant by Emily Abdy, is a compelling and highly personal monologue accompanied by beautifully sparse plucked strings.
The writing and recording process took place over the course of the lockdowns triggered by the global COVID-19 pandemic. In a time when each of us was isolated with our own inner voice, these six composers continued to explore their own voice in relation to the inner voice of the orchestra: the viola. Sinnerton says: “In the depth of the lockdown, the chance that this album presented to collaborate and engage creatively with other musicians was most definitely a stimulating and motivating experience for me!
Laura Sinnerton plays with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales whilst maintaining a vibrant freelance career, working with opera and ballet companies, chamber groups and symphony orchestras across the UK. She has a deep passion for new music and collaborating with living composers, having performed with Belfast’s Hard Rain Ensemble and the Berkeley Ensemble. In 2017 she a received the General Arts Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for her Northern Accents project which re-imagined Haydn’s Seven Last Words for the 21st century. Forthcoming projects include a new collaboration with composers of the Irish Composers’ Collective.
