Substratum

Featuring

Stefan Asbury
David Robertson
Ensemble Musikfabrik
Quatuor Diotima
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sam Hayden

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Compositional Technique

Hayden's string quartet "Transience" extensively uses extended playing techniques like 'col legno', 'sul ponticello', 'sul tasto', glissandi, and harmonics, making them the norm rather than the exception.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Sam Hayden's music, including "Transience", explores the tension between pure pitch and pure noise, exploiting the entire spectrum between these two poles.

Compositional Technique

Sam Hayden combines 'spectral' traditions with algorithmic approaches, using IRCAM's OpenMusic to computer-generate aspects of pitch and rhythm in his compositions.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Sam Hayden's composition "Die Abkehr" (Turning Away) offers a critical commentary on the increasingly nostalgic and inward-looking culture of the UK.

Compositional Technique

Hayden's work often features a 'gestural' musical language, oscillating between dense, energetic, hyper-virtuosic materials and moments of clarity, sustain, or stasis.

Composer Biography

Sam Hayden studied composition with notable figures such as Martin Butler, Michael Finnissy, Jonathan Harvey, Louis Andriessen, and Brian Ferneyhough.

Compositional Technique

In "Relative Autonomy", Sam Hayden layers the ensemble with a heavy bass component contrasted by prominent high-register instruments, creating 'relatively autonomous' layers.