Sleepless Cities
I have been very fortunate in my life to have visited many wonderful countries and places around the world as a musician, whether it is as a composer, performer, conductor, or soloist. From my experiences, I wanted to compose a piece of music that showcases cities that never stop and have a constant hubbub of energy.
The ‘Sleepless Cities’ that have influenced the basis of this work are New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Zurich, Cairo, and Dubai. However, when composing this piece, I decided it would be impossible to assign a particular musical theme that sums up each city, as they all have such a rich and diverse cultural establishment.
Therefore, I opted not to compose this piece in separate movements to identify each city. Instead, I composed a piece where each city blends into one another, almost as if you were taking a speedy cab ride through each bustling metropolis without a break and without the constraints of time or distance. With each metaphoric turn around a street corner, you arrive in a different city and before the listener can get used to the surroundings, the cab turns again into another conurbation.
Sleepless Cities is composed using melodic lines that follow the traditional Western classical style. However, as some of these places are so culturally diverse, you will also hear other cultural musical influences; for example, the opening uses elements of an Indian Raga and the euphonium cadenza at bar 126 is based on the Middle Eastern Islamic call to prayer. You will also hear examples of gamelan music and the use of consecutive 4th and 5th intervals including the pentatonic scale which is a trademark of Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian traditional music. There are also several occasions where both the Western and Eastern musical styles amalgamate highlighting the natural harmony that the differing genres share in one place.
Paul Lovatt-Cooper, 2009