Andrew Lewis (born in

Sutton-in-Ashfield Sutton-in-Ashfield is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of 48,527 in 2019. It is the largest town in the district of Ashfield, four miles west of Mansfield, two miles from the Derbyshire border and 12 miles north ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

on 14 May 1963) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

composer known mainly for his

acousmatic music Acousmatic music (from Greek ἄκουσμα ''akousma'', "a thing heard") is a form of electroacoustic music that is specifically ''composed'' for presentation using speakers, as opposed to a live performance. It stems from a compositional tradi ...

, that is, electroacoustic music heard only over

loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or ...

s, though he also composes some

chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations *Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics *Debate chamber, the space or room that houses deliber ...

and

orchestral music An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

Education

He studied music at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, first as an undergraduate (1981–84), then as a postgraduate studying composition with

Jonty Harrison Jonty Harrison is an electroacoustic music composer born 27 April 1952 in Scunthorpe, and currently living in Birmingham, England. Career Jonty Harrison studied with Bernard Rands at the University of York, graduating with a DPhil in Composit ...

. It was during this time that he became one of the original members of BEAST, performing electroacoustic music throughout the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

under Harrison's direction. After gaining a PhD in 1992 he worked briefly in the Music department at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

(England) (1992–93) before becoming lecturer at the

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

(Wales). He is currently a Professor of music there, as well as directing the work of the Electroacoustic Music Studios and Electroacoustic WALES, which performs electroacoustic and acousmatic music.

Music

Much of his

displays an interest in the abstraction of unseen and unrecognisable sounds, an approach particularly strongly evident in earlier works such as ''Arrivals'' (1987) and ''Time and Fire'' (1991). However, with the composition of ''Scherzo'' (1992) a parallel concern with the

anecdotal Anecdotal evidence is evidence based only on personal observation, collected in a casual or non-systematic manner. The term is sometimes used in a legal context to describe certain kinds of testimony which are uncorroborated by objective, independ ...

and

pictorial An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

possibilities of recognisable sounds began to emerge, and much of his subsequent work plays on the tensions between these two approaches. Since moving to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, much of the evocation of image in his music relates to the landscape of the area in which he lives and works. ''Ascent'' (1994) evokes the wildness of the mountain landscape of

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the na ...

, which was awarded a ‘Euphonie d’Or’ by the Bourges electroacoustic music competition, as one of the most notable former prizewinning works between 1975 and 2005. More recently the cycle of works ''Four Anglesey Beaches'' (1999-2003) takes as its inspiration the seascapes and coastal locations of the area. Although very little music exists for conventional forces, there have been a few notable exceptions in recent years: ''Eclipse'' (orchestra, 2004) was premiered under

Elgar Howarth Elgar Howarth (born 4 November 1935), is an English conductor, composer and trumpeter. Biography Howarth was born at Cannock, Staffordshire. He was educated in the 1950s at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music (the ...

in 2004, while in the same year ''Tempo Reale'' (string quartet, 2004) was chosen by Sir

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Mus ...

for a performance in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

. A handful of writings on the analysis of electroacoustic music also exist, in particular ‘Francis Dhomont’s ''Novars''’, ''Journal of New Music Research'', Vol. 27 (1998), No. 1–2, pp. 67–83.

Works

*''The Song of Five Anger'', acousmatic (1982) *''Empire canons'', two trumpets (1982) *''Logos'', acousmatic (1983) *''Quad'', four clarinets (1983) *''Sonnerie aux morts'', acousmatic (1984) *''La Corona'', ensemble (1984) *''Adagio'', acousmatic (1985) *''Rond'eau'', acousmatic (1985) *''FM'', music theatre for solo guitarist (1985) *''Principles of Flight'', shakuhachi and electroacoustic sounds (1986, rev. 1991) *''MARanaTHA'', four amplified voices and live electronics (1986) *''Storm-song'', piano and electroacoustic sounds (1987) *''Arrivals'', acousmatic (1987) *''...a cord of three strands...'', ensemble, computer and live electronics (1988) *''Time and Fire'', acousmatic (1990) *''Changes'', flute, viola and harp (1990) *''Tracking'', piano trio (1990) *''int/EXT'', harpsichord and electroacoustic sounds (1991) *''PulseRates'' (with BEAST), acousmatic (1991) *''Scherzo'', acousmatic (1992, revised 1993) *''Ascent'', acousmatic (1994, revised 1997) *''Eclipse'', orchestra (1996, rev. 2004) *''môr(G)wyn'', acousmatic (1996) *''Cân'', acousmatic (1997) *''Nunc dimittis'', boys' choir and organ (1998) *''Cable Bay'', acousmatic (1999) *''CHROMA - Thema'', flute (alto flute), oboe, horn, trombone, viola, harp (1999) *''Shadow Play'', small orchestra (1999) *''Tempo Reale'', string quartet (1999, rev. 2004) *''Dawns'', harp and electroacoustic sounds (2000) *''Jeux d'ombres'', flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano (2000) *''double (fragment)'', 2fl, 2ob, 2clt (2bcl), hn, 2pno, 2vln, vla, vlc, elec bs (2001) *''double (serenâd)'', 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 basset hn, 2 bsn, 4 hn, cb (2002) *''Penmon Point'', acousmatic (2003) *''Llanddwyn Skies'', acousmatic (2003) *''Benllech Shells'', acousmatic (2003) *Budo' Variations'', trumpet, percussion and computer (2006) *''Danses acousmatiques'', acousmatic (2007) *''Schattenklavier'', piano and computer (2009) *''X-over'', piano or toy piano (2009) *''Number Nine Dream'', orchestra (2010) *''Vox Populi'', interactive installation (2011) *''Vox Dei'', 8 amplified voices and live processing (2011) *''Dark Glass'', acousmatic (2011) *''Tantana'', acousmatic (2011) *''Air'', bassoon and computer (2012) *''Lexicon'', acousmatic with video (2012) *''Il re lunaire'', fl, cl, vl, vc, vib, pno (2013)

References

*Computer Music Journal, Vol 24 Issue 1 (MIT Press), Austin L., 'Review, 29th Festival International des Musiques et Créations Electroniques 28 May-6 June 1999, Bourges, France' *‘Francis Dhomont’s ''Novars''’, ''Journal of New Music Research'', Vol. 27 (1998), No. 1–2, pp. 67–83 *Roy S., 'L’analyse des musiques electroacoustiques: modeles et propositions' (L’Harmattan, Paris, January 2004)

External links

Sonic Arts Research Archive

Lewis's staff page at the University of Wales Bangor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Andrew 1963 births Living people English composers People from Sutton-in-Ashfield Musicians from Nottinghamshire Academics of the University of Surrey Academics of Bangor University Alumni of the University of Birmingham