BCMG Young Composers at the Lapworth Museum of Geology

In summer 2024, BCMG was involved in an exciting collaboration with the Lapworth Museum of Geology at The University of Birmingham.  Over four workshops, young people from our BCMG Young Composers group created new music for our musicians Naomi Sullivan (saxophone) and Celine Saout (harp), inspired by a chosen object or idea from the museum, guided by composer-educator Dr Kirsty Devaney. The final concert took place in the Lapworth Museum, with each young composer introducing their music! 

Watch the performance and read about the programme notes for each piece below:

ICHTHYOSAUR by Laurence

My composition is based on the Ichthyosaur fossil, which you can find in the Evolution of Life section of the museum. The ichthyosaur was a marine animal that was alive at the time of the dinosaurs. In my piece, the saxophone portrays the ichthyosaur and the harp represents the ocean. 

THE HUNT by Haydn

My piece is based on the different hunting scenarios back in the Ice Age. It was inspired by a video in the museum showing a cave hyena and a woolly mammoth, a predator and prey of that time. Naomi plays the baritone saxophone, with a lower tone for the woolly mammoth and crazy wild noises to represent the hyena. 

EVOLUTION by Oskar

When I first visited the museum, I was inspired by the Marrella splendens. It is an arthropod which means it is an invertebrate of chitin, with a segmented body and jointed limbs. Part of this family include insects, crabs, scorpions, millipedes and trilobites, which are part of my piece. I wanted to compose music about the connections between the Marrella splendens, the trilobites and the modern-day woodlouse. In fact, they are all related as although woodlice look like millipedes, they are a type of arthropod. In my piece, they all die in an earthquake, from a dinosaur and from a human. I don't know about you guys, but I don't like woodlice! I hope you enjoy 'Evolution'.

FOOL'S GOLD by Tara

What really struck me when I was walking around the gallery upstairs in the museum is a certain mineral called Pyrite - also known as 'Fool's Gold'. The name itself sounded so intriguing and suggested that the mineral may look gold to the eye, but inside has its own identity. When composing, I tried to incorporate an element of joy through the saxophone alongside a hint of disappointment in the harp's ostinato and dissonant bassline.

GEMSTONES by Sapphire

I would like to present my composition inspired by gemstones. I chose this object because of the amazing details immediately before my eyes - especially in the sapphires(!). My piece is composed for harp, and will feature repetition and crystallised sounds. I hope you enjoy my composition and enjoy the beauty on the inside and outside of a gemstone.

FLUORITE BLUES by Joshua

My piece is inspired by fluorite, a fluorescent purple mineral which is on display upstairs in the museum. I thought it seemed super jazzy, so I decided to create a chromatic walking bass in the harp and a more rhythmic melody in the saxophone, inspired by twelve-bar blues, and even using it as a solo instrument.

A STROLL THROUGH LAPWORTH MUSEUM by Andrew

I wanted to capture the feeling of what it is like to walk around the space inside the Lapworth Museum. My piece is split into several main sections, featuring repeating motifs in the harp throughout and with the melody in the saxophone.

THE GREAT WAVE by Aria

I was extremely interested in tectonic plate movement and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. In the Lapworth Museum I saw a seismograph and became completely fascinated. I decided to write a song with lyrics, and fortified by Naomi on the saxophone. It is sung by myself, Sapphire and Tara. I hope you enjoy it and become as intrigued as us!

A HIDDEN GEM by Farishta

I was immediately fascinated by how beautiful the mineral stones looked in the mineral gallery at the museum. I decided to compose one part of my piece on their beauty, and the other on how spiky and sharp they are. It is a duet performed on both the harp and the saxophone.

BCMG would like to thank the Lapworth Museum of Geology for this wonderful opportunity and collaboration!

Banner photo credits - Greg Milner
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