I Can Compose

Welcome to the ‘I Can Compose’ Minute of Listening collection. This set represents a vibrant collaboration between professional musicians, secondary educators, and young people from the UK.

What does your world sound like when you truly stop to listen? This was the question posed to students from the David Ross Education Trust (DRET) and Bristol Cathedral Choir School, who took up the challenge of capturing the essence of their environments and imaginations through sound. Working across seven distinct themes, these students were tasked with a real-world composing brief: to conceive, develop, and produce an original one-minute composition.

For the students at DRET, this project served as an introduction to their GCSE music journey and formed part of their ‘Composition Challenge’. Working closely with their composer-in-residence, Dr Alison Willis, and the Berkeley Ensemble, they explored the different themes together through discussion and listening to existing music. From the initial inspiration to the final edit, the process mirrored the industry standards they would encounter in their future musical careers, should they choose that path.

The students at Bristol Cathedral Choir School utilised DAWs to develop their pieces and produce the recordings, and took on the project as an additional creative challenge outside of their music lessons.

The resulting collection is a testament to the diversity of youth experience today. By exploring the different themes (see below), the students have created an array of vibrant, eclectic sound journeys, that range from the deeply personal to the abstractly atmospheric. When you listen you’ll hear that some pieces lean more into the rhythmic and methodical, while others use ambient textures to evoke a sense of place, memory, or home. And that’s the beauty of music composition – all are valuable, unique and original contributions.

A hallmark of this project was the integration of modern technology and more ‘traditional’ musical approaches. Alongside composing at instruments, students used various digital audio workstations, notation programmes and recording techniques, experimenting with:

• Creating and developing musical themes
• Textural layering
• Structural planning

The themes

• Identity & belonging
• Memories, histories and traditions
• Change and journeys
• Relationships
• My community and my environment
• The changing natural world
• Dreams, future and space

Listening to each of these works, one is struck by the intentionality of the students’ choices. As we hear in the compositions, a minute is plenty of time to transport the listener. And the titles really draw us in: “Love in the Lighthouse”, “Dreadful Decisions” and “A Wainwright Adventure” all provide intrigue before we’ve even pressed ‘play’!

Active listening

The goal of this collection is to encourage ‘active listening’ and to inspire listeners to have a go at creating their own music! These compositions invite you to view your surroundings through a musical lens and to recognise the art and beauty in the everyday.

We hope this collection inspires students and teachers alike to experiment with the ‘one-minute’ format. Whether you’re beginning a course or simply curious about the world of sound, let these pieces be your starting point for a new way of listening