on the Other Shore

solo cello
2014

“The standout work on the album is On the Other Shore for solo cello, performed by Peter-Philipp Staemmler. The amount of space Staemmler creates in his interpretation of Bray’s writing is enormous—it evokes high ceilings, vaulted arches, and shafts of fading light coming through tall windows. At 3′ 49′′, On the Other Shore is economical, thoughtful without being verbose, and without pulse, allowing the cellist a free-associative exploration of the material Bray has provided.”
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Duration 3’
Instrumentation cello
Commissioned by London Sinfonietta
First Performance Wednesday 23 September 2015, Kings Place, London; Tim Gill cello
Recording Chamber and Solo Works (2018), RTF Classical/Nimbus more info
Charlotte has a worldwide, exclusive publishing agreement with Birdsong
Purchase Materials
Further Performances
2.05.18 Sendesaal, Bremen, Germany; Peter-Philipp Staemler
16.10.18 Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London; Isang Enders
27.7.22 West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, UK; Andrew Power
23.06.23 Spannungen Festival, Heimbach, Germany; Gustav Rivinius cello
 

The title ‘on the Other Shore’ represents an idea explored through the piece of observing something from afar whilst not able to get close to it. As if suspended between two worlds, perhaps a metaphor for two souls searching for one another. At times the melody is like a beacon, strongly calling for the other to join. This is contrasted by a softer, intimate, hazy presence.

Resonating with my ideas, Anish Kapoor writes about how the relationship between individual beings is revealed in relation to his work ‘My Body, Your Body’ (1993), which “responds to the dialects of presence and absence, to the dialogue between the I and the other between emitter and receptor”.