Isabella Gellis
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Two Haikus
2024 Settings of two haikus by Matsuo Bashō

  1. うき我をさびしがらせよかんこ鳥
  2. 東にしあはれさひとつ秋の風

The first one is about a cuckoo, the second is about the wind.

Commissioned by Feargal Mostyn-Williams for his “Songs of Miura Anjin” programme

Vocal
countertenor, piano

4’

Four Morris Interludes from The Devil’s Den
2024In my opera, The Devil’s Den, these morris dance interludes punctuate the drama periodically, but here they are heard as one continuous suite.

  1. Bells 
  2. Sticks 
  3. Hankies 
  4. Beasts


Commissioned by Aspen Music Festival and School

Orchestral
3.2.2.2 - 4.2.2.1 - timp.2perc - pf - hp - str

11’

The  Devil’s Den
2024A folkloric tale of superstition, featuring a child, a druid, a rabbit and a devil. 

In one act, five scenes, and four dances.

Commissioned by Shadwell Opera

Libretto and story by me also.

First performed at the Nevill Holt Festival, June 2024.

Opera
1.1.1.1 - 1.1.1.0 - perc - pf - hp - 1.1.1.1.1
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone, Bass
A side of Morris Dancers (at least six people needed)

70’

Lady Skimmington
2024Gentle ‘Rough Music’; a charivari of sorts. 

Written for the London Symphony Orchestra through the Panufnik Scheme.
Orchestral
3.2.3.2 - 4.2.2.1 - timp.2perc - pf - hp - str

3’30” 

You’re A Piano Quintet
2023 - ongoing
  1. When the world is crumbling under the weight of your misery (studying by candlelight) [in progress]

  2. You’re a bear dancing for the Tudor court [2024]

  3. You’re moss on a road sign falling in love with someone you can’t have (it’s raining) [2023]

RETAKE commission.

Melodica needed for the third movement.
Chamber
violin, violin, viola, cello, piano

15’+ 




Valedictions
2023A study of unisons both vertical and diagonal. 
Simple, sweet, a bit happy, a bit sad.

It was written in London in June of 2023, and revised in Aspen in July of the same year.

Orchestral
3.3.3.2 - 4.3.3.1 - timp.3perc - pf - hp - str

9’ 

What Shall We Do
2023A sort of concerto for transcription; the transcription being a recording of me improvising with two nine year old violinists who had just been learning the shanty “What shall we do with the drunken sailor”

The violinists are asked to subtly detune their instruments and to play in a ‘childlike way.’ It is important that ‘childlike’ does not mean ‘badly,’ as children typically try, with utmost sincerity, to play as well as they are able.

Aspen Contemporary Ensemble commission.

Ensemble
fl, cl (doubling b. cl), perc (1 player), pf, string quartet

10’30” 

With Glory And His Scissors Glinting
2022 An immersive  barbershopera - receive a haircut like no other from Manuel and Luigi. Must wear headphones.

Text from clickhole.com.

Shadwell commission.
Opera
countertenor, bass clarinet, percussion, cello

two actors

11’24”

And Other Things
2022In three movements. The middle movement was written for the Tritium Trio at Dartington Festival in 2018. A few years later, they asked if I might have ‘other things’ to say, and so decided to sandwich the pre-existing material.

It’s a meditation on a short song by Charles Ives called ‘Soliloquy or a study in 7ths and other things’. The first and third movements are thoughts on expanding intervals (as found in one bar of the Ives), and the second movement is about harmony and ritual.
Chamber
clarinet (or violin), cello, piano

10’ 

© Isabella Gellis 2022 - 2024