Francisco Coll

“. . . a young composer with a fund of fiercely original ideas and all the technique needed to

realise them”The Guardian (Andrew Clements)

BiographyFrancisco Coll was born in Valencia in 1985. His earliest musical experience was in learning the trombone – but he also showed interest and promise in painting. His serious musical studies commenced at the Conservatorio Superior de Valencia, and continued at the Conservatorio Superior de Madrid. He came to London in September 2008 initially as a private pupil of Thomas Adès, and studied concurrently with Richard Baker at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (through the support of the IVM Scholarship and the Guildhall Trust). He completed a Masters degree in composition with distinction in 2010, winning the Ian Horsburgh Memorial Prize for the best postgraduate composition. He also attended the 2009 Aldeburgh Summer Composition Course and in the same year contributed to the LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composers Scheme with his Hidd’n Blue which was workshopped and recorded at that time.

His first commission, ...Whose name I don’t want to remember (2005) for double brass quintet, was premiered in Avery Fisher Hall of the Lincoln Center of New York, by Canadian Brass and the brass section of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Coll has won several notable prizes, including the International Week of Chamber Music Prize (Montserrat, 2006) for El juego lúgubre for two pianos, and the National Award “Valencia Crea” for La Ciudad Paranoica (2007) for ensemble of 10 players. He also won the “Carmelo A. Bernaola” SGAE Prize for Cuando el niño era niño...(2008) for piano quartet. In 2006, his large orchestral work, Aqua Cinereus, was premiered at the “Palau de la Musica”, by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Valencia University conducted by Cristóbal Soler, and in 2010 Coll was chosen to represent Spain at the International Rostrum of Composers/UNESCO in Lisbon.

To date, Coll has composed four works for orchestra, several pieces for large ensemble, and chamber and instrumental music. Recent pieces have included a clarinet quintet, Sguardo verso l’interno, for the 2011 Aldeburgh, Aix-en-Provence and Verbier festivals which was performed by the Barbirolli Quartet; and Piedras, for large ensemble which was a commission from the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, premiered at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in April 2011 under the baton of Thomas Adès. The same work attracted considerable attention at its London premiere by the London Sinfonietta under Martyn Brabbins (‘positively stuffed with brilliantly focused musical images... Coll seems on first encounter like the real thing - a young composer with a fund of fiercely original ideas and all the technique needed to realise them, the kind of discovery that makes concerts like this worthwhile’, The Guardian).

Thomas Ades was again a champion of Coll’s music when he presented an extended Hidd’n Blue in a London Symphony Orchestra concert at the Barbican in January 2012; The Guardian commented that the piece ‘juddered with an exuberant orchestral imagination, a good portent for the composer’s future’.Coll is currently composer in residence with the Jove Orquestra de la Generalitat Valenciana during 2011 and 2012, for whom he is writing a piano concerto featuring Nicolas Hodges, and a work for choir and orchestra – to be premiered in April and September respectively.

Other projects include a brass quintet for the City of London Festival, 2012, to be played by members of the LSO. There are plans underway for an opera to be commissioned by the London Sinfonietta, and a commission from the National Orchestra of Spain.

March 2012

AbbreviationsWOODWINDpicc piccolofl fluteafl alto flutebfl bass fluteob oboebob bass oboeca cor anglaisacl alto clarinetEbcl clarinet (Eb)cl clarinetbcl bass clarinetcbcl contra bass clarinetbsn bassooncbsn contra bassoonssax soprano saxophoneasax alto saxophonetsax tenor saxophonebsax baritone saxophone

BRASShn hornfl.hn flugel hornptpt piccolo trumpet (Bb)tpt trumpettrbn trombonebtrbn bass trombonescrt soprano cornetcrts cornetsrcrt repiano cornetbtuba bass tubaeuph euphoniumbar baritone

PERCUSSIONant.cym antique cymbalsBD bass drumc.bell cow bellcast castanetsch.bl chinese blockchic.cym chic cymbalch.dr chinese drumchtpl.bl chinese temple blockchimes wooden chimeschi.ba chime barscrot crotalescyms pair of cymbalsglsp glockenspielmcas maracasmar marimbamet.bl metal blockmil.glsp military glockenspielriv.cym rivit cymbalSD side drumsiz.cym sizzle cymbalsusp.cym suspended cymbalt.bells tubular bellst.mil tambour militairetab tabortam t tam tamtamb tambourineTD tenor drumtgl triangletimb timbalestpl.bl temple blocksvib vibraphonewdbl wood blockxyl xylophonexylrim xylorimba

STRINGSvln violinvla violavlc cellodb bass KEYBOARDSpno pianocel celestasynth synthesizer

OTHERSgtr guitarbgtr bass guitar

All other instrument names are given in full.

OrchestraAqua Cinereus Op. 1 (2006)full orchestraDuration 12 minutespicc.2.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn - 4.3.2.btrbn.1 - perc(5): glsp/crot/crash.cym/anvil/ crash.cym (pair)/wdbl/flexaton/xyl/t.bells/vib/glsp/wood bells/gong/pang.cym/geophono/macetofono/xyl/BD/t.bells/metal.cast/crash.cym/splash.cym/verga/bass drum/pair of frying pans/tgl/snare drum/stones/rattle/metal desk/hi-hat/cabasa/BD/metal fork/bata/c.bell/swish.cym/chinese.cym/bidon/bag full of paper/sizz.cym/BD/dark.cym/tam-t/freno drum/tom-t/c.bell/sml.bidon/vibraslap - harpsichord - pno - stringsFP: 18.9.07, Palau de la Música, Spain: Orquesta Filarmónica de la Universitat de Valencia/Cristóbal Solerscore and parts in preparation

Tapias Op. 4 (2008)Formally The Eternal Presenttrombone and orchestraDuration 16 minutespicc.2.2.ca.bcl.Bb bass sax.2.cbsn - 4.3.2.btrbn.1 - perc(4) - harp - pno - solo trbn - stringsFP: 13.10.10, Palau de la Música de Valencia, Spain: Juan Carlos Matamoros/Orquesta Filarmónica de la Universitat de Valencia/Christóbel Solerscore and parts for hire

Hidd’n Blue Op. 6 (2009/11)orchestraDuration 4 ½ minutespicc.2.3.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn - 4331 - timp - perc(3): glsp/vib/xyl/mar/t.bells/crot/tam-t/ c.bells/susp.cym/crash.cym/sizz.cym/Chinese.cym/hi-hat.cym/2 tgl/tom-t/conga/ 2 temple blocks/ratchet/cabasa/sleigh bells/snare drum/BD/roto-t/plastic bag full of crinkled paper - harp - pno - stringsCommissioned for the London Symphony Orchestra through the LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composers Scheme, supported by the Helen Hamlyn TrustFP: 15.1.12, Barbican Hall, London, UK: London Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Adèsscore and parts for hire

No sere yo quien diga nada Op. 15 (2012)piano concerto in 4 movementsDuration 10 minutes2 picc.0.1.ca.Ebcl.bcl.cbcl.bsax.2 cbsn - 2110 - perc(2/3) - hpschd - solo pno - stringsCommissioned by the Valencia Youth OrchestraFP: 12.4.2012, Auditorio de Torrevieja, Spain: Youth Orchestra of Valencia/Nicolas Hodgesscore and parts in preparation

Piedras Op. 11 (2009)large ensembleDuration 15 minutes1.1.1(=bcl).1(=cbsn) - 1110 - perc(2): BD/cast/flexatone/glass bottle/glsp/guiro/mortero/roto-t/small can/snare drum/sticks/susp_cym/tamb/tin drum/vib/wood/BD/pedal BD/coconut shell/conga/c.bell/frying pan/glass bottle/hi-hat/maraca/4 unpitched metal bars/small can/snare drum/stones/ susp_cym(crash)/susp_cym(dark)/tgl/wood drum/susp.cym(splash)/piece of wood - harp - pno - strings (2111)Commissioned by Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, Gustavo Dudamel, Music DirectorFP: 5.4.11, Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, USA: LA Phil New Music Group/Thomas Adèsscore and parts for hire

Hidd’n BlueThe piece certainly lives up to Coll’s description as “3D music for a virtuoso orchestra of the 21st century”. Scored for a sizeable ensemble firing on most cylinders most of the time, including a varied posse of percussion, it displays a brilliant colouristic range and a sense of momentum that meant that its four-minute span passed all too quickly.The Guardian (George Hall), 17 January 2012

... it displays a brilliant colouristic range and a sense of momentum...

‘Hidd’n Blue... swirled and juddered with an exuberant orchestral imagination, a good portent for the composer’s future.’The Times (Geoff Brown), 17 January 2012

PiedrasFrancisco Coll’s glittering Piedras was positively stuffed with brilliantly focused musical images. Spanish-born but now based in London, Coll seems on first encounter like the real thing – a young composer with a fund of fiercely original ideas and all the technique needed to realise them, the kind of discovery that makes concerts like this worthwhile.The Guardian (Andrew Clements), 8 November 2011

... a sophisticated and daring soundscape of extreme and polarised sonorities...

…Francisco Coll’s Piedras was a sophisticated and daring soundscape of extreme and polarised sonorities, coalesicng and sliding between stability and instability….The Times (Hilary Finch), 7 November 2011

ChamberCuando el niño era niño... Op. 3 (2008)piano quartetDuration 11 minutesFP: 30.11.2008, CDMC Festival, Auditorio 400 del Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Reina Sofía de Madrid, Spain: Barcelona New Music Projectscore and parts in preparation

...de voz aceitunada Op. 10 (2010)flute, viola and harpDuration 12 minutesCommissioned by Richmond Concert Society, as a winner of the II RCS Composition Prize (2009)FP: 13.7.11, St Mary’s Church, Twickenham, UK: Trio Animascore and parts in preparation

Óxido Op. 9 (2010)soprano and small ensembleDuration 4 minutessop - cl.bcl.cbsn - dbFP: 20.5.10, Wigmore Hall, London, UK: Guildhall Students/Francisco Collscore and parts for hire

Sguardo verso l’interno Op. 14 (2011)clarinet quintetDuration 10 minutesJointly commissioned by the Aldeburgh Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival European Music Academy, and Verbier Festival Academy.FP: 17.6.11, Aldeburgh Festival, Snape, Suffolk, UK: Dimitry Rasul-Kareyev/Barbirolli Quartetscore and parts on special sale

Coming Soon...New workfanfare for brass quintetCommissioned by Goldsmith’s Company for the City of London FestivalFP: 27.6.2012, Goldsmith’s Hall, London, UK: LSO Brass Ensemblescore and parts in preparation

New workchorus and large orchestraCommissioned by the Valencia Youth Orchestrascore and parts in preparation

Contact DetailsHead OfficeFaber Music LtdBloomsbury House74-77 Great Russell StreetLondon WC1B 3DATel: +44 (0)20 7908 5311/12Fax: +44 (0)20 7908 5339Email: promotion@fabermusic.comHire LibraryFaber Music LtdBurnt MillElizabeth WayHarlow, Essex CM20 2HXTel: +44 (0)1279 828907Fax: +44 (0)1279 828902Email: hire@fabermusic.comSalesTel: +44 (0)1279 828989Fax: +44 (0)1279 828990Email: sales@fabermusic.comAustria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Monaco, SwitzerlandAlkor-Edition Kassel GmbHHeinrich-Schütz-Allee 35 (Postfach 41 04 60) D-34131 KasselGermanyTel: +49 (0)561 3105 288/289Fax: +49 (0)561 3180 680Email: order.alkor@baerenreiter.comWebsite: www.alkor-edition.comUSASchott Music Corporation/ European American Music Distributors LLC254 West 31st Street, 15th FloorNew York, NY 10001USATel: +1 (212) 461 6940Fax: +1 (212) 810 4565Email: rental@eamdllc.comWebsite: www.eamdllc.com

Photo credit: Maurice FoxallEdited by Joanna ArnoldPrinted in England March 2012