Prima Facie Records

The Rules - Larry Goves (PFNSCD008) EP available for £4/£9

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

1. Transforming patterns // Superposition // Families and cliques
2. Lines // Autonomy // Solitude
3. Canon X // Conjunction fallacies // Facebook etiquette
4. Adaption // Hooke’s Law // Schemes
5. Echoes & resonance // Gravitation // for remembrance

Stephen Plews, head of Prima Facie Records, writes:
"Last year I was delighted to meet Manchester-based composer Larry Goves. He mentioned that the BBC had recorded his substantial work 'The Rules', which had been commissioned by NYO. He sent me the recording. I was astounded and said 'let's release it'. Larry pointed out that it's only 22 minutes long; 'so it's an EP' I said. I then had to obtain a variety of permissions to use the recording, but everyone along the way was positive, so thanks to the BBC, thanks to the RVW Trust, massive thanks to NYO and Sarah Alexander and particularly thanks to Larry Goves - great composer, a great future, thanks for letting PF release this amazing work."

Though only commissioned in 2014, you could say Larry Goves’ new piece for the orchestra has been brewing since 2009 when he came aboard to coach the NYO’s young composers. Since then, having this cosmic orchestra close by has surely given Larry food for thought. He says "the starting point was: what might it take to update Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra for the NYO? Having worked with them several years, I know the orchestra’s far too clever for me to serve them something straightforward; when it comes to that particular piece, they would all be able to use it to teach me.’ Instead, Larry wanted to write something respectful of today’s players, feeding their voracious appetite for challenge and virtuosity, giving them almost an adventure playground in which to explore the conventions, rites and rules of orchestral music-making."

The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO) is the world’s greatest orchestra of teenagers. Founded in 1948 to provide orchestral performance opportunities for the brightest and most committed musicians between the ages of 13 and 19 and with an average age of just 16, no other orchestra in the world has consistently achieved such brilliance in performance with such young musicians. Many of the UK's greatest musicians, past and present, are NYO alumni, including Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Judith Weir, Thomas Adès and Alison Balsom. The Orchestra’s huge, ongoing contribution to British musical life was acknowledged when it received The Queen’s Medal for Music 2012 and the Ensemble Award at the RPS Music Awards 2016.

Larry Goves is a composer and teacher based in Manchester. As a composer his music has been performed internationally by The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, The London Sinfonietta, The Nash Ensemble, The London Symphony Orchestra, The BBC Philharmonic, The Hallé, Psappha, 175 East, L’Instant Donné, BIT20, Divertimento Ensemble, The Britten Sinfonia, Oliver Coates, Sarah Nicolls and many others. His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 6 Music, New Zealand’s Concert FM, New York’s WQXR and other radio stations around the world.