Anna Clyne (1980-Present)

Introduction
Anna Clyne was born in London, UK in 1980. She is known for her overall unusual style of composing. Her music is mostly composed in an electro-acoustic style, and that style even got her a Grammy nomination in 2015. Along with composing she is also very dedicated to music education, looking over a program in New York that is specifically dedicated to young composers.

Work Analysis
The piece i decided to look at was her Grammy nominated piece, "Prince of Clouds". This is a piece for a string orchestra. This specific piece makes use of the wide range of what stringed instruments can do from beautiful harmonization to quick staccato notes and all the sliding inbetween. The whole piece definitely has a who sky bound feeling to it, with the violins soaring high above the rest of the orchestra. It is very intense it it's energy and it is very apparent in the performers faces that there is a huge amount of emotion and feeling behind this piece. The use of just one single section of instruments is a very interesting choice that I think pays off really well. The similarity of all the timbres allows for the sound to really build to a full wall when they are perfectly in harmony.

Comparisons
I want to compare this specific piece to Gabriela Lena-Frank's music, not only are both of these composers very influential female composers, but also their music spells out a very specific story and point of view that cannot be achieved just by any regular person. They are both women that have perspectives that go beyond just the American idea of music and that really shows through their creativity. Also, the legacy of Clyne's music definitely is that theme of a powerful woman composing fantastic music, it just goes to show that there are plenty of women who can make music that just as, if not better, than the music that have been seen from many men over the years.

Observations
I really enjoyed this piece, It even got me to feel something through the music, which is really go sign that a piece is amazing. The pure emotion that all of the performers are evoking allows for the viewer to not only feel that raw emotion, but also really focus in on what is going on in the music. I learned that emotion and the performance aspect of the music is just as important as the music itself, a good performance can take a beautifully composed piece over the edge to even get it a grammy nomination.