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Who is Anna Clyne?

Anna Clyne is a composer from London, England. She now lives and works in New York, in the USA.

Anna composed her first piece of music when she was just 11 years old!

A composer is a person who makes music. You can make music about lots of things such as:

• the sounds around you
• your favourite poem
• a picture you like

What music does Anna make?

Anna makes lots of different music. She has made music using computers and electronic sounds as well as music for lots of musicians to play together in an orchestra.

In her music, Anna likes to mix unusual groups of instruments together. This creates new and exciting sounds. Anna's music is full of drama!

Anna works with people who do other creative things. She works with dancers and artists. This helps Anna create ideas for her music.

In Anna's piece called 'Night Ferry', her ideas came from a painting, a drawing and a poem.

How did Anna compose 'Night Ferry'?

'Night Ferry' is a piece of music about a big ship crossing a stormy ocean.

To help make the music, Anna stuck seven big sheets of paper on the wall of her music room and created a graphic score.

A graphic score is when a composer uses images and symbols instead of notes, to tell the musicians how to play.

Anna painted how she imagined her piece to sound, using swirls and sweeps of dark colours.

As well as painting, Anna stuck lines of the poem 'The rhyme of the ancient mariner' under her artwork.

"It cracked and growled and roared and howled."

Anna used both the words from the poem and images from her painting, to help her write the music.

Watch: Night Ferry by Anna Clyne

All aboard! Listen to the orchestra play 'Night Ferry'. What does it make you think of?

You can find out more about Anna Clyne with ������̳ Ten Pieces.

Glossary

Here's the meanings to some important words.

Composer - Someone who makes music.
Orchestra - A group of musicians performing together.
Electronic music - Music that is made using electronic instruments, like a computer.
Graphic score - The use of images and symbols instead of notes, to tell the musician how to play.
Pitch - How high or low a sound is.

Activities

Listening challenge

Listen again to the orchestra playing 'Night Ferry'. Can you answer these questions.

• What instruments can you hear?
• How are the musicians playing their instruments? Loud, quiet, smooth, spiky, high pitch or low pitch?
• How does the music make you feel?

Draw an image of one of the sounds you can hear.

Can you make a sound with your voice, or a musical instrument for your image?

Quiz