… and all that (classical) jazz

Back in September 2022 Sophie Stockham premiered Ria, her composition for strings and saxophone, at St George’s in Bristol. The work’s subtle combination of jazz and classical forms with elements of improvisation was impressive and original. It might have come as a surprise to anyone used to seeing her play jazz with Orfic, Sefrial and Starlings or grooving along with Cut Capers but it was clear from Ria’s success that this was another promising direction in Sophie’s career. As she herself said then: “I’ve spent a long time thinking ‘Oh, I’m not a bebop player … so what am I?’. Now I’m releasing music of my own then you can hear it: this is how I sound, this is my voice running through it all. It’s great  and I’m thinking how can I do more, maybe bigger things … we’ll see!”

Fast forward to November 2023 and we will, indeed, get to see something bigger as Sophie unveils Selene Awakes. This suite of four pieces for full orchestra was commissioned by Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra who will be be performing it at St George’s on Saturday 18. As with Ria, Sophie worked on the music using Sibelius software and synthesised sounds at home so rehearsals with the orchestra have been a revelation: “It’s all sounding really good! It felt so surreal hearing it played for the first time. I had to record (the rehearsal) because in the moment it was all a bit overwhelming, especially as I was trying to play as well. But I’ve been listening back and it’s so nice to hear it played by real people.”

It’s important to recognise that while her work in jazz has included writing and arranging tunes for small bands, Sophie has never had any formal musical education to prepare for this kind of composition. She thinks this is an advantage, however: “For me there’s something really freeing in being able to have this experience and not know the rules. Quite often I just write what’s in my head straight onto paper, as if I’m improvising it, and then I add the backing lines and build the chords that way. It is laborious but I quite like it – it’s as if you’re painting with the orchestra. You can try to make the same idea different every time by painting different colours behind it. Though I don’t see music as colours, necessarily, but I do see it as images and textures. Of course it can be scary when you finally take it in (to the orchestra), because you don’t know if it’s going to work, or if you’ve written something silly..”

Taking musical inspiration from an eclectic playlist ranging from sitarist/composer Anoushka Shankar to outsider musical shaman Moondog via Polish minimalist Henryk Gorecki, Sophie had a very personal reason for choosing the theme of the composition: “It’s about PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder – an extreme form of PMS). It’s been an issue for me for about six years. Officially they think 5% of women suffer from it but that’s probably an underestimate because it is still hard to get it diagnosed. I don’t think many doctors know enough about it even though both MIND and the NHS recognise it it. I think if more women understood it it might help them realise they’re not going crazy every month.”

Other pieces in the concert programme reference Greek mythology so Sophie saw the moon goddess Selene and the cycles of the moon as as the perfect link. The suite of four pieces portray different aspects of her experience of PMDD and its various emotional and physical symptoms, ranging from delicate lyrical passages through to aggressive rhythmic chaos with elements of improvisation. In refining the composition she acknowledges the great support of composer Drew Morgan, who previously helped her with Ria: “I needed someone to check through what I’d written, just to make sure it sounded OK and there wasn’t anything crazy in there. That feedback was really useful for my development as a composer but hopefully in the future I don’t think I’ll need it as much.”

Whatever happens in the future, however, has to wait for the big night when the Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra perform the world premiere of Selene Awakes at St George’s. Sophie is, naturally, pretty excited about it: “This was so huge for me. It took up so much time making sure everything was good. It’s a massive opportunity and I’m really grateful to the Metropolitan for their support and encouragement – it’s a lot of trust in me as an artist and that means a lot to me.”

Sophie Stockham’s Selene Awakes is part of the Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra concert at St George’s, Bristol on Saturday November 18.

You can find more information about PMDD on the websites of MIND and the IAPMD