The Swim (1992)

Laurence Crane (b. 1961) — The Swim (1992) for organ

English composer Laurence Crane (b. 1961) was born in Oxford and was educated at Nottingham University where he studied composition with Peter Nelson and Nigel Osborne. His output as a composer includes works in many concert musical genres as well as music for film, radio, theater, and dance. Crane’s music has been performed by many prominent ensembles including Apartment House (UK), Plus-Minus Ensemble (UK/Belgium), Ixion (UK), London Sinfonietta (UK), Ives Ensemble (Netherlands), Orkest de Volharding (Netherlands), Cikada Ensemble (Norway), asamisimasa (Norway), Ensemble Kore (Canada), and 175 East (New Zealand). Portrait recordings of his work appear on various labels, including Métier (complete early piano works played by Michael Finnissy), Another Timbre (played by Apartment House), and Nimbus Alliance (played by the Ives Ensemble). Describing his distinctive musical style, Crane wrote: “I use simple and basic musical objects; common chords and intervals, arpeggios, drones, cadences, fragments of scales and melodies. The materials may seem familiar—perhaps even rather ordinary—but my aim is to find a fresh beauty in these objects by placing them in new structural and formal contexts...”