“I have always been fascinated with the versatility of string instruments, both as melody and harmony makers. I often write string parts into song arrangements, using Note Performer (in Sibelius) to get the most authentic sounds in production. When I do get the chance to work with real string, harp and guitar players, I am reminded of the technical sophistication needed to play the sounds that these instruments can be made to produce. I have to confess that my string writing is self-indulgent but this I aim to harness to draw attention to issues”
Frances Gill.
String writing by Frances Gill
2022 | Strings written for Let the Light in (scored around live-acoustic grand piano, and lead vocal) PARTS AVAILABLE
– Let the Light in is a digital single by Stephen Donald with Frances Flute the Bellows Mender.
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2018 | String Quartet no. 4 Vykort från Sandby borg (for 2 violins, viola and cello) SCORE, and PARTS AVAILABLE
– composition in six short movements (6 postcards): - Shore; Launch; Adrift; Sails; Call; and Lament. First performed by Long Island String Quartet (Daniel Bard – violin I; Claudia Ajmone – violin II; Pål Solbakk – viola; Per Nyström – cello), at the Long Island String Quartet Festival, Resmo church, Öland, Sweden, 13th July 2018. Under the artist’s name ‘Frances Flute the Bellows Mender’ a recording of the full performance was released on the digital EP Postcard (Bandcamp 2021), and the same performance released on the digital LP Sandby Borg (Stuck in the Wood Records 2021) with separate tracks for each movement.
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2018 | Strings arranged for SOUNDmound
– SOUNDmound is an outdoor-sound installation in the landscape at Sandby borg, also produced on the digital album Sandby Borg (Stuck in the Wood Records 2021) under the artist’s name ‘Frances Flute the Bellows Mender’.
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2016 | Harp written for Playing the Bäckahäst (scored for harp and pitched bells) PART AVAILABLE
– Playing the Bäckahäst is a composition for Annika Grünwaldt Svensson’s sketches of her concept of the Bäckahäst as a bell-harp. Published on the YouTube channel called ‘Flute Origins’ as the soundtrack for Oland’s Water from the Stars, produced using Note Performer (in Sibelius).
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2005 | Strings written for The Battle of Stamford Bridge: The Musical (scored for children’s choir, with piano, bass, percussion, strings and flute accompaniment) PARTS AVAILABLE
– The Battle of Stamford Bridge: The Musical is a composition comprising 12 songs plus Overture and Battle music.
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2005 | Bass guitar written for The Battle of Stamford Bridge: The Musical (scored for children’s choir, with piano, bass, percussion, strings and flute accompaniment) PART AVAILABLE
– The Battle of Stamford Bridge: The Musical is a composition comprising 12 songs plus Overture and Battle music.
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2004 | Harp arranged for Mediaeval-inspired Tunes for Flute (scored for flute, with harp and drum accompaniment) PART AVAILABLE
– Mediaeval-inspired Tunes for Flute is a series of arrangements using – for their source – transcribed and edited music transcriptions of the earlier, and mid-fifteenth century (by Thurston Dart, and Brian Trowell respectively).
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1998 | Bass guitar written for Affection transfer (scored for alto voice, with keyboard, bass guitar, guitar, maracas, flute, and backing vocals) PART AVAILABLE
– Affection transfer is one of Fran’s songs.
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1988 - 1989 | Violin and cello written for Pains of Pendance (scored for alto voice, piano, violin and cello) PARTS AVAILABLE
– Pains of Pendance is one of Fran’s song.
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