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Paul Greally: Daddy Longlegs

Paul Greally, born 2001, is a composer and organist.

In 2018, Paul was selected from hundreds of entrants as one of the winners in the Upper Junior category of the annual 麻豆社 Proms Inspire Competition. His winning piece, Daddy Longlegs, was performed by members of Aurora Orchestra at the Proms Inspire Concert at the 麻豆社鈥檚 Radio Theatre on 22 August 2018.

鈥淚 wanted to create a sense of frantic activity in a limited space in this piece and used polyphony and a crawling octatonic scale to give a feeling of claustrophobia. The unpredictable leaps in the clarinet part evoke the Daddy Longlegs鈥 haphazard flight and insectile glissando whines in the cello line bring its other name, 鈥榤osquito hawk鈥, to mind. The insect鈥檚 fragility and limited lifespan are reflected by disjointed melodies and the brief two-minute duration of the piece, but the closing major chord suggests a carefree ignorance of mortality.鈥

Release date:

Duration:

3 minutes

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