tea suite is inspired by beryl shereshewsky’s call out asking how people around the world drink their tea. I liked the idea of creating a musical response to this proposition. on june 1st 2022, whilst looking out my window at the particularly wild, winter weather and with a cup of tea on hand, I composed two* piano pieces inspired by tea - earl grey and breakfast tea. I hope you can brew your favourite cup of tea 🍵 and listen (or play!) along 🎹
about earl grey
I composed this on the first day of winter whilst improvising on the piano, looking out the window and sipping on a cup of earl grey tea. the smooth flavour of the bergamot oil with black tea has long made earl grey my favourite tea - it is also my grandma’s favourite tea so the comforting taste of earl grey makes me think of her. to me, drinking tea on a cold, windy day or sharing a pot of tea with another is a melancholic and cosy feeling and so I sought to capture this feeling along with the taste of my favourite 'cuppa' in this little piece of music.
about breakfast tea
there seems to be endless, playful variations of breakfast teas. two of my favourites include "australian breakfast" (featuring a pop of lemon myrtle - a beautiful flowering plant endemic to certain regions of Australia) and "canberra breakfast" (featuring oat flakes, cinnamon and coconut to echo the flavour of an ANZAC biscuit). breakfast tea is a piece of music for the morning - whilst you turn the kettle on and your mind begins to wake up and bounce around with ideas for the day ahead! note: there’s also a solo piano version you can listen to.
🍵 *bonus tea music 😮
who knew tea could inspire so much music?
here is another sneaky pdf download of a piece composed for a dear friend, violinist and collaborator jane aubourg.
about jade for jane
recently, before a rehearsal, jane kindly offered myself and fellow musicians a cup of one of her favourite teas - “jade mountain”. ooooh it’s SO good! green tea, with roasted rice and cocoa husks - a little sweet, a little nutty, refreshing and calming. upon the first sip, I knew that there was a piano piece to come from this tea and the shared experience of tasting something new...
a few weeks later, jane asked me to compose something for the right hand alone (after a little accident left her needing to only use her right hand for a few weeks 🤚😢). with this brief in mind, I immediately thought of my favourite chord shape I enjoy playing with my right hand - this formed the first chord of this piece. from this starting point, it definitely felt like the piece wrote itself!
I had a lot of fun composing the ending of this piece, where the performer is left with some room to play around with some “shadows” of ideas, accompanied by some illustrations. I liked the idea of composing an ending that gives room for the performer’s mind to wander - in many ways the ending echoes what it feels like to compose (to me!),,,when you’re sitting on an idea and beginning to carve out the possibilities of where the idea can go…
