my day of carnage
Oliver Searle
Description
Instrumentation Genre Ensemble (with conductor)
Tag orchestra
Duration 5 minutes
Instrumentation Piccolo [1 player]; Flute [2 players]; Oboe [2 players]; Clarinet [2 players]; Bass clarinet [1 player]; Bassoon [2 players]; Contrabassoon [1 player]; Timpani [1 player]; Horn [4 players]; Trumpet [3 players]
I used to regularly get migraine headaches when I was younger, mainly caused by low blood-sugar
levels (which I thankfully identified and learned to control a little, as the years have passed). This short piece for orchrstra is built around short, pulsating fragments that overlap and confuse each other,
purposefully distracting from the occasional sonorous harmonies that attempt to struggle through
to the end. The title comes from a phrase spoken to me by a fellow sufferer, towards the end of a
long shift, whilst we were both working in a bar in Aberdeen during my student days, and seemed to
perfectly encapsulate how physically drained I often felt, after spending hours at work with a headache.
Instrumentation Genre Ensemble (with conductor)
Tag orchestra
Duration 5 minutes
Instrumentation Piccolo [1 player]; Flute [2 players]; Oboe [2 players]; Clarinet [2 players]; Bass clarinet [1 player]; Bassoon [2 players]; Contrabassoon [1 player]; Timpani [1 player]; Horn [4 players]; Trumpet [3 players]
Performances of this work
| Date | Venue | Performer | Link |
| 10/08/2004 (*premiére) | Konzerthaus, Berlin, Germany, DE |
Upcoming events
- 25 May 2026, 12:30
[Composers' Coffee Club: online coffee chat for composers & musicians] - 27 May 2026, 13:00
[Free Online Composer Support Calls] - 28 May 2026, 17:00
[Peer to Peer session: Collaborating to increase commissioning for Scottish composers and performances of new music throughout Scotland] *NMS event - 29 May 2026, 19:00
[Ipsa Collective: McEwen Bequest Concert at University of Glasgow] - 03 Jun 2026, 13:00
[Free Online Composer Support Calls]
Recent updates
Works
- Sòlás Collective - Improvised, by Tom Macfadyen
- Quartet no 6 (Ma), by Matthew Whiteside
- Perihelion, by Neil Tòmas Smith
Events
- New Music Scotland 2026 Gathering and Celebration
- Concerts for a Summer’s Night 2026
- Ipsa Collective: McEwen Bequest Concert at University of Glasgow
Projects
- Pete Stollery conducts Joe Stollery premiere
- Aides... mémoires... Project album launch
- On a Wing and a Prayer
Opportunities
- Development Opportunities for Scottish composers / composers based in Scotland
- soundcurators: Call for early-career Scottish-based composers/performers
- Classical EDI Development Programme - Chamber Music Scotland
