COMPETITION FINALIST with his composition Heaven Speaks
Michael Raynor (19) is from northwest England and grew up surrounded by music thanks to his grandfather. He started learning trumpet in high school. When Michael joined Golborne Brass Band, he was handed a soprano cornet which he continues to play to this day. Michael always wanted to study history but found music to be his calling, especially composition rather than playing. Michael is currently in his first year of studying music at Salford University.
Heaven Speaks is an intensely personal work dedicated to Michael’s father who passed away in July 2024 after battling terminal cancer. The work starts with his father’s diagnosis. Confusion and sadness is conveyed through single thoughts (solo passages) merging together to create a dissonant tutti within the chordal movement. The intense, fast Presto Con Fuoco follows, mirroring Michael’s state of mind at that time and the start of his breakdown. This movement leads into a chord that suddenly isn’t dissonant compared to the section before it, marking Michael’s father’s funeral and the point at which Michael started to feel better. This section of the work is a chorale texture full of religious significance and beautiful, moving harmonies. Heaven Speaks concludes on an F major chord, completing this significant chapter in Michael’s life, where his mind finally felt at peace with itself and he could start to heal.
