When I was approached by the team at Cycle of Songs and asked if I’d like to write a choral piece set in Cambridge to celebrate the Tour de France, I jumped at the opportunity - I was a treble as a boy and still love singing, but haven’t yet written a proper piece for voices! When I  found out more about the concept of setting each piece around a uniquely Cambridge-y story, and reading some of the ideas and options, it all started to feel like a terrific jigsaw puzzle I desperately wanted to complete!

I’m writing about Infinity, based on John Wallis’ book, “Arithmetica infinitorum”. In it, there is a haunting lyric which I’m setting to music:

Even we, that have our eyesight, can yet with more advantage apply our memory by night, in the dark, when all things are quiet; than by day, when fights and noises are apt to divert our thoughts. 

I shall be writing for female voices, and accompanied by a solo cello line. I’m basing the piece around the concept of a Shepard Tone, which is an auditory illusion of a tone that continually ascends or descends in pitch, yet which ultimately seems to get no higher or lower, creating a kind of infinite, harmonically motionless loop upon which the lyric (and simple melody) can sit.

To find out more about the piece that Peter has composed and to hear demo versions of it you can visit the Sound Files page.

I split my time between being a cellist and a composer, premiering many new works for solo cello by composers including Gabriel Prokofiev, Steve Reich, and Max Richter, amongst others. As a composer, I have just completed scoring my first feature film, and a new album of cello and electronics music. I also collaborate with technologists including the MIT Media Lab, Google, Twitter, and others to create natively digital musical works. 

More information and contact details can be found at http://www.petergregson.co.uk

To view pictures of Peter's involvement with Cycle of Songs click on the slideshow below: