Cover of the record Sinfonia Series, Vol. 1 featuring music composed by Birmingham Music lecturer Dr Ryan Latimer

Ablaze Records has released a recording of Ryan Latimer’s Mills Mess: an energetic single-movement work for chamber orchestra.

Ryan is a composer and Lecturer in Music at the University of Birmingham. The piece borrows its title, Mills Mess, from a popular juggling pattern developed by Steve Mills in the 1970s. The manoeuvre is renowned for its visual discontinuity and practical complexity; "a mind-boggling pattern of circling balls, crossing and uncrossing hands, and unexpected catches" (George Gillson). The piece aims to capture the vitality of this style through the use of fragmented and hocketing basslines, repeating yet continually adjusting rhythmic patterns, cascading flourishes and a discontinuous form, as well as a general sense of boisterousness throughout. 

Mill Mess is on the CD Sinfonia Series, Vol. 1.  The series features works by both well-established and rising stars of the composing world, performed by Brno Philharmonic Orchestra with the conductor Mikel Toms.