Composer Sarah Rodgers traces her journey of composing a brand new work to be performed at Great Yarmouth's first BBC Prom in September, as part of Create Yarmouth with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

So there I am, at my computer, setting up the software for a piece I am writing for an ensemble in Cambridge and ‘ding’ the email notification sounds. Irritating! I need to complete the score layout and start to transfer the piece from manuscript to digital. A cup of coffee later, I decide to look at the, by now, several ‘dings’. By mid-day there had been 22 messages and I dutifully work back from the most recent, towards the earliest. I’m nearly there and arrive at that irritating one. Oh my, this is the ‘ding’ that every composer loves to hear. The message says, “I’m writing to see if you would be willing to accept a commission from the BBC Proms.”

And so the adventure begins. Every new piece is an adventure, but as my first Proms commission, this is especially so! Time to find out more. The commission is for a piece for the BBC Concert Orchestra, a wonderfully versatile orchestra who have brought new music into countless homes through their broadcasts and who have a freshness and energy which illuminates the music they perform.

I know that the Concert Orchestra is in residence at Great Yarmouth in partnership with Orchestras Live and as it happens, I am going to a concert by a string ensemble from the orchestra later in the month. Reading on in the email I see that the commission is part of ‘Proms at’ where performances across the UK are included in the 2023 Proms season. That’s a wonderful concept – if you can’t make it to the Prom concerts in London, we’ll bring the Proms to you!

I have been living in Norfolk for the past 15 years and had the joy and privilege of being included in the festival which celebrated 600 years of the Paston Papers. That was in 2018 when I wrote a ‘pocket’ Oratorio for Norfolk choirs, accompanied by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – part of another project produced by Orchestras Live.

After several email exchanges, more information comes to light – the orchestral instrumentation, the concert theme, the other works in the programme and the identity of the conductor. All of these, topics for future blog postings. But, for now, a word about the title of this one – choosing pencils.

Every composer has their own preparation rituals and mine include dark chocolate digestive biscuits and pencils! Our home is full of pencils – possibly around six or seven hundred – which I collect at every opportunity – exhibitions, hotels, conferences, stately homes, palaces – you name it. People also like to give me boxes of pencils as presents – I wonder why?! But pencils, and especially those for new compositions, are highly personal and I take a lot of trouble choosing the right ones for a new piece. For the BBC Concert Orchestra commission, I’ve chosen three (always good to have spares).

They are, from top to bottom as pictured: a pencil from Peru and an amazing trip to Machu Picchu – that’s to give me high octane energy; a pencil from Durham Cathedral, the centre of so much Celtic history and tradition, – for spirituality and peace; and a pencil from the Piet Mondrian exhibition currently on at Tate Modern – that’s for creativity. Well, as I said, it’s a ritual; now the work begins!