I wrote Romelle Rapsody as a compositional pun on both its content and form. It is a rhapsody in the traditional sense; a free flowing self-contained one movement work with a spontaneous and improvisational feel. I have removed the ‘h’ from the title in order to capitalize on it’s content; based on the beats of the prolific producer, rapper and entrepreneur Andre Romelle Young who is significant to me as part of the soundtrack to my youth and, as a composer, for his use of melody in hip-hop. Romelle Rapsody’s instrumentation for chamber orchestra highlights the absence of beats (percussion) and rap (lyrics) but the presence of the sound harmonic construction.

Romelle Rapsody was premiered at Peckham Liberal Club on 22nd July  2014  by Peckham Chamber Orchestra.