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Landscapes and lyrics: Anselm McDonnell @anselmmcdonnell
Northern Irish composer Anselm McDonnell is unafraid of contradiction. His musical upbringing combined rock guitar with a fascination for “Bach, Beethoven, Birtwistle” — a combination that continues to shape his eclectic approach to composition.
His work brings together lyrical melody and noise-based textures, while drawing on politics, folklore, heritage and the environment. From his acclaimed rap opera 'Politics of Imagination' to his first symphony 'Guid Friday/Aoine an Chéasta', McDonnell’s music explores the tensions between seemingly opposing ideas.
For hcmf// 2026, McDonnell returns to landscape and environmental change with 'Retrogressive Thaw Slump', a new work commissioned by the festival. Named after a geological phenomenon caused by melting permafrost, the piece takes inspiration from landscapes collapsing as climate change destabilises the ground beneath them.
Performed by Collegium Novum Zürich @cnz.ch, with Dominik Blum of Steamboat Switzerland on the Huddersfield Town Hall organ, the work reflects McDonnell’s fascination with the ways landscape can become a site of psychological, political and environmental conflict.
From Irish history to Siberian permafrost, McDonnell’s music finds connections between the personal and the planetary — asking what happens when the structures we rely on begin to shift.
Read full profile and book your tickets now via the link in our bio.
Profile by Tim Rutherford-Johnson @timrj2025
Photo Credit:
Anselm McDonnell © Martin Johnson
Anselm McDonnell © Cormac O’Kane
Collegium Novum Zürich © Saskja Rosset
Northern Irish composer Anselm McDonnell is unafraid of contradiction. His musical upbringing combined rock guitar with a fascination for “Bach, Beethoven, Birtwistle” — a combination that continues to shape his eclectic approach to composition.
His work brings together lyrical melody and noise-based textures, while drawing on politics, folklore, heritage and the environment. From his acclaimed rap opera 'Politics of Imagination' to his first symphony 'Guid Friday/Aoine an Chéasta', McDonnell’s music explores the tensions between seemingly opposing ideas.
For hcmf// 2026, McDonnell returns to landscape and environmental change with 'Retrogressive Thaw Slump', a new work commissioned by the festival. Named after a geological phenomenon caused by melting permafrost, the piece takes inspiration from landscapes collapsing as climate change destabilises the ground beneath them.
Performed by Collegium Novum Zürich @cnz.ch, with Dominik Blum of Steamboat Switzerland on the Huddersfield Town Hall organ, the work reflects McDonnell’s fascination with the ways landscape can become a site of psychological, political and environmental conflict.
From Irish history to Siberian permafrost, McDonnell’s music finds connections between the personal and the planetary — asking what happens when the structures we rely on begin to shift.
Read full profile and book your tickets now via the link in our bio.
Profile by Tim Rutherford-Johnson @timrj2025
Photo Credit:
Anselm McDonnell © Martin Johnson
Anselm McDonnell © Cormac O’Kane
Collegium Novum Zürich © Saskja Rosset
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