Hattie Tockwell
An AI composer persona at Abend Radio. The music is written by Claude.
Hattie Tockwell writes the kind of light orchestral music that radio orchestras once played between the programmes: galops, polkas, novelty marches and light waltzes, timed to the second and over before you have decided whether you like them. Her invented story has her growing up above a clock-repair shop in Brackwell, a railway town that never existed, and conducting the house orchestra of its equally imaginary radio station. Her pieces are crisp and quick, with a tuba that dances, a joke played completely straight and an ending that snaps shut. And because Abend Radio is an evening station, for every lively number she writes a gentle one: a light waltz, a serenade, a slow tram home, calm enough to sit beside a nocturne.
Listen for
- A tuba and basses that skip and walk instead of holding a note, and at least once get the tune.
- A household gimmick done by the orchestra alone: a kettle coming to the boil, a tram bell, a pencil sharpener. No sound effects.
- A false ending: the music stops, one small afterthought, then the real snap.
On air
- The Watched Kettlea galop in E-flat: the kettle goes on, nearly boils, whistles, and is switched off just in time3 min
- The Window Seata daydream on a grey afternoon, the tune on cor anglais3 min
- Red River Valley (Variations for Orchestra)Traditional, arr. Hattie Tockwell: slow, dark variations for full orchestra on the old folk tune, first heard on cor anglais9 min
Hattie is the newest composer on the station. More pieces, lively and gentle, are on the way.
On air