Anna Clyne, born in London and educated at the University of Edinburgh, now lives in the United States. She began composing when quite young, receiving public recognition of her talent before even her teenage years. In the last couple of decades she has risen to the top of her profession, composing prolifically in multiple genres, and enjoying performances and collaborations with leading orchestras and soloists world over. Imbued with a terrific musical imagination, and a preternatural ear for musical color and sonority, she has explored the possibilities of computer-controlled sonic manipulation and tape accompaniment. But, she is equally at home with traditional, acoustic-based music as well. Fundamental to her aesthetic is her dual talent in visual art, as well as in music, not to speak of her dedication to collaboration with other visual artists, choreographers, filmmakers, and poets.
Color Field, commissioned in 2020 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, is a particularly illustrative example of her broad interests and sensitivity to art, and is related to a rather complex psychological phenomenon, synesthesia. In simplest terms, synesthesia is a sensory perception in one of the five traditional senses that can cause an involuntary connection with another. For example, it has long been observed that for some folks, certain musical pitches consistently evoke specific colors. The theories and musical compositions of Alexander Scriabin are perhaps the best examples.
Clyne dedicated Color Field to the philanthropist, Melanie Sabelhaus, and was inspired by the latter’s fondness for “Hermès Orange.” That led her to the 1961 painting by the renowned artist, Mark Rothko, Orange, Red, Yellow, painted in the abstract style known as “color field.” Hence the title of Clyne’s work. Following the concepts of synesthesia and Scriabin, in Color Field’s three movements “Yellow” centers around the pitch, D, “Red” around C, and “Orange,” G.
Yellow exudes a “hazy warmth” that incorporates a traditional Serbian melody, first heard in the bass line—a nod to Sabelhaus’ Serbian roots. Red is a blazing, percussive reflection of the fiery hue, while the third movement, Orange—in both sound and color theory–is a melding of both of the previous colors and musical allusions. Proving once again the infinitude of composers’ inspirations.
Clyne dedicated Color Field to the philanthropist, Melanie Sabelhaus, and was inspired by the latter’s fondness for “Hermès Orange.” That led her to the 1961 painting by the renowned artist, Mark Rothko, Orange, Red, Yellow, painted in the abstract style known as “color field.” Hence the title of Clyne’s work. Following the concepts of synesthesia and Scriabin, in Color Field’s three movements Yellow centers around the pitch “D,” Red around “C,” and Orange, “G.”
Yellow exudes a “hazy warmth” that incorporates a traditional Serbian melody, first heard in the bass line—a nod to Sabelhaus’ Serbian roots. Red is a blazing, percussive reflection of the fiery hue, while the third movement, Orange—in both sound and color theory–is a melding of both of the previous colors and musical allusions. Proving once again the infinitude of composers’ inspirations.
–Wm. E. Runyan
© 2026 William E. Runyan