Composition

Martha is a highly skilled composer and arranger, and is equally competent in songwriting and instrumental composition. She loves composing for a wide range of purposes, and is happy to discuss commissions through the contact form.

Martha enjoys writing folk-style tunes for a variety of instruments, and three of her compositions were featured in 'Folk Tunes from the Women', a book of tunes written by 100 female composers in folk and traditional music from across the UK and Ireland, curated by Kathryn Tickell. Sheet music for many of Martha's tunes can be found on the Tunes from the Women website. Martha's tune, 'Spring at Last' has become a favourite at folk sessions in both Cornwall and the North East, and has been performed by a variety of musicians and ensembles, most notably Kathryn Tickell and Amy Thatcher.

During her degree, Martha created and composed the music for two folk-inspired musical theatre pieces: 'Arenebi' ('To Surface') which presents mermaid stories from Cornish folklore through a feminist lens, and 'Efanvos' ('Space') which explores Cornish identity and diaspora through an original story in which Cornish miners are abducted by aliens! In order to illustrate the staging of these pieces, Martha created stop-motion animated films to accompany the cast recordings containing over 20 singers, musicians and actors. Both films are available to watch on YouTube.

In 2023, Martha was chosen by music education organisation, Sing Up! for a song commission for their Big Sing event, with the theme 'Discover'. Martha's song, 'Solid, Liquid, Gas!' was sung by over 1000 primary school children from across the North of England at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead for the Big Sing in July 2024. She was chosen again in 2025 with her song 'Jupiter Jig'.

In 2024, Martha was commissioned by the Old Cornwall Society for their 'Music of the Roseland' project to re-construct and compose new tunes for two traditional songs, 'Oxen Ploughing' and 'Herring', collected on the Roseland in Cornwall. Both songs can be found on Martha's EP, 'Golden Furze in Bloom'.