Suckling's music often explores aspects of microtonality, and he has acknowledged his debt in this regard to composers associated with spectral music.[13] Other influences include Scottish folk music – Suckling was a fiddle player in several ceilidh bands in his teens – and literature, especially poetry.
In addition to music for the concert hall, Suckling has also composed music designed to be encountered online: these bones, this flesh, this skin, which received a Classical:NEXT Innovation Award in 2021,[14] and the 'game-for-music' Black Fell, an opera / videogame hybrid.[15]
Key worksedit
The Moon, the Moon! (2007; symphony orchestra)
To See the Dark Between (2010; string sextet and piano)
Lieder ohne Worte (2010; piano solo)
Candlebird (2011; baritone and large ensemble)
de sol y grana (2011; violin and ensemble)
storm, rose, tiger (2011; chamber orchestra)
Postcards (2012–13; string ensemble)
Release (2013; symphony orchestra)
Nocturne (2013; violin and cello)
Six Speechless Songs (2013; chamber orchestra)
Songs from a Bright September (2014; baritone and piano trio)
Psalm (after Celan) (2015; harp and three groups of four instruments)
Piano Concerto (2014–16; piano and chamber orchestra)
The White Road (after Edmund de Waal) (2016; flute and symphony orchestra)
Emily's Electrical Absence (2017; string quintet)
Meditation (after Donne) (2018; chamber orchestra and live electronics)
This Departing Landscape (2019; symphony orchestra)
The Tuning (2019; mezzo soprano and piano, texts by Michael Donaghy)
Her Lullaby (2019; solo viola (or violin or cello))
these bones this flesh this skin (2020; multimedia, violin and dancer)
Òran Fìdhle (Violin Song) (2021; violin duo)
The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse (2022; narrator and orchestra)
Black Fell (2023; multimedia: game-for-music, soprano and violin)
Discographyedit
Candlebird – London Sinfonietta, Leigh Melrose, Nicholas Collon, SINF CD1-2012
Fanfare for a Newborn Child – London Symphony Orchestra, François Xavier Roth, LSO Live LSO5061
This Departing Landscape; Release; Piano Concerto; The White Road for flute & orchestra - BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Katherine Bryan (flute), Tamara Stefanovich (piano), Ilan Volkov (conductor). NMC Recordings, NMC D262
The Tuning – Marta Fontanals Simmons, Chris Glynn, members of Aurora Orchestra. Delphian Records, DCD34235CD
The Moon, the Moon! – London Symphony Orchestra, François Xavier Roth, LSO Live LSO5032
To See the Dark Between – Aronowitz Ensemble, Sonimage SON 11202
Visiones (after Goya) - 'From Score to Sound', Dark Inventions CD 1702
^"Georg-Friedrich Kühn: Neue Musik". www.gf-kuehn.de.
^"The Moon, the moon! … Enigma Variations … A Child of Our Time @www.classicalsource.com".
^"RPS – Royal Philharmonic Society – Past Recipients – Past Recipients – Young Composers – Young Musicians". 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.