This post is a collection of all the news. pre 2018. Take a look through the archived news articles below.
Lullay – Laura Rickard and HSO
The premiere of Lullay – a lullaby for solo violin and double string orchestra, will take place on the evening of 24th March in Whitecross Church, Hereford. Performed and dedicated to violinist Laura Rickard and the Hereford String Orchestra and conducted by Thomas Payne, the title is taken from a Middle English lyric poem which begins:
Lullay, myn lykyng,
My dere sone, myn swetying,
Lullay, my dere herte,
Myn owyn dere derlyng.
Six Takes on Youtube
Watch the Aurora Trio with new Violist Jordan Sian perform Six Takes on Tosca:
Six Takes in Hertford
The Aurora Trio will be performing Six Takes on Tosca in a ‘Soundbites’ concert at All Saints Church, Hertford at 1pm on Wednesday 25th October. The concert includes the Debussy Sonate and the Elegiac Trio by Bax.
Review of Knucklas Arches
Songs from A Cornish Dozen
On October 14th at 7:30 in Ledbury’s St Michael and All Angels church, Herefordshire, the fantastic Sine Nomine International Touring Choir will perform a concert including three of my ‘Songs from A Cornish Dozen’ – settings of Ann Walker’s evocative collection of poems ‘A Cornish Dozen’, with Ann reading other poems from the set in between my settings. A complete performance of ‘Songs from A Cornish Dozen’ will take place in Newcastle next year.
Knucklas Arches
Snail Litany
This missa brevis for solo soprano, piano and chorus combines the latin mass with extracts from Shakespeare and Hesiod to praise snails. By extension the piece presents the pantheist idea that all living things are part of an all-encompassing unfolding of God/Nature, and so the ‘ugliness’ of the snail is made beautiful through its truth.
Three Diversions premiere + Six Takes on Tosca
Part of the 2017 Dore Abbey Festival, the Aurora Trio will perform a programme including Six Takes on Tosca (premiered earlier this year), and the premiere of Three Diversions, also written for the trio. The concert includes music by Debussy, Bax, Piazzolla and Ibert. 7th July – 7:30 – Dore Abbey, Herefordshire. Tickets – £10
Knucklas Arches at 2017 Presteigne Festival
A Prestigne Festival commission, Knucklas Arches for ‘cello and piano will be premiered by Gemma Rosefield and Tim Horton at this year’s Presteigne Festival. Based on the impressive 13-arch viaduct in the village of Knucklas, near Presteigne, this three-movement work takes various perspectives on the bridge, using material derived from it’s features, such as the 13 arches, the inlaid crucifixes at either end, or the gap that’s spanned. Details here
Folk Songs – Offa String Quartet
Three folk songs arranged for string quartet: Bachen Bach O Dincer (The Little Tinker Boy), Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn (Watching the White Wheat) and An Awhesyth (The Lark), will be performed by the Offa String Quartet at the Lion Ballroom, Leominster on 28th April at 7:30. The concert features many new works by Herefordshire based composers through the Herefordshire Composers’ Workshop.
Six Takes on Tosca – Aurora Trio
Premeire at Dublin University – March 8th. UK Premiere at the Octagon Music Society in Watford – 12th March (click here). Summer performance at Abbey Dore Festival, Herefordshire – 7th July.
Commissioned by the Aurora Trio with funds from the 
Click here for further details
(Photo – David Myres)
Collaboration with Tokyo University of Arts
Funded by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Royal Academy of Music, I have had a thorougly stimulating week in Japan. Along with fellow PhD composers Freya Waley-Cohen, Gareth Moorcraft and Rubens Askenar, we worked on three new compositions for traditional Japanese instrumentalists at the Tokyo University of Arts. My piece 波浪 (‘Haro’ – Waves) owes something to the experience of being woken by an earthquake at 6:30am! Hopefully this is the beginning of an ongoing collaboration with Tokyo Geidai.
Folk Songs in Dorstone
Two folk song arrangements (The Blacksmith and The Nightingale) for string quartet will be perfomed in Dorstone Church in Herefordshire on Saturday October 8th at 7pm. The Elian Quartet (pictured) will be performing other new works by members of the ‘Herefordshire Composers’ Workshop’ as well as Haydn’s Op77/1.
Violin Concerto – Premiere Recording
Listen to the premiere of my Violin Concerto here – A fantastic performance of this demanding work by Vesselin Gellev and the LPO/FFF conducted by Magnus Lindberg.
Sweet Silence After Bells
Hear the premiere performance of Sweet Silence After Bells by David Skinner and the Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge here.
Pearl (III) – Friday 8th July @ RAM
Pearl (III) for solo piano will be performed by Thomas Ang on Friday 8th July in the DJRH at the Royal Academy of Music (6:30-7:30 – free admission) as part of a PhD composers concert including works by Gareth Moorcraft, Joss Smith and Gerardo Gozzi.
Pearl (III) (written for Huw Watkins in 2014) is a short and intensely private piece, which takes its title from an anonymous medieval poem recounting a father’s grief for his lost daughter. The music combines a kind of dark, reflective innocence with Brahms’ Intermezzo Op.117 no.1 : ‘Sleep softly my child’.
Review of ‘Violin Concerto’ premiere
‘…Finally, the longest piece, twelve minutes, joined Prometheus Bound* as the standouts. Violin Concerto is of course a time-honoured title. Short this example may be, but there is an epic feel to born-1987 Robert Peate’s writing, which is incident-packed, capricious and emotional, with essentials, including a cadenza, compacted, the music becoming serene and finally vanishing. Vesselin Gellev was the splendid soloist…’
Colin Anderson – Classical Source (Complete review of concert here)
*)A Trombone Concerto by Michael Cryne
Short interview with Vesselin Gellev about Violin Concerto
Read it here
‘Vortex’ wins 2016 Priaulx Rainier Prize
I’m delighted to have won the 2016 Priaulx Rainier Prize for my piece Vortex (2011) for Basset Horn and 4 Doublebasses. Awarded through the Royal Academy of Music and funded by the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
You can hear the piece here, and buy the score here.
Violin Concerto – Premiere at RCM 4th July 7:30 ‘Debut Sounds’:
A little more info for tomorrow nights premiere:
Premiere of ‘Sweet Silence After Bells’
Dr. David Skinner and the choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, will be performing this new setting of words by the 20th century Australian poet C J Brennan, in the Chapel at Sidney Sussex College on the evening of 22nd May. The choir hopes to take the piece on tour this summer. Read the full poem here.
New work for Tokyo Geidai
This November myself and three other PhD composers from the Royal Academy of Music will travel to Tokyo with new works written for traditional Japanese instrumentalists from the Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku, Tokyo Geidai).
2017 Prestiegne Festival Commission
I’m very happy to be writing for the marvelous Prestigne Festival again. I have been commisssioned to write a new work for ‘cello and piano which will be performed by Gemma Rosefield and Tim Horton of Ensemble 360, and the music is to be based on the impressive 13-arch viaduct down the road at Knucklas. Details to follow..
15 second harp
My contribution to Olivia Jageurs’ 15 second harp project (one of many musical nuggets that Olivia’s performed and posted online – have a listen!):
Spring Concert with HCW
Programme includes my Garden Days (song cycle for amateur choir and piano), 2 songs for soprano and piano: How sleep the brave and Wombwells Royal Menagerie, plus many new settings by Herefordshire composers.
Epitaph
This short piano trio will be performed as part of the Britten Sinfonia OPUS2016 project at the Barbican on Jan 23rd at 3pm by Huw Watkins, Ben Chappell and Thom Gould.
Marine
The central song from my cycle ‘…C’est le commencement du monde…’ (settings of Paul Eluard) will be performed in an arrangement for The Hermes Experiment in London next June. The complete cycle for Tenor, Harp and Alto Flute will also be performed in Berlin early next year (details to follow).
‘Sweet silence after bells’
A recent commission for the choir of Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge directed by David Skinner, has given me the chance to set this evocative text by Christopher Brennan. Having recently finished a large scale setting of E A Poe’s ‘The Bells’, this seems an appropriate choice!
LPO Young Composers Scheme 2015/16
I have recently been accepted on to the LPO Young Composers Scheme for 2015/16 on which I will be working with members of the LPO, Foyle Future First players and the composer Magnus Lindberg on a concerto-like piece for performance at the Royal Festival Hall next June. More details here
Magna Carta Fanfares at Windsor Festival
Continuing the 800th anniversary celebrations of the sealing of the Magna Carta, this year’s Windsor Festival features a concert in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jane Glover. My Four Magna Carta Fanfares will be interspersed throughout the programme, performed by the The Band of the Household Cavalry. More details here / here
Garden Days
A selection from the song cycle Garden Days for amateur choir and piano will be performed at Yarpole Church (Herefordshire) this Friday evening (10th July – 7pm) by the Birchpole Singers, directed by Andrew Morris.
Composers Edition
I’m very glad to have recently joined Composers Edition, where you can buy scores/parts as hard copies or digital downloads for very reasonable prices. It’s great to be alongside many great composers and friends! Take a look:
http://composersedition.com/composers/robertpeate
Articles on M.C. Fanfares
A number of newspapers have recently featured articles on my Magna Carta Fanfares including the Hereford Times and the following caption from the Windsor Observer where the first of the four fanfares was performed.
Magna Carta 800th
To celebrate the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, I have been commissioned by Wraysbury Parish Council to write a set of fanfares for use at the many events planned for the Wraysbury and Windsor area in 2015.
MPhil/PhD at the Royal Academy of Music
I have recently begun my research at the Royal Academy of Music under the supervision of Professor Simon Bainbridge, centred on writing for consorts of instruments (amongst other things).
‘…C’est le commencement du monde…’ Premiere
A setting of three texts by Paul Eluard for Tenor, Alto Flute and Harp will be premiered at the Hochschule in Hamburg in late June this year (2014), by Flute and Harp duo Shinandra and Tenor Svjatoslav Martynchuk. Details to follow.
RPS Philharmonic Update 2013-14
Case study featured in the Royal Philharmonic Society Update, following the 2012 RPS Composition Prize.
Wednesdays at the forge
Concerts run from February until July 2014 (6 concerts) on the first Wednesday of each month. Featuring a new miniature for piano Pearl (III) performed by Huw Watkins on March 5th alongside many more premiers from composers including Philip Cashian, Tansy Davies, Michael Finnissy, Martijn Padding, and Andrew Toovey.
‘Wie wunderbarlich…’ UPDATE
2013 BACH NOTES SEPTEMBER EDITION
PEARL on Tour
Following a very successful premiere of Pearl at the 2013 Presteigne Festival, pianist Clare Hammond will be taking the piece on the Prestigne Festival City Tour throughout October this year. Details below:
PEARL
Visit the Royal Philharmonic Society‘s website for information on Pearl for piano, due to be premiered on Friday 23rd August by pianist Clare Hammond at the 2013 Presteigne Festival.
ANIMA
ANIMA is a collective set up by composer Chris Roe featuring collaborations between composers and animators. A variety of showings with live musical accompaniment will be performed at 7:30 on 19th September at The Forge in Camden. Included in the programme is a short collaboration between myself and three students from UWE; Coral Manton, Katerina Gavriel and Raquel Felgueiras, on the theme of Flocculation accompanied by String Quartet and Harp. Tickets for this event can be purchased here.
The MOBILE Project
Inspired by Heinz Holliger‘s Mobile (1962) Orfea have commissioned twelve composers to write (30 second- 3 mins) works in reaction to each of the sections that form the Holliger. These will be performed alongside the original at 7:30 at the Wigmore Hall on September 4th 2013. The composers include Aaron Parker, Benjamin Graves, Chris Roe, Christopher Swithinbank, Danny Saleeb, David Coonan, Josh Spear, Kate Whitley, Laura Bowler, Matthew Kaner, Phil O’Meara and Robert Peate.
St Lawrence Jewry Summer Festival
Harp and Oboe duo Orfea, will be performing Pearl again with extracts from Tolkien’s translation of the poem read before the music at 1pm on Friday 9th August in St Lawrence Jewry Church, Guildhall Yard, London. The concert is part of the St Lawrence Jewry Summer Festival, and will include works by Britten and Schubert.
‘…Wie Wunderbarlich…’
A commission from the London Bach Society for counter tenor, oboe, string trio and harpsichord based on a chorale from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion; ‘…Wie Wunderbarlich…’ is due to be premiered at 7.30pm on Saturday 2 November at the Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, London.
http://www.bachlive.co.uk/bach-club/
Britten/Pears
During a fantastic two weeks in Aldeburgh I began working on a small concerto for solo horn and chamber orchestra for Francisco Gomez Ruiz. A performance of the three minutes worth of work written while on the course, performed by the Britten/Pears composers ensemble can be heard here. The completed piece is due to be performed at the 2014 Aldeburgh Festival.
Graduation Prize
When graduating from the Royal Academy of Music with an MMus in composition plus a DipRAM, LRAM and the Charles Lucas memorial prize, I was very pleased to also be awarded the Edwin Samuel Dove Prize for special merit during studentship at the ceremony.
Harp Showcase
Two movements (Prelude and Impromptu) from the recently premiered Suite for Harp will be performed by Olivia Jageurs as part of the RAM Harp showcase at Holywell Music, Southwark, at 7pm on Thursday 13th June.
Britten-Pears Composers Ensemble – Aldeburgh
Under the guidance of composers Oliver Knussen, Colin Matthews and Michael Gandolfi at Aldeburgh this year, a new work for ensemble will be composed and then premiered on 12th July by the Britten-Pears Composers Ensemble.
Suite for Harp – discussion and premiere at RAM
Another Pearl premiere
Commissioned by the Presteigne Festival, in association with the Royal Philharmonic Society, this 7 minute movement for piano solo is due to be premiered by pianist Clare Hammond at St Andrews Church, Presteigne, 2pm on Friday 23rd August, as part of the 2013 Presteigne Festival. Sharing the same title and subject matter as the aforementioned movement for Harp and Oboe, the music lies somewhere between an elegy and a lullaby. An interview about the piece can be seen here.
Minature for Huw Watkins
A recent commission for a 2 minute piano piece to be premiered by pianist/composer Huw Watkins is due to be performed as part of a new concert series at The Forge, Camden in 2014.
Pearl premiere
A miniature elegy written for Orfea (oboist Mea Wade and harpist Olivia Jageurs), which takes it’s title from the Medieval poem describing the loss of a young girl will be premiered on Wednesday 5th December at 1pm in St. Olave’s church, Tower Hill. Part of the ‘sanctuary in the city’ series, the concert also includes works by Britten and Alwyn.
http://sanctuaryinthecity.net/concerts/
RPS Composition Prize 2012
One of the winners of this years RPS Composition Prize, Robert has subsequently been awarded the Alan Horne Prize commission to write a solo piano piece for the 2013 Presteigne Festival.
2013 also marks the 200th anniversary of the Royal Philharmonic Society, whose past commissions include such works as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony amongst many others.
http://www.royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/young_musicians/composition_prize/current_comp_prize/
London Bach Society Commission
A 10 minute chamber work on the theme of ‘passion’ has recently been commissioned by the London Bach Society. The premiere is expected to take place in March 2013.
http://www.bachlive.co.uk/bach-club/robert-peate-composer/
Winter Tableaux receives summer performances
Performed by members of the ICon Arts Academy (pictured below), this brief set of freeze-frames has been aired this year (2012) in Thalia Hall, Sibiu, and further afield.
Charles Martell & Son Ltd
Cheesemakers and Distillers Charles Martell & Son Ltd of Stinking Bishop fame, have recently commissioned a new piece for Harp and Violin.
British Council Scholarship
Robert has recently been awarded a British Council Scholarship to attend the ICon Arts Festival in Sibiu, Romania this summer.
Zappa CD Released!
A new album of Frank Zappa’s original compositions, plus transcriptions of Zappa tracks by composers including Philip Cashian, Charlie Piper, Robert Peate, Joseph Davies and Chris Lyons, has been released by The Royal Academy of Music. Performed by The Royal Academy of Music Manson Ensemble and conducted by Frank Ollu, this new CD was recorded after a concert in 2010 marking what would have been Zappa’s 70th Birthday. Available from Academy Chimes:
Aoede – Castalian String Quartet
– The Castalian String Quartet will premiere Aoede along with three other new works by composers Simon Eastwood, Hollie Harding and Ruta Vitkauskaite at 6pm on 16th April in the DJRH at The Royal Academy of Music. Aoede is an 11 minute movement which explores the dialogue and interconnectivity between various melodic lines of different length and character. Aoede is one of the three original muses, she is the muse of song and the daughter of Zeus, and is also the name given to the 41st moon of Jupiter.
Five Winter Tableaux
– A performace by the Icon Arts Ensemble of this 6 minute set of ‘freeze-frames’ for Oboe and Piano Quartet (premiered in 2009/10) is due to take place at Thalia Concert Hall, Sibiu, Romania on 26th July, programmed with works by Woolrich, Cashian, Cutler and Piper.
2012 Antiphon
– A new work for 4 horns that explores antiphonal exchanges between solo and trio, as well as the various connotations that surround the year 2012. Performed by students Carys Evans, Elise Campbell, Edmund Morgan and Oliver Hickie from the Royal Academy of Music, the concert includes music for brass by Birtwistle, McCabe, Howarth and Maxwell Davies.
Academy Brass: The Manchester Set Friday 16th March, 7.30pm, Duke’s Hall, The Royal Academy of Music
The Unknown Bird – Revised Version
– An instrumental response to the poem of the same title by Edward Thomas was first performed in 2009, and then subsequently revised in 2010. The premiere of the revised score, performed by RAM instrumentalists; Mea Wade (ob./cor.), Carly Lake (hrn.), Bernadette Childs (cbsn.), Olivia Jageurs (hrp.), Catriona Price (vln.), Ninfea Curttwell-Reade (vc.), conducted by the composer, will take place in the DJRH at the Royal Academy of Music on 28th November alongside other new chamber works by RAM composers.
Reviews for Images Part 1:
– Finally, a quick word of welcome for Robert Peate’s ear-tingling Images: work in progress from an RAM student who’s already writing genuine music. Geoff Brown, The Times
Robert Peate impressed with his technical command and some weird but effective textures, as well as some genuinely lyrical music, particularly in the second of his piece’s four* short movements. … It will be fascinating to see how these** composers develop. Christopher Gunning, Seen and Heard International
*) Should read five **) The other composer being Ivor Bonnici
Shadow Play – CHROMA
– Shadow Play; a new 7 minute piece for Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Harp, Viola and ‘cello will be performed at the Royal Academy of Music on 18th November by members of the renowned contemporary music group CHROMA. The piece will be performed along side Simon Holts’ Shadow Realm plus other new works from RAM composers.
De Profundis – FRETWORK
– This new 5 minute work for Viol consort will be performed at All Saints Church, York by the renowned early and contemporary music specialists FRETWORK, conducted by the composer. The concert includes other new works for Viol consort by young british composers, as well as suites by the 17th century composer William Lawes.
Maw celebrations at Southbank
– The Royal Academy of Music Manson Ensemble will perform a new 9 minute work Images; part 1 for nine instrumentalists alongside Maw’s La Vita Nuova at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at 4pm on 30th October. The concert is part of a festival at the southbank centre celebrating the work of composer Nicholas Maw (1935-2009).
Eric Coates Prize
– Sinfonia Concertante has recently won the Eric Coates Prize at the Royal Academy of Music.
NON-CLASSICAL with Chris Redgate
– 1st June, Troy Bar, Hoxton; the venue for the next NON-CLASSICAL event where the new piece; ‘Winter Tableux Variations’ written for legendary oboist Chris Redgate and beefed up with some MAX MSP wizardry will be performed. Featuring a selection of new works for oboe and electronics written for Chris, as well as performaces of Sciarrino, Lachenmann and more from violinist Aisha Orazabayea.
Phantasy Prelude & Aria
– This recent piece for solo piano will be performed by Christopher Ma on 5th May in the Concert Room at the Royal Academy of Music, the concert contains all new work from academy composers; the results of a collaborative project overseen by renowned pianist and composer Rolf Hind.
Roehampton Dance!
– The fruits of a recent collaboration with choreographer Hanna Wroblewski will be performed alongside other new works for dance and live trio on 18th May 2011 at Michaelis Dance Theatre, Roehampton University. The 10 minute work; OFF, is written for flute/alto flute, clarinet, ‘cello and five dancers, exploring ides of imperfection and parody amidst a lot of limber dancing.
Sinfonia Concertante
– This recent work for Four Horns & Orchestra moves from exuberance and conflict through to intimacy and integration in a single 10 minute movement. It will be played by The Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra conducted by Chris Austin at 1.00pm on 18th March in the Duke’s Hall at The Royal Academy of Music. Free admission
Zappa anniversary at RAM
– An arrangement of The Legend of the Golden Arches for chamber orchestra will be performed by The Royal Academy of Music Manson Ensemble conducted by Franck Ollu in the Duke’s Hall at The Royal Academy of Music on Saturday 13th November at 8pm. The concert marks the 70th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s birth.
Part Songs from Icarus:
– On Eastnor Knoll by John Masefield, set for unaccompanied SATB will be sung by Icarus led by Chi Hoe Mak on June 15th at Birmingham Conservatoire alongside other new settings for choir.
Three Etchings after ‘Wols’
– Taking inspiration from the complete etchings of Alfred Otto Wolfgang Shultze (nicknamed ‘Wols’) owned by the Tate Modern, as well as a recent series of grass studys by artist Charles McCarthy, these three movements are programmed in a concert by Birmingham Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, cond. Dan Watson in the Recital Hall at Birmingham Conservatoire on 16th June.
Setting of Blakes’ The Fly for Soprano & Harp
– Lucie Louvrier will sing a setting of William Blakes The Fly from his Songs of Experience accompanied by Harp in a concert of other new settings for Voice, Harp and small ensemble. The concert will also premiere a selection of new music for string quartet including the not so new Encore!. The concert is in the Recital Hall at Birmingham Conservatoire on 21st June at 8pm.
Five Winter Tableaux
– This recently finished score written for Oboe and Piano Quartet, commissioned by oboist Jenny Melville, is due to be premiered at Birmingham Conservatoire on 22nd April at 4.30pm, the concert will include other world premieres.
Commission from Thumb:
– Concerto for Solo Marimba and Two Chamber Ensembles, will be performed by Thumb contemporary music ensemble with soloist Joley Cragg, in the Recital Hall at Birmingham Conservatoire on 26th April. The concert is part of the Frontiers Festival, and includes music by Louis Andriessen, Ed Bennett, and a new commission from Cornish composer Tom Bassett.