Sylva Song (2024) for oboe and piano will be premiered at the Bishop’s Palace, Hereford Cathedral, on 11th April by members of Ensemble Quorum (Ruth Watson – oboe, Jeremy Fisher – piano). This miniature looks back to the many ‘romances’ for oboe and piano which I wrote for my wife early on in our relationship. […]
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When visiting the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi for the first time in July 2023, I was immediately struck by the kaleidoscopic, bright but muted pastel colours of the interior, and by the contrastingly rugged stone tomb of St Francis. As I slowly explored the various spaces, I began to imagine a plainchant-like line […]
My arrangement of the folksong Bingo (commissioned by conductor Jo Williamson for Hereford Cathedral School’s Cantabile Girls Choir) will be performed on Thursday 4th July at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, directed by Jo Williamson and accompanied by Dane Preece. The folksong Bingo is not the well-known “B-I-N,G,O” version (though this refrain makes an appearance), […]
The River Wye played a central role in my early life, both personally and creatively. As a teenager I spent many days with friends by the river in Hereford and in and around Hay-on-Wye; a time when I was beginning to find my feet as a composer. In 2005-6 I wrote a large (too large!) […]
A review of the premiere of my Three Edward Thomas Settings by Paul Conway from Musical Opinion (Oct-Dec 2023): ‘Robert Peate’s mini song-cycle of Edward Thomas settings rounded off proceedings in fine style. Will You Come? was initially spirited and joyful, its intermittent hesitations and decelerations mirroring the text’s increasingly agonised permutations of the title, […]
Hereford Chamber Choir, Dir. Simon Harper will be performing my settings of the two Edward Thomas poems Interval and Will You Come? commissioned by the choir last year for their ‘Dymock Poets Re-Imagined’ project at the Ledbury Poetry Festival. Read a review by Paul Conway in Musical Opinion (Oct-Dec 2023) of the premiere here I’m […]
Watch performances of Fanfare for the Common Shed and Twilight it is by the brilliant Imogen Whitehead (trumpet/flugelhorn) and Richard Errington (piano): Fanfare for the Common Shed – click here Twilight it is – click here Read more about both pieces here Preview/buy scores: Fanfare for the Common Shed – here Twilight it is – […]
The fantastic Le Voci ladies choir (dir. Jo Williamson) will be performing two arrangements written for them at this year’s Isle of Man Festival of Choirs (13-15th Oct). After their success with Drunken Sailor at this year’s Llangollen International Eisteddfod (see post here), Jo and the choir hope to impress the judges again in the […]
Star trumpeter Imogen Whitehead will premiere Twilight it is for Flugelhorn and Piano (with Richard Errington on piano) at The Bishop’s Palace, Hereford Cathedral, on 12th October, 7:30, in a concert presented by the Herefordshire Composers’ Workshop. Twilight it is is a lullaby written to celebrate the birth of my niece, Rosaline. The music is […]
Le Voci ladies choir (dir. Jo Williamson) won the single voice category at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on Sat 8th July, against stiff competition! Watch their set on BBC iplayer here (set begins at approx. 53mins, Drunken Sailor at 60mins) Well done ladies!!
Songs for Earth Day – Saturday 22nd April, 7pm – Holy Trinity Church, Whitecross, Hereford In this concert celebrating Earth Day 2023, my Stone Study No.3 ‘Black Honey’ for solo piano will be performed by Jelena Makarova, as well as the premiere of my Japanese Death Poems (Book Two) by Jessica Summers (soprano) and Jelena. […]
Three violins and optional ‘cello (2016) This suite of modest miniatures was written in early 2016 as a gift for the dedicatees Pete, Fred and Clara Miln to play together at home. The optional ‘cello part was then added in 2019 for use at a weekend string group for youngsters hosted by the Milns. Baileau […]
Voice and piano (2019-20) How sweet I roam’d from field to field – William Blake Lullaby – Traditional (German) Now spring has come – Bainen New Year’s Morning – Helen Hunt Jackson Written on a theme of change – each song centres on a different kind of transformation, or passage from one world to another. […]
Voice and piano (2006-7) Will-o’-the-Wisp – Walter de la Mare Now close the windows – Robert Frost On Eastnor Knoll – John Masefield Out in the dark – Edward Thomas The ‘Early’ of the title refers to both the time in my life in which these songs were written, as well as the portrayal of […]
Voice and piano (2007-8) Song – Edward Thomas He would not stay for me, and who can wonder? – A. E. Houseman Lady, I will touch you with my mind – E. E. Cummings Doubts – Rupert Brooke The ‘Early’ of the title refers to both the time in my life in which these songs […]
Unaccompanied SATB choir (2014-15 rev 2020) 1. Break, break, break – Alfred Tennyson 2. The Song Shop – Annette Wynne 3. Pack, Clouds, Away – Thomas Heywood Hearing local amateur choirs singing part songs are some of my earliest musical memories, and these Three Vintage Part Songs are something of a tribute to the old […]
Piano, harp, violin, flute, alto saxophone, cornet, tenor horn, guitar (2020) Chameleana is an eclectic set of 21 miniatures, written for my piano pupils during the first UK lockdown in 2020. As the title suggests they largely imitate different styles/composers and are each personalised to some degree. They were intended for practice, recreation, and as […]
Two violins (2011) Written for two fellow masters students at the Royal Academy of Music, the first study features a fast web of intertwined harmonic arpeggiations, where the second involves a slower, more sinewy contrapuntal dialogue. Preview/buy score here
Large orchestra (2012) Processional and Bacchanal is a single-movement piece which depicts an approaching, riotous Bacchanal. Listen to an excerpt: A slow repeated rhythm underpins the music, which gradually accumulates other ideas and layers, before finally being piled-up and pushed to saturation point. The kinds of images found on ancient carvings – of Dionysus surrounded […]
Solo piano (2018) Stone Study no.3 ‘Black Honey’ was largely inspired by Alan Garner’s essay Flint – part of the BBC Radio 3 series Cornerstones. A very compact miniature for piano solo, the music is an altogether condensed response to Garner’s similarly compacted but typically expansive and all-encompassing essay. Preview/buy score here
Solo Alto flute (2022) – Avian Study no.2 Tyto alba (white owl) is the Latin name for the barn owl. Listen to an excerpt: In this miniature I have tried to capture something of the bird’s mystical character, itʼs silent, graceful, but also extremely agile flight, as well as the sense of the nocturnal suspense […]
Oboe, bassoon and piano (2019) – Avian Study no.1 Listen to an excerpt: This ‘miniature epic’ was inspired by the impressive aerial displays of Swifts flying over our house during the summer. Circles and cycles permeate the music, where the single 6-minute movement is divided into two contrasts sections. The first part is energetic and […]
Chamber orchestra (2007) Three Dancing Movements was written for the student-formed chamber orchestra The New Fangled Consort at Birmingham Conservatoire in 2007. I often imagined dancers when writing, and it was conceived as a dance/ballet score as much as a purely instrumental work. The first movement is an energetic and eccentric dance featuring sporadic rhythms […]
Unaccompanied SATB (2023) 1. Will you come? 2. Interval 3. The Lofty Sky Commissioned by Hereford Chamber Choir for their ‘Dymock Poets Re-imagined’ project, and first performed at the 2023 Ledbury Poetry Festival, in St Michael & All Angels Church, Ledbury on 8th July 2023. The poetry of Edward Thomas has been an important influence […]
Two narrators, four harps, choir and organ (2019 rev.2022) Set in ancient Alexandria this dramatic cantata juxtaposes the lives of two martyrs of antiquity – the pioneering mathematician and philosopher Hypatia (c.355-415AD) who was brutally murdered by an extremist Christian mob, and the legend of St Katherine of Alexandria (of Katherine-wheel fame), who was tortured […]
I am delighted to have received a commission to set three poems by Edward Thomas as part of a project centred on ‘The Dymock Poets’. Hereford Chamber Choir (Dir. Simon Harper) have commissioned new choral settings of poems by Edward Thomas, Robert Frost, John Drinkwater and Wilfrid Gibson from composers Liz Dilnot Johnson, Kerensa Briggs, […]
My contribution to the Royal Academy of Music’s 200PIECES project – Morlich Meditation for solo Marimba (performed by Ethan Skuodas) is now available to hear on the 200PIECES website. Listen here. This immensely varied and ambitious catalogue is well worth exploring, featuring so many beautiful and unique solo pieces. 200PIECES celebrates the 200th anniversary of […]
Tyto Alba for solo Alto flute is now available through Composers Edition – click here to be redirected to the product page, and here for more info on the piece, which was premiered last autumn by Catherine Handley. Tyto Alba will also be reviewed by Carla Rees in a future edition of ‘Pan’ – the […]
I’m delighted to say that the premiere of Two Souls (2019 rev.2022) at this years Three Choirs Festival in Belmont Abbey, Hereford was a great success! Below are two reviews of the work: “The Three Choirs Festival’s main evening concerts are usually staged inside the host City’s cathedral, yet the most intriguing and rewarding repertoire […]
Tyto Alba for solo Alto Flute will be premiered by Catherine Handley at Kington Church, Herefordshire on Friday 7th October 7:30, in a concert of new music for piano and winds (concert details here). I have had a solo flute piece based on the barn owl in mind for some time, and in this miniature […]
2nd July, BBC Hoddinott Hall, Wales Millennium Centre – part of the 2022 International Choral Festival Cardiff Le Voci Ladies Choir (directed by Jo Williamson and accompanied by myself) will be performing two of my arrangements of English Folksongs made for the choir – an off-piste arrangement of the well known Drunken Sailor, and a […]
3pm, Sunday 19th June, Middleton on the Hill Church, Herefordshire. My Garden Days (2014) (settings of R. L. Stevenson for choir and piano) will be performed by the Birchpole Singers dir. Andrew Morris with myself accompanying. I will also perform a selection of piano pieces from Chameleana (2020), a suite of miniatures written for my […]
January is the first in a projected set of miniature, monthly meditations for ‘cello and organ, which will be premiered by the fantastic Hilary Norris (organ) and Joris Boon (‘cello’) at Leominster Priory, Herefordshire, on 10th April, 7:30. The concert is hosted by the Herefordshire Composers’ Workshop, and features a number of new works for […]
The revised version of Two Souls (originally Two Souls in One) for 4 harps, choir, organ and two narrators, will be performed in Belmont Abbey, Hereford at 11am on Tuesday 26th July as part of the 2022 Hereford Three Choirs Festival. Commissioned by Hereford Chamber Choir (Dir. Simon Harper) with funds provided by The RVW […]
The newly formed Andromeda Ensemble will be premiering Japanese Death Poems – Book One at the Royal Academy of Music (ABRH), at 6:30 on Tuesday 18th January. Click here for details Penning a ‘death poem’ in one’s final moments’ is an ancient Japanese tradition, and when I came across Yoel Hoffman’s compilation Japanese Death Poems […]
My Three Diversions will be performed at Chichester Cathedral by the brilliant Aurora Trio (Flute, Viola, Harp) on Tuesday 28th September at 1:10pm. These three wayward miniatures (subtitled Rounds, Elegy and Tango) were written for the Aurora Trio in 2016, and came out of diverse range of influences – from tango’s and medieval dances, to […]
My Four Early Love Songs will be performed by the fantastic Jessica Summers (Soprano) and Jelena Makarova (Piano) at The Chapel of The Royal Foundation of St. Katherine, Limehouse on Friday 9th July, 7pm. Details here @LivingSongs21 www.livingsongs.co.uk @JessicaSoprano The ‘Early’ of the title refers to both the time in my life in which these […]
Solo marimba (2019 rev.2021) Loch Morlich is located in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of the Scottish Highlands. At 318 metres above sea level, it is the highest beach in the UK, and sits at the foot of the Cairngorm mountains. An area of outstanding natural beauty, the combination of the calm loch, sandy beaches […]
Morlich Meditation for solo Marimba will be premiered by Ethan Skuodas at 1pm on Friday 30th April as part of a live-streamed percussion showcase from the Duke’s Hall, Royal Academy of Music. Tune in here Loch Morlich is located in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of the Scottish Highlands. At 318 metres above sea level, […]
I am delighted to have been made a trustee of the Black Mountain Chamber Music Trust. The BMCMT have already done such wonderful work in the Black Mountains area, and I look forward to helping them grow. The BMCMT exists to promote the enjoyment, appreciation and knowledge of music through concerts, talks, classes and other […]
It seems an appropriate time to post these Four Passing Songs, performed here by Soprano Emily Prosser and myself at Holy Trinity Church in Hereford. They were written at a time of some upheaval (just before the COVID 19 pandemic hit), and reflect on a theme of transition from one world/state to another. The first […]
Following Clare Hammond’s beautifully shaped performance of Pearl on Prestigne Digital this year (still available to watch until Dec 31st – click here), Clare is performing the piece twice more this month: Firstly on Monday 7 December in a solo recital at Mansfield Street, London (full details below), and again on Friday 11 December at […]
“Full of telling echoes and resonances, Pearl (2013) by Robert Peate is a compact, single-movement statement based on an eight-note cantus firmus that pervades the score, accruing decorations and embellishments as it unfolds. The contrast between the still, numbed opening paragraphs and the ensuing ornate passages is highly effective and the work’s underlying theme, which is loss and […]
As part of a number of musical alternatives to the COVID-19 stricken Presteigne Festival, Presteigne Digital, a series of specially-filmed mini-concerts and literary events, will be streamed via the Presteigne Festival website. Pearl was written for the wonderful Clare Hammond and commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society / Presteigne Festival Alan Horne Memorial Prize in […]
The fantastic Philippa Mo (violin) with guest artist Olivia Jageurs (harp) will perform Three Idylls at The Curtain, Shoreditch on 29th October 7:30. The concert includes works by Bach, Birtwistle, Pärt, Patterson and more – click here for tickets/details Commissioned in 2012 by cheese and spirit makers Charles Martell and Sons, Three Idylls depicts three typically pastoral […]
My 6-minute trio Swift for oboe (Ruth Watson), Bassoon (Olly Galletta) and Piano (Andrew Morris) will be performed on Sunday 29th September at 3pm in Yarpole Church, Herefordshire, as part of a Herefordshire Composers’ Workshop concert. This ‘miniature epic’ was inspired by the impressive aerial displays of Swifts over our house this summer. The score […]
Solo harp (2018) Listen to an excerpt: (Excerpts from Yew, Spectred Oaks and Mountain Ash. The full Spectred Oaks and Mountain Ash can be heard here) ‘Sylva’ is from the Latin for forest or woodland, and also an archaic term meaning ‘a collection of poems or literary pieces’. Trees have always been important to me, […]
My Sylva Suite (2018) was recently premiered in Hay-on-Wye by the wonderful Alexandra Guiraud (for whom it was written). A set of five musical portraits or character studies of five different trees (Yew, Birch, Cherry, Spectred Oaks and Mountain Ash) – the music explores the historical, cultural and personal connections assosiated with each tree. Movements […]
The wonderful Cantabile Girls’ Choir present their summer concert at All Saints Cafe, Hereford on 26th June 7:30, with …Luciferum… on the menu. http://www.cafeatallsaints.co.uk/event/
Watch Jo Williamson and her Cantabile Girls’ Choir performing …Luciferum… in Hoddinott Hall (Wales Millennium Centre) as part of the International Choral Festival Wales 2019. Buy the score here Watch the full performance of the first round of the competition (with myself accompanying) here
2-20 parts + optional percussion (2019) These 20 rounds of varying difficulty feature original settings of nursery rhymes, riddles and more. Though written primarily for children, they may also provide a source of enjoyment and experimentation for instrumental groups and adults alike. Illustration by Pete Bryden Preview/buy score here
A new musical commentary exploring the extraordinary lives of Hypatia and Saint Katherine of Alexandria for Choir, 4 Harps, 2 Narrators and Organ. Performed by Hereford Chamber Choir and The Royal Academy of Music Harp Ensemble.
The award winning Pelleas Ensemble will be adding Three Diversions to their repertoire, with performances next season beginning on 3rd/4th April 2020 in Hexham and Holmes Chapel. More info on Three Diversions here
Unaccompanied SSAA choir (2019) …Luciferum… was written for Jo Williamson and her Cantabile Girls’ Choir. The title which refers to the ‘Bringer of light’ is taken from Psalm 109 (Vulgate), and the music elaborates on a sense of emerging light. …Luciferum… was premiered by Cantabile Girls’ Choir on Saturday 20th April at Hoddinott Hall, Millennium Centre, Cardiff […]
Stone Study no.2 – Cave and Cliff will be premiered on the evening of Friday 7th September at the Lion Ballroom in Leominster, Herefordshire by Tony Urbainczyk (Violin), Joris Boon (‘cello) and Anne de Dadelsen (Piano). The music was heavily inspired by the works of the writer Alan Garner, as well as by prehistoric cave paintings […]
‘Shared Freedom – Shared Future’ was conceived by students at Whitecross Hereford to illustrate to young people their common history with Polish immigrants, in particular the stories of local post-WW2 Polish settlers to the area, who fought with Britain in the war. I was commissioned to write the music for the short film at the […]
Established in 2012 by blogger Frances Wilson (“The Cross-Eyed Pianist”), Meet the Artist is a series of interviews in which musicians, conductors and composers discuss aspects of their creative lives. I’m very glad to have been asked to contribute to this rich series of insightful interviews, which include many of the foremost artists of our time […]
Violin, ‘cello and piano (2018) Stone Study no.2 – Cave and Cliff takes the form of a ‘theme and variations’. The theme consists of a chaconne-like harmonic progression which contains only a few fragments of melodic material; the seven dovetailed variations then take a more harmonic than melodic approach accordingly, often alternating between interior and exterior […]
Beautifully imaginative and vivid pieces with some fantastic duets that introduce children to the joy of chamber music! – Clare Hammond, Pianist A very welcome addition to contemporary piano literature for children. – Frances Wilson, who blogs as The Cross-Eyed Pianist I was extremely impressed by the combination of intelligence, creativity, and beauty. – Robert Peate […]
Hereford String Orchestra and soloist Laura Rickard will premiere my piece Lullay on 24th March. A lullaby for solo violin and double string orchestra written for HSO, the piece creates a nocturnal world of peaceful simplicity, combined with a more expressive, meditative, and at times darker character. An interview with Composers Edition on the work can be […]
My new website is now live. Be sure to keep up to date with the latest news and works that I am writing here on my website, and follow me on Instagram and listen on Soundcloud.
Solo piano (2013) Listen to an excerpt: Written for Huw Watkins and commissioned by the ‘Wednesdays at The Forge’ concert series, the music is written in the same character as the anonymous medieval text from which it takes its name, recounting a fathers grief for his lost daughter. The third in a series of ‘Pearls’, […]
Solo harp (2012) Written for harpist Olivia Jageurs, this suite was partly conceived as a harmonic exploration of the harp, which moves between a virtuosic stand in some places, and a more vacant intimacy in others. The five movements are linked by a through running ‘rhythmic theme’, whilst the harmonic language moves through different levels […]
Solo piano (2013) Listen to an excerpt: Commissioned through the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize and the Alan Horne Memorial Prize, Pearl (II) was written for pianist Clare Hammond and the 2013 Presteigne Festival. The second of a number of ‘Pearls’, the music is written in the same character as the anonymous medieval text from […]
SATB and piano (2014) R. L. Stevenson I. Prologue: “Fair isle at sea…” II. Summer Sun III. The Gardener IV. Autumn Fires V. Night and Day VI. Epilogue: Requiem Written for the Birchpole Singers, this song-cycle is written in the same vein as R. L. Stevenson’s verse; his Garden Days, itself from A Childs Garden […]
Amateur SATB, solo soprano and piano (2017) Missa Brevis (inc. Shakespeare, Hesiod) Listen to an excerpt: Ad Majorem Gastropoda Gloriam Snail Litany was first performed in Yarpole Church, Herefordshire by the Birchpole Singers on 19th May 2017, conducted by Andrew Morris. Preview/buy score here
SATB and organ (2017) Text – A. Walker Listen to an excerpt: I. Long walk to the beach II. Cradle song III. Childhood beach IV. Sojourner V. St Anthony then and now On first reading Ann Walker’s A Cornish Dozen I immediately felt its musical potential, and felt I would be able to provide a […]
Unaccompanied SATB (2015) Sweet silence after bells! deep in the enamour’d ear soft incantation dwells. Filling the rapt still sphere a liquid crystal swims, precarious yet clear. Those metal quiring hymns shaped ether so succinct: a while, or it dislimns, the silence, wanly prinkt with forms of lingering notes, inhabits, close. distinct; and night, the […]
Clarinet/bass clarinet, harp, viola, ‘cello (2011) Listen to an excerpt: Written for Chroma, the generally dark, grotesque and sometimes farcical character of this piece was partly inspired by the old parlour game of casting silhouettes using a large sheet and a candle. Shadow Play was first performed in the David Josefovitz Recital Hall at the […]
Oboe, violin, viola, ‘cello and piano (2009-10) Listen to an excerpt: A set of tableaux (or freeze-frames) offered an appropriate model for this music, which depicts a series of typically winter moods/scenes. Although the five tableaux run directly into one another, they are devoid of much transition. The different movements are however strongly related harmonically, […]
Violin and harp (2012) Listen to an excerpt: Commissioned by cheese and spirit makers Charles Martell and Sons, these three movements depict three pastoral impressions: I. – a babbling brook in summer; II. – a song sang on a hill; III. – a lively dance and a dark procession. Three Idylls was recorded by Catriona […]
Oboe and harp (2012) The first of a number of ‘Pearls’, the music is written in the same character as the anonymous medieval text from which it takes its name, recounting a fathers grief for his lost daughter. It was written for the oboe and harp duo ‘Orfea’. ‘…Yea, many a thought in mind did […]
Four horns (2011) Listen to an excerpt: Incidental music for a child’s make-believe drama. Pantomime! was first performed at Duke’s Hall, June 2012, by Carys Evans, Oliver Hickie, Edmund Morgan and Adam Howcroft, conducted by the composer. Preview/buy score here
Four horns (2011) Listen to an excerpt: Exploring a dialogue between the principle and the three remaining members of the section, the music was characterised by the often contrasting associations surrounding 2012; a dichotomy that could be seen between the aspirational hype accompanying events such as the Olympics and Queen’s Jubilee, and the foreboding doomsday […]
Basset horn and four double basses (2011/12) Listen to an excerpt: Apart from the basset horn’s distinctively plaintive and melancholy character, the main influence on this piece came from observing different kinds of vortices, such as watching whirlpools on the surface of a river, or being caught in sudden strong winds. The double bass quartet […]
Counter tenor, baroque oboe, violin, viola, ‘cello, harpsichord (2012) Commissioned by the London Bach Society, this music is a response to one of the most famous parts of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, the violent chorus of ‘Laß ihn kreuzigen!’ (Let him be crucified!), followed by the chorale ‘Wie wunderbarlich ist doch diese Strafe!’ (How wondrous […]
Mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra (2009) Listen to an excerpt: In the spirit of Anglo Saxon riddles and storytelling, these two songs are very much ‘round the campfire’ settings. The first (Cuckoo) imitates the birds behaviour and includes features such as removing and replacing notes at the beginning at the beginning of the piece, as the […]
Alto sax, viola, piano, percussion (2009) Listen to an excerpt: Written for the ensemble Decibel, the music takes the form of an introductory ‘meditation’ which then springs into two fast ‘reflections’, before returning to a concluding slow ‘meditation’. The roles between the two duos of Piano/Viola and Saxophone/Percussion gradually exchange as the piece progresses. As […]
String quartet (2016) Written largely for fun between 2008 and 2016, these two volumes of folksongs arranged for string quartet are generally straightforward in approach, with an attempt to preserve the meaning and cultural origin of each song. Volume 1: The Blacksmith Noël Nouvelet (New Christmas) Bachgen Bach O Dincer (The Little Tinker Boy) Bugeilio’r […]
‘cello and piano (2016) Listen to an excerpt: The imposing and characterful viaduct that towers over the village of Knucklas in Powys was the model for this three-movement work for ‘cello and piano. On a visit to Knucklas in spring 2016, the sight of this 13-arch viaduct (which seems almost to grow out of the […]
Flute, viola and harp (2016) Written for the Aurora Trio, the title Three Diversions refers to a somewhat playful approach (Diversions being the anglicized version of Divertimenti) as well as to the genesis of these three very much self-contained miniatures. At the time, these pieces served either as smaller studies or sketches for material I […]
Flute, viola and harp (2016) Listen to an excerpt: Commissioned by the Aurora Trio with funds from the RVW Trust, Six takes on Tosca is a set of six variations on a theme from Puccini’s Tosca (Act II, Scene I), where a trio of flute, viola and harp provide the impression of a nearby orchestra […]
Flute/piccolo, oboe/cor a/cabasa, clarinet, horn, harp, violin I, violin II, viola, ‘cello (2011) After collecting a disparate collection of musical fragments or ‘images’ through certain ‘field research’, I selected five poems by four poets included in an anthology of ‘Imagist Poetry’ to help give form to these sketches. The poems are set to music but […]
Oboe/cor A, horn, contrabassoon, harp, violin, ‘cello (2010) This piece is a response to the poem of the same name by Edward Thomas. After I had made a number of unsuccessful attempts to set the poem vocally, I eventually settled on the idea of writing a purely instrumental response to the text. In the poem […]
One to Six Trumpets (2015) – including some variable instrumentation These four fanfares are arranged in order of length, difficulty and ensemble size. Commissioned by Wraysbury Parish Council for the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, they are designed to incorporate a range of abilities and instrumentations as might be appropriate for […]
Violin, ‘cello and piano (2015) This piece is about remembrance, and above all explores various approaches to memory and grief. The music moves between an objective, meditative, even ceremonial character on the one hand; and a more personal, heart-on-sleeve expressiveness on the other. Further retrospection can be heard in musical references to memorial-like pieces such […]
Perotin – arr. 3 Saxophones, 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones I arranged this joyous 11th century Organum for a concert at the Royal Academy of Music in 2012. The arrangement is written with much regard for the changes in syllable (and thus colour) of Perotin’s original. The music is also given an extra ‘swing’ […]
Solo Violin and Double String Orchestra (2017) First planned as a lyrical piece for solo violin and strings, my initial concepts for the music soon accompanied the experience of becoming a father. The piece then became a lullaby, and soon grew to reflect the particular fatigued and emotional state of those first few weeks. The […]
Four Horns and Orchestra (2010) As the title suggests, the music looks to principles of both symphonic and concerto writing. There is an attempt in the piece to integrate five movements into one, where the transitions between movements become gradually more seamless. The large majority of thematic material for the piece is also developed out […]
Double String Orchestra, String Quartet (2 Vla, 2 Vc), Organ pedal (2015) “…August, in short, is the month of Nature’s perfect poise, and I should like to see it represented in painting by a Junonian woman, immobile, passionless, and happy in a cool-leaved wood, and looking neither forward nor backward, but within…” “…All bending in […]
12 Trumpets, 2 Percussion, Piano, Organ, SATB soli, SATB chorus, 2 Db (2015) The idea to set Edgar Allen Poe’s four part poem The Bells came from a number of ideas that I had brewing at the time, and my choice of text was in fact the final piece of the puzzle which served to […]
Violin & Orchestra (2015-16) Listen to an excerpt: Written on the 2015-16 LPO young composers scheme, this concerto is dedicated to violinist Vesselin Gellev, who premiered the work on 4th July 2016 at the Royal College of Music, conducted by Magnus Lindberg. The initial aspiring and collapsing gesture in the orchestra exposes all of the […]
This post is a collection of all the news. pre 2018. Take a look through the archived news articles below.