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 […]
Tag Archives: robert peate
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 […]
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
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 […]
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 […]
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’ […]
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 […]
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 […]