Tuba Concerto (symphonic wind band version)
Violin Concerto
My Violin Concerto was commissioned by the Hallé Concerts Society and was given its first performance by Lyn Fletcher with the Hallé Orchestra, conducted by Kent Nagano, in The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on 3 February 2000.
As I completed most of the Violin Concerto during the last few months of the last century, I found it impossible to resist the temptation to look back and give some respectful nods in certain musical directions – not that the music itself uses direct quotation, more perhaps that it has an illusory veneer of such without, I hope, any self-consciousness. However, the single …
Read More…and the seven trumpets…
…and the seven trumpets… was commissioned by Martyn Brabbins specially for the concert which marked his debut as Music Director of the Huddersfield Choral Society*. The work is “a tribute to Igor Stravinsky and Olivier Messiaen” and is dedicated “to Martyn Brabbins, for old times’ sake!”.
The work lasts for about ten minutes and uses large forces, including a full brass section, percussion, cellos, basses, organ and choir. It is based on a quotation from the Book of Revelation:
And I saw the seven Angels which stood before
God: and to them were given seven trumpets.
As the title suggests, …
Read MoreThree Matisse Impressions (recorder and ensemble version)
Three Matisse Impressions, in its original version for recorder and piano, was completed in 1993, and is dedicated to Alix Denzler, two of whose paintings were given to the composer and his wife. The work was composed as a small reciprocal gesture for these paintings (the artist is an enthusiastic recorder player). It is no coincidence that the title of the pieces refers to three well-known paintings by Matisse, an artist for whom the composer and the dedicatee share mutual admiration. The work is in three movements: Pastoral – Lux, Calme et Volupté – La Danse.
In 1997, the …
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