Works - Philip Cashian

Dances and Nocturnesfor piano quartet 2019 13:00:00 Composers Edition preview score buy/hire

forces: violin, viola, cello, piano
Dances and Nocturnes, for piano quartet, is about 13 minutes long. As the
title suggests the piece moves between fast rhythmic music and slower
more reflective sections.
The piece opens with an almost folk-like unison line before the instruments
start to splinter apart eventually leaving the piano alone. The string trio
rejoins, juxtaposed against the piano before sharing it’s triplet figure and
moving into a new section marked gentle but energetic. A high, shared note
between violin and piano mark the beginning of a descent into a brief,
nocturnal interlude for solo piano marked fantastico. This music spreads
through the quartet, with a viola solo in the foreground leading into more
static, choral-like music. The tempo picks up again with a triplet moto
perpetuo figure in the piano eventually joined by pizzicato strings passing
into a new section marked stately. An intertwined, overlapping crescendo
call in the strings, each one building in intensity before dying away takes us
into the final section – nocturnal where short piano chorales gradually fade
away into high sustained notes in the strings.
Dances and Nocturnes was commissioned by Wye Valley Chamber Music
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Night’s Echofor viola and piano 2019 00:06:00 Composers Edition preview score buy/hire

forces: viola & piano
Commissioned by Paul Silverthorne to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his Amati viola.
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Short Storiesfor solo piano 2019 09:00:00 Composers Edition preview score buy/hire

forces: piano
Nine pieces for solo piano, written in memory of Oliver Knussen
Notturno, A Dark March, Reverie, The Wind’s Compass, Slow Air, Little Room of Sleep, Little Machine, Velveteen Morning, Envoi
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Wynter Music for solo violin and nine players. Alternate version available for violin and piano 2006-7 00:08:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: Solo vln, flt,clr,hn,perc,2vln,vla,vc,dbs. Alternate version available for violin and piano more...

Leonora Pictures for mixed ensemble 2017 00:21:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: flt (picc. alto.), cl (bass), perc, hp, pf, vln, vla, vc.
Inspired by the fantastical characters and landscapes depicted in the paintings of the great English surrealist Leonora Carrington (1917-2011), Leonora Pictures is a twenty one minute journey through a series of interconnecting panels, each drawing on the virtuosity of different combinations of instruments.
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Fall, Leaves, Fall for choir 2017 00:03:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: SATB
A short setting of a poem by Emily Bronte
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The Dark Horsemen and other Tales for soprano and viola 1996 00:07:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: soprano/viola
A setting of traditional folk tales
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Silent Steps for five players 1995 00:14:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: wind quintet: fl, ob, cl, bn, hn
Five pieces for wind quintet
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Three Baudelaire Songs for mezzo soprano, viola and piano 2011 00:14:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: soprano, viola and piano
Three settings from Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal; La Musique, Les Hiboux and La Cloche Felee
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Stobrod’s Violin for two players 1999 00:07:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire Recordings: Chimera

forces: vn, pf
Duo for violin and piano. Stobrod is a character in Charles Frazier’s novel ‘Cold Mountain’
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So Lonely for mezzo soprano and string quartet 1995 00:16:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire Recordings: Dark Inventions

forces: mez, string quartet: 2vn, va, vc
So Lonely sets two poems by Louis McNeice. It was commissioned by the BBC for the ‘Towards the Millennium’ series
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Stroke for two percussionists 2001 00:04:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire Recordings: Digital Discoveries 2: On Shifting Ground

forces: 2perc
Duo for flexible percussion line up
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Musica Meccanica for two players 1994 00:12:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire Recordings: Dark Inventions

forces: vn, pf
Three pieces for violin and piano
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Opening of the House for choir and eleven players with soundtrack 2008 00:15:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: for choir, soundtrack and eleven instruments: 2flt (doubling alt.flt), 2 clr (2=bass clr.), 2 hn, 2tpt, 2tbn, perc.
Commissioned for the London Sinfonietta’s inaugural concert at King’s Place, London.
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jarl for solo viola 2002 00:03:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: vla
‘Jarl’ is an old English word meaning chief or head of the tribe
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The Songs Few Hear for soprano and piano 2010 00:06:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: soprano and piano
Three short settings of poems by Kathleen Raine for female voice and piano. Commissioned by Claire Booth and Andrew Matthews-Owen.
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Hesper for two pianos 2010 00:02:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: 2 pf
Hesper (meaning evening star) was commissioned by the Cambridge Suzuki School
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Drift for solo cello 1996 00:02:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: vc
Fragment for solo cello
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Dancing with Venus for two players 1992 00:12:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: vc, pf
A set of vignettes for cello and piano based on Angela Carter’s short story, Black Venus
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Concertantes for four players 2009 00:07:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire Recordings: Endymion: Sound Census

forces: cl/bcl, hn, va, vc
Written for Endymion on their twenty fifth anniversary.
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Three Duets Three arrangements of duos by Orlando di Lassus 2017 00:00:07 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: 2 trumpets, 2 trombones
Three arrangements of duets by Orlando di Lassus for brass
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Bone Machine for four players 2009 00:01:30 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: bcl, pf, vln, vc
Bone Machine is a Sinfonietta Short, commissioned by the London Sinfonietta to commemorate their fortieth anniversary.
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Braggadocio for mixed ensemble 2014 00:01:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: for any combination of wind, brass, keyboards and tuned percussion
Braggadocio is a short fanfare for an open scored ensemble of any number of instruments upwards from a duet.
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Blue Circus for solo clarinet and five players 1991 00:10:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire Recordings: Dark Inventions

forces: cl, perc:vib, vn, va, vc, db
Blue Circus is a concertante piece for solo clarinet , vibraphone and strings which takes it’s title from the gravity defying painting by Marc Chagall.
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Blow fanfare for 2 trumpets 2014 00:01:20 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire

forces: 2 tpts. more...

among the bleached stars and suns for wind quintet 2000 00:10:00 Composers Edition nkoda buy/hire Recordings: Untold

forces: wind quintet: fl/bfl, ob, cl, bn, hn
among the bleached stars and suns takes its title from a poem by Kevin Crossley-Holland. The quintet is divided into three groups; a trio of oboe, clarinet and bassoon, off-stage horn and solo bass flute.
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Two Songs for SATB choir 2013 00:05:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: SATB choir
Settings of Christina Rossetti and Thomas Moore
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Tiltyard Fragments for choir, children's choir and trumpet 2013 00:05:00

forces: SATB choir, children's choir, solo trumpet
Commissioned by Dartington International Summer School

Three Pieces Three pieces for 22 players 2004 00:20:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: 2121, 2100. 2perc, pf, harp, strings: 22221
1. Scenes from Burgos 2. The Silver Surface of the Night 3. The Traveller Without a Compass. Commissioned by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
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the world’s turning for chamber orchestra 2014 00:13:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: 2222,2200,2perc,pf,strings: 6.6.4.4.2
the world’s turning lasts around 12 minutes and continues my fascination with, and exploration of, musical momentum, stasis and the use of mechanisms, patterns, line and repetition in music. The piece is also a vehicle for the virtuosity of the Esprit Orchestra. The title is borrowed from William Boyd’s novel Waiting for Sunrise in which the main character, Lysander Rief, feels for a moment that ‘time has stopped and the world’s turning also’.
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The Winter’s Spring for choir 2014 00:02:00

forces: SATB
A setting of John Clare

The thin night darkens for solo guitar 2014 00:06:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: gui
The thin night darkens takes its title from a line in Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas.
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The sun’s great eye for baritone and piano 2008 00:02:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: The NMC Songbook

forces: baritone and piano
A setting of John Keats, written for the NMC Songbook
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The Language of Birds for solo alto recorder 2016 00:05:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: solo alto recorder
In mythology and folk tales from around the world the language of birds is often considered to be a magical language and the ability to understand it a sign of great wisdom. Whilst writing this short, virtuosic piece I began to realise that playing the recorder is extremely close to talking or singing and the instrument is a natural extension and amplification of the players body. This was very much in my mind whilst composing. The Language of Birds was written for Tabea Debus and commissioned by St John’s Smith Square as part of their Young Artists scheme.
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The Book of Ingenious Devices for solo piano and orchestra 2016 00:21:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: 3.3.3.3. 4.3.3.1. 3perc. timp. hp. solo pf. 16.14.12.10.8.
Over the past fifteen years or so I’ve got to know and admire Huw Watkins as a pianist through numerous chamber performances he’s given of mine and many other composers music and I started thinking about writing him a concerto several years ago. The Book of Ingenious Devices was written with his musical personality and formidable ability very much in mind and one of the starting points was thinking about the solo piano in a chamber music context and how it might interact with smaller ensembles from within the orchestra. The concerto lasts around 21 minutes and is heard in a single span that falls into five distinct movements. The first of these is a virtuosic moto perpetuo with the piano at the centre punctuated by different instrumental combinations within the orchestra. The second, shorter movement is much slower and sustained with more expansive material for the soloist which ends leaving the piano alone with a high two part florid figure that quickly descends into short fanfares for brass and a brief return to faster music that quickly winds down, running out of energy before silence and the midway point of the concerto. The fourth movement begins with repeated single notes on the piano which slowly open out into more lyrical material around icy, static chords in the strings and ticking woodwind. Solo harp and timpani gently echo the piano leading to low clusters and trilling drums. Momentum picks up in the three percussion and the fifth and final movement slowly gains pace, re-establishing the momentum of the first movement.
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Talvi for guitar solo 1998 00:07:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: Equinox Black Venus: New Music for Guitar

forces: gui
Talvi was commissioned by Tom Kerstens, who gave the first performance at the 1998 International Guitar Festival in Bath. Talvi, which is the Finnish word for Winter, was the name of a light sculpture exhibition that I saw at the Barbican Centre whilst writing the piece. The fluid and sometimes blurred images of some of the installations and the constant state of flux within the space as a whole seemed to perfectly mirror the type of musical material I was writing for Tom’s solo guitar piece.
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Tag for solo percussion 2000 00:09:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: percussion
Tag is a piece for solo percussion built around bass drum and a taiko drum
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Tableaux for chamber orchestra 2003 00:17:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: The House of Night

forces: 2222, 2200, perc, strings: 8.6.4.4.2
Tableaux is in three sections, or panels. Each is distinct but there is an over-riding concern throughout the entire work of keeping a strong sense of forward momentum. This is established from the outset with a jagged unison line for the upper strings which quickly spreads through the entire orchestra. The middle panel is more harmonic in character with Sibelius-like textures which gradually wind down into a slow pulse on the bass drum. Out of this the final section begins with running quaver figures shared between two low bass clarinets which slowly start to rise up through the orchestra. Tableaux was commissioned by the Northern Sinfonia for the 2003 BBC Promenade Concerts.
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Swale for solo piano 2016 00:03:00 ABRSM buy/hire

forces: pf. more...

Strix for chamber orchestra 2014 00:10:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: 1111/111/perc. pf. hp. stgs.
Before writing Strix I spent a weekend doing some creative work with the young members of the Britten Sinfonia Academy which took art on display in the twentieth century gallery of the the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge as a starting point. One piece I was particularly drawn to was Graham Sutherland’s bold and slightly terrifying La Petite Afrique III. The strong imagery in this painting led me to think of birds in mythology and I came across the following which became a starting point for the new piece; In folklore the Strix was considered a bird of ill omen that fed on human flesh and blood.The earliest recorded tale of the Strix is from the lost Ornithologia. This tells the story of Polyphonte and her two sons Agrios and Oreios who were punished for their cannibalism by being transformed into wild animals. Polyphonte became a Strix “that cries by night, without food or drink, with head below and tips of feet above, a harbinger of war and civil strife to men”
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String Quartet No.1 for string quartet 1987 00:13:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: Bingham String Quartet

forces: string quartet:2vn, va, vc more...

String Quartet No. 2 for string quartet 2016 00:18:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: string quartet:2vn, va, vc
The quartet is in four movements: Swarming, Drifting, Freezing, Reeling.
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Star Machine, The for four hands at one piano and any combination of instruments 2001 00:16:00

forces: 2pf, flexible ensemble, 2perc
Commissioned by Contemporary Music for Amateurs

Spitbite for six players 2001 00:05:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: clr,ssax,perc,vn,vc,db
Spitbite was commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia for their ‘A-Z of Music’ series at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, February 2000. The piece is a short tribute to Frank Zappa.
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Songs from a still world for solo Bb clarinet or solo alto saxophone 2000 00:10:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: Bb clr or alt sax
The title is taken from the poem Sad Song by the English playwright and poet Edward Bond.
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Spate for solo guitar 2007 00:02:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: gui
Commissioned by Tom Kerstens
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Spinlock for string quartet 2007 00:10:00

forces: string quartet:2vn, va, vc
Spinlock was written for young musicians in Birmingham as part of a collaboration (devised by BCMG and funded by the Wellcome Foundation) between scientists and composers

Slow Moon for piano solo 1997 00:03:00 ABRSM buy/hire

forces: pf
Miniature for piano
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Slow Air for piano solo 2011 00:01:30

forces: pf
Piano miniature written in memory of Duncan Prescott

Skein for ten players 2005 00:14:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: fl/pic/afl, cl/bcl, bn/cbn, hn, tpt/flugelhorn, perc, vn, va, vc, db
Skein (defined in the dictionary as ‘a loosely knotted tangle of ideas’) was written in 2006 for Birmingham Contemporary Music Group with the intention of drawing out the virtuosic qualities of the ensemble’s musicians. The music grows from, and later returns to, a solo viola and as the title suggests, like a lot of my music, is made up from a number of differing sections overlaid and stitched together. The piece is dedicated to Jackie and Stephen Newbould, is scored for ten instruments and lasts around 14 minutes.
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Six Pieces after Paintings by Ben Hartley six miniatures for piano solo 2006 00:07:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: Jubilees

forces: pf
Six miniatures for piano solo based on paintings by Ben Hartley.
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Scenes from the Life of Viscount Medardo for solo horn and seven players.(Alternate version available for horn and piano). 2016/17 00:12:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: solo hn, flt/picc, clr/bclr, hp, vln, vla, vc, db. more...

Sea of Tales, A for solo oboe and five players 1998 00:16:00 Composers Edition buy/hire

forces: ob, cl, hn, vn, va, vc
Commissioned by the Cheltenham Festival for Melinda Maxwell and Endymion
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Settala’s Machine for double wind quintet 2012 00:12:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: fl/picc, fl, ob, ob, cl/bcl, cl, bsn, bsn, hn, hn
Manfredo Settala (1600-1680) was an Italian nobleman and collector of oddities as well as a skilled maker of automata. His most famous invention was a mechanical devil which can still be seen on display at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan. In seventeenth century Italy automata were theologically and culturally familiar things and mechanical devils were rife. Poised in sacristies, they were grotesque and bawdy, made horrible faces, howled and stuck out their tongues to instil fear in the hearts of sinners. The Satan- machines rolled their eyes and flailed their arms and wings, some even had moveable horns and crowns and breathed smoke through their nostrils.
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Samain for string quartet 2011 00:10:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: string quartet:2vn, va, vc
Samain is in four short movements and is based on the painting of the same name by Leonora Carrington
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Pietro’s Machine for three players 1999 00:03:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: piano trio: pf, vn, vc
Four miniatures for piano trio commissioned by Thalia Myers for the Chamber Music Exchange Project.
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Orbit for piano solo 2003 00:01:00 ABRSM buy/hire Recordings: Spectrum 4

forces: pf
Miniature for piano written for the ABRSM Spectrum series
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On The Air for choir 1993 00:10:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: chamber choir
A setting for choir
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Nocturne for piano solo 1984 00:06:00 Composers Edition buy/hire

forces: pf
Written for Richard McMahon
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Near Winter for female voice and five players 1988 00:05:00

forces: sop, 2cl/bcl, va, vc, db
A song setting a text by Ian Whyte

Night Journeys Concerto for Timpani, Percussion and string orchestra 1997 00:16:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: timp, perc, strings
Commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra for the Shell/LSO Percussion Scholarship.
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Nightmaze for symphony orchestra 1991 00:15:00

forces: 3333, 4431. timp, 4perc, harp, strings:16.14.12.10.8
Commissioned by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Music for the Night Sky for piano quartet 1999 00:05:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: A White Room

forces: vn, va, vc, pf
Written for the Schubert Ensemble’s Chamber Music 2000 project
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Music for an empty sky for choir 2000 00:03:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: The Country of the Stars

forces: SATB choir
Setting of a text by Kevin Crossley-Holland
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Mr. Kersten’s Tango for guitar solo 2002 00:02:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: gui
Commissioned by Tom Kerstens
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Morning Song for children's choir 1992 00:03:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: children's choir
Commissioned by the New London Children’s Choir
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Moon Song for female voice and four players 1991 00:04:00

forces: sop, cl/bcl, va, vc, db
A song setting a text by Edward Bond

Mechanik for any combination of instruments 2003 00:04:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: CoMA: Open Score

forces: any combination of instruments
Mechanik takes its title from Mechanik’s Bench,a sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi. In this short piece (for any combination of instruments) I tried to capture the sense of energy and strength the sculpture gives off.
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Journey after Rain for piano solo 00:02:00

forces: pf. solo
Written for the One Minute Wonder series.

Landscape for piano solo 1995 00:05:00 ABRSM buy/hire Recordings: Spectrum Watercolour

forces: pf
Written foir the ABRSM’s Spectrum series
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Landscape (vocal) for counter tenor and piano 2014 00:00:03

forces: counter tenor (or female voice) and piano
A short setting of Lorca.

IO for symphony orchestra 2002 00:18:00 Composers Edition buy/hire

forces: 3333, 4331. timp, 4perc, strings: 16.14.12.10.8
IO was commissioned by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
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House of Night, The for solo oboe and strings 2002 00:10:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: The House of Night

forces: ob, strings (minimum 1.1.1.1.1. players)
The House of Night takes its title from a poem by Kathleen Raine and is a collection of five scenes for oboe and strings in which the solo oboe is cast as a figure in a landscape.
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Horn Trio for three players 1998 00:12:30 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: Digital Discoveries 4: Into A Several World

forces: hn, vln, pf
Commissioned by the Rainbow over Bath concert series for the New Music Players
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Furor for 2 pianos and flexible ensemble 2014 00:08:00 Recordings: Miniaturised Concertos

forces: 2 solo pianos, 2 percussionists and flexibly scored ensemble.

Four Inventions for piano solo 1997 00:11:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: pf
Four studies for piano solo
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Four Hands for four hands at one piano 2008 00:01:30 ABRSM buy/hire

forces: four hands at one piano
Written for the ABRSM’s Spectrum series
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Firewheel for five players 2013/14 00:09:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: Firewheel

forces: picc/flt, cl/bcl, vibes, vln,vc
The title Firewheel is borrowed from the painting of the same name by British artist Bryan Wynter (1915-1975). In recent years I’ve been fascinated by his brilliantly coloured late abstract paintings and their allusion to patterning found in the natural world. My piece is playful in character, conceived in layers and grows out of repetition, line and ostinati.
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Forest of Clocks, The for voices and orchestra 1997 00:11:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: SATB chorus, 3232, 2110. 2perc, cel, pf:4-hands, 4gui, strings
The Forest of Clocks was commissioned by Contemporary Music for Amateurs.
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Forgotten Game for violin and piano 2007 00:01:30 ABRSM buy/hire

forces: vn, pf
A miniature written for the ABRSM’s Spectrum series
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Fanfaronades for symphony orchestra 2017/18 00:12:00 Composers Edition buy/hire

forces: 3.3.3.3. 4.3.3.1. perc(2). timp. hp. stgs. more...

Devil’s Box, The for three players 1999 00:10:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: cl, va, pf
The Devil’s Box is a set of five miniatures. Movement two features the viola, movement three is for solo clarinet and in the fourth movement the piano takes on the role of soloist in a brief corteÌ€ge. The first movement is a monody and the last a moto perpetuo.
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Dark Inventions for five players 1992 00:15:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: Dark Inventions

forces: fl/afl, cl/bcl, perc (glock, vibes, sizz cym, 5 gongs, marimba), pf, vc more...

Dark Flight for six cellos 2007 00:12:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: The House of Night

forces: 6vc
Commissioned by Endyniom
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Cumnor Affair, The An opera in one act, Libretto by Iain Pears 2008 01:15:00 Composers Edition buy/hire

forces: For 6 singers and 7 instruments flt (alt.flt, picc.) clr (Eb, bass cl.) hn. perc. vln. vc. dbs.
An Elizabethan murder mystery.
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Concerto for Piano Concerto for piano and sixteen players 2006 00:20:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: The House of Night

forces: pf, fl/pic, ob, cl/bcl, bn/cbn, hn, tpt, trb, perc, harp, 2vn, va, vc, db
Commissioned by the London Sinfonietta
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Cortége for piano solo 2000 00:03:00

forces: pf
Miniature for piano solo (taken from The Devil’s Box).

Creeping Frogs, Flying Bats and Swimming Fish for eight players 1997 00:15:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: cl, bn, hn, 2vn, va, vc, db [0011, 1000.2111]
Commissioned by the Cambridge Music Festival.
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Concerto for cello and strings for solo cello and strings 2012 00:19:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: The House of Night Myth & Tradition

forces: cello, strings (4.3.2.2.1 minimum)
The concerto for cello and strings is in a single movement which lasts around 19 minutes and, like a lot of my pieces, is made up of a series of juxtaposed or related episodes as well as a lot of fast music. The concerto is written in the conventional sense that it’s a vehicle for the virtuosity of the soloist.
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Chamber Concerto for sixteen players 1995 00:17:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: Dark Inventions

forces: fl/afl/pic, ob, 2cl, bn, hn, tpt, 2perc, pf, harp, 2vn, va, vc, db [1121, 1100.2111]
With the Chamber Concerto I wanted to write a piece that exploited the virtuosity of the players and different instrumental groups of BCMG. The music is sectional and each uses different and contrasting instrumental combinations. There are fifteen distinctly identifiable sections: with a sense of urgency; bold and expressive; dry and machine-like; dancing and pushing forward; oboe cadenza; transparent and ghostly; slower (clarinet solo); tom-tom cadenza; with passion; hard and driving; turbulent; jazzy; violin cadenza; scintillating; frozen.
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Brass Quintet for brass quintet 2018 00:12:00

forces: 2tpts,hn tbn,tba

Caprichos for four players 2003 00:13:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: cl/bcl, vn, vc, pf
Caprichos takes its name from Goya’s Los Caprichos, a set of eighty aquatints which depict the bizarre, mischievous and often grotesque world of 18th century Spain. The music isn’t a literal depiction of Goya’s work, but takes it as a starting point for a set of musical portraits that explore the possibilities of clarinet, piano, violin and cello.
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Black Venus for solo guitar 1999 00:06:00 Music Sales buy/hire Recordings: Black Venus: New Music for Guitar

forces: gui
Black Venus is a set of four short dances (i. passionate, ii. fast and energetic, iii. in slow motion, iv. agile) for solo guitar and takes its title from a short story by Angela Carter. Baudelaire sits in his darkened Parisien apartment in front of a raging fire whilst his Creole mistress dances for him, striking a series of exotic poses. She is naked except for her jewellery which sparks and glistens on the ceiling as it catches the light of the fire. Black Venus was commissioned by Tom Kerstens, who gave the first performance at the 1999 International Guitar Festival in Bath.
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Aquila for three players 2010 00:14:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: cl/bcl, pf, vc
The image of Aquila swooping across the pages of Flamstead’s Atlas Coelestis gave me the idea for this trio. A fierce and powerful eagle is in mid flight but trapped between lines of longitude and latitude and destined to mechanically circle round and round the heavens, forever in the same orbit.
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Apollo a cantata for young musicians 2005 00:25:00

forces: wind, percussion, strings, gui, children's voices, brass
Apollo is a large scale cantata for young musicians that uses technical data taken from the Apollo 11 mission and folk tales about the moon as it’s text.

Autumn Choruses for any combination of instruments 2007 00:08:00

forces: flexible ensemble, pf, perc
Commissioned by Contemporary Music for Amateurs

All things wear silence for choir, brass quintet and organ 2010 00:22:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: choir, organ, brass quintet
All things wear silence is a setting of poems by Valentine Ackland written during WWII. I tried to capture the dark undercurrent of these poems that describe the natural landscape (Ackland worked as a land girl) during the early 1940’s.
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A Web of Shadows for solo guitar and string quartet 2011 00:11:00 Music Sales buy/hire

forces: solo guitar and string quartet
A Web of Shadows was commissioned by Tom Kerstens, who gave the first performance with the Castalian String Quartet at the Purcell Room on 4 June 2011. Like a lot of my music the piece is made up of a series of short musical ideas that sit side by side or are stitched together. The problem of balance between the solo guitar and string quartet was a concern whilst writing the piece and led to music that has a delicate, almost filigree, quality. The string quartet play with practise mutes throughout as I wanted to try and give the impression that they were performing behind a veil.
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…in the still hours for strings 1995 00:09:00 Composers Edition buy/hire Recordings: Dark Inventions BCMG25 Sampler

forces: strings:4.3.2.2.1 (minimum)
…in the still hours takes its title from a line in the poem ‘Nocturn’ by Kathleen Raine
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Scenes from the Life of Viscount Medardo for horn and piano. (Alternative version available for solo horn and seven players). 2016 00:12:00

forces: french horn/piano