An early, fun piece for orchestral. I wrote it intending to submit it to a competition called 'Masterprize', which never had any winners of distinction, and promptly disappeared from the face of the earth.
This is one of 4 Tang Poems recorded absolutely ages ago in my student years at the RCM, but the soprano Clare Booth - who did fantastically considering she was prevented from attending a single rehearsal - went on to greater things. The conductor was Clement Power. I'm sorry that I can't remember the names of any of the instrumentalists :(
Something of a scratch performance again, but held together by hero Danny Driver on the piano, Ken Aiso on the concertante violin. I seem to have written many pieces with the intention of being approachable - still, I believe one's musical temperament and integrity can still be expressed consistently enough, whether one is writing tonally or not.
The instrumentation is that of Enescu's Chamber Symphony Op. 33., but an equally stong influence is probably Schoenberg's. The subtitle is a phrase lifted from Enescu's opera 'Oedipe', in which the sphinx's riddle takes the form 'Nomme quelqu'un ou nomme quelque chose qui soit plus grand que le Destin!' - to which Oedipe replies 'L'homme! L'homme est plus fort que le Destin!' (See bar 329, in the bassoon, where the melody is found.)
As befits the ‘Concerto’ title, the work features solos for each of the players, some demanding considerable virtuosity. In another Enescuvian-Romanian touch (influenced also by a visit to Cluj and Bucharest in 2010 with the London Schubert players) the final section of this Concerto at times resembles a Briul or Brâul - that is, a Romanian 'belt' dance.
CONCERTO FOR 12 - ‘...Plus fort que le destin’
Needed more-rehearsal time (like the performance above) but some cracking musicians were involved many from the Aurora orchestra, led by Thomas Gould, so it gives an impression. The cadenzas should not have been conducted (each is written out in the other players' parts + cues_) but here, they were - perhaps because to go from ad lib to a battuta would paradoxically have required MORE rehearsal!
An occasional piece for Oboe & Piano celeb-
brating conductor and composer Constantin Silvestri, recorded at the Rumanian Cultural Institute. Score below.
'Doux Fauve' consists of three pieces for chamber group, each incorporating variations on tunes by Django Reinhardt:
('Minor Swing', 'Nuages', 'Hungaria', 'Tears' and 'Rythme Futur'. Score PDF to left.
I hope to place at least one music file here in due course.
'Hieroglifa' - Songs (in Rumanian) to poems by Nichita Stanescu. for Soprano (with the capacity for coloratura), and a few instruments. A PDF of the piano score is to the left.
One of the clarinets has to be able to play a few 'multiphonic' chords :) - I hope to place a music file here for at least one of the three songs in due course.
Two English Folksong Arrangements (based on Sam Lee recordings)