Piano
Volume 1 Light from the Dark
1 Thirds is for Dulcie, my younger daughter.
2 Poem was written for the 50th Birthday of a friend. From that point 50 seemed some time off and the beginning of a declining journey and the extended variations play with that sense of leaving and returning.
3 Exchange was a thank you gift to Mike Milan for a helping empathic, transformative and constant journey and discussion
4 Sunday A little piece on and for a sunday afternoon.
5 Song Without Words a 70th birthday tribute to Beryl. It takes a common harmonic bass line and goes for a walk.
6 Absent takes a few of Debussy’s snowy footsteps in a very different direction.
7 Journey goes somewhere and nowhere with two notes - the minimal but gently reassuring cliché of a minor third.
8 Norman. A tribute to a great man and his wonderful children, Heather, Chris and Graham
9 Farewell was written for the celebration of the life of Robert Lockhart the pianist and film composer and was premiered by Peter Donohoe. It minimally mashes up two of Rob’s favourite pieces: Beethoven’s Les Adieux and Chopin’s E maj Prelude Op 10.
10 Gloria was written for the 50th birthday of the composer John Hardy. It makes a journey towards an exquisite phrase from an early piece of his, Gloria Tibi Trinitas (1980) and is spacey and lit by the stars one of which is now named Gloria in his honour!
11 Carol Take it away, in a manger.
12 Follow anniversary gift for Juliet whose favourite Bach aria is Ich Folge Dir from the St John Passion which is deconstructed and reconstructed here.
13 Hymn
14 56(56)5 takes the last four chords of Bach’s Toccatta and Fugue in d minor BWV565 and works and reworks them.
15 Oak is my only piece which isn’t soft. Strong chords in I, minimalised fluttering leaves in II and improvised walk round the tree in III.
16 English more thirds. More delicate yearning
17 Cool A simple piece for harp or piano for Dulcie.
18 Valentine just what it says on the tin. Hushed, poignant, still and loving creating line from minor harmony.
19 Song The escape of my frustrated 30s band leader alter ego
20 Four Sketches for an Artist written as a gift for the artist Adrian Sumner. Pictures without an exhibition inspired by his work.
Volume 2 Forty
1 Days
2 Nights
3 Fasting
4 Wild
5 Tempted
6 Undefiled
7 Scorching
8 Chilly
9 Shed
10 Prowling
11 Stones
12 Earth
13 Bed
14 Sorrows
15 Joy
16 Abstain
17 Fasting Again
18 Unceasing
19 Prayer
20 Glad
21 Suffer
22 Pain
23 Vexing
24 Sore
25 Assail
26 Vanquish
27 Faint
28 Fail
29 Peace
30 Glad Again
31 Angels
32 Shine
33 Keep
34 Dear
35 Constant
36 Appear
37 Eternal
38 Hymn
39 Days and Nights
40 End
Volume 3 For ...
1 Angel for the Wrights Dec 2014
2 Henry for Henry 2015
3 Lilt for Robert 2015
4 Lucky for Juliet
5 White for Bev 2018
6 60 for ArABEllA 2020
7 Cooler for Dulcie 2018
Three Harlem Pieces
8Harlem Bells2017
9 Home 2017
10 Hush 2017
Four Lockdown Pieces
11 1 that time that place 2020
12 2 and again 2020
13 3 still 2020
14 4 alone 2020
15 5 stretch 2020
Valentine 25 2014
A minor 2014
Christmas:
1 Carol Away
2 Tree O Tannenbaum
3 Jubilant In Dulce
Sound if Music
1 Sound
2 Start
3 Julie
4 White
Piano
Henry
2015 4'
A gentle rocking lullaby for Henry's grandparents.
Ella
2003 1'32"
A simple 24 bar piece for piano 6 hands after Ravel's birds based on a tune by Ella
Thirds*
2012 4' 48”
Thirds is for Dulcie, my younger daughter.
Poem*
1997 2’39”
Poem was written for the 50th Birthday of a friend. From that point 50 seemed some time off and the beginning of a declining journey and the extended variations play with that sense of leaving and returning.
Exchange*
2002 1’33”
Exchange was a thank you gift to Mike Milan for a helping empathic, transformative and constant journey and discussion
Sunday*
2009 2’ 20”
Sunday A little piece for a sunday afternoon.
Song Without Words*
1996 2' 53”
Song Without Words was a 70th birthday tribute to my mother. It takes a common harmonic bass line and goes for a walk.
Absent*
2014 2' 28”
Absent takes a few of Debussy’s snowy footsteps in a very different direction.
Journey*
2009 2’09”
Journey goes somewhere and nowhere with two notes - the minimal but gently reassuring cliché of a minor third (and makes a line from a few more)
Norman* (free download on Sheetmusic)
2014 5’ 18”
Norman is a tribute to a great man and his wonderful children: Heather, Chris and Graham. (Available as a free download)
Farewell*
2012 3'27”
Farewell was written for the celebration of the life of Robert Lockhart the pianist and film composer and was premiered by Peter Donohoe. It minimally mashes up two of Rob’s favourite pieces: Beethoven’s Les Adieux and Chopin’s E maj Prelude Op 10.
Gloria*
2007 6’26”
Gloria was written for the 50th birthday of the composer John Hardy. It makes a journey towards an exquisite phrase from an early piece of his, Gloria Tibi Trinitas (1980) and is spacey and lit by the stars one of which is now named Gloria in his honour!
Carol*
2014 4' 47"
Take it away, in a manger?
Follow*
2012 2’32”
Follow was an anniversary gift for Juliet my wife whose favourite Bach aria is Ich Folge Dir from the St John Passion which is deconstructed and reconstructed here.
Hymn*
2014 1’39”
Pulls and stretches a short walk on a green hill
56(56)5*
2012 5' 10"
56(56)5 takes the last four chords of Bach’s Toccatta and Fugue in d minor BWV565 and works and reworks them.
Oak I & II & III*
2009 7' 10"
Oak is my only piece which isn’t soft. Strong chords in I, minimalised fluttering leaves in II and an improvised walk around the tree in III.
English*
2013 3’ 25”
More thirds. More delicate yearning.
Cool*
2012 2’ 48”
Cool A simple piece for harp or piano for Dulcie, my youngest daughter.
Valentine*
2001-2 2’ 12”
What it says on the tin. Hushed, poignant, still and loving creating line from minor harmony.
Song*
1990 2'10"
Song The escape of my frustrated 30s band leader alter ego. Several people have suggested white suits.
Four Sketches for an Artist*
2010 4’ 36"
Four Sketches for an Artist (2010) were written as a gift for the artist Adrian Sumner. Pictures without an exhibition inspired by his work. They use the following ideas: Adrian’s erudition, the wonderful way he drops a rich idea into a conversation and lets it be, line, introversion, delicacy, atmosphere, intimacy, quietude.
Angel (free download on Sheetmusic)
2014
A lugubrious exploration of The Angel Gabriel. A Christmas housewarming present for the Red House
Fresh
2002 2'30"
A pulsing little study
XL50
2009 4'
A four handed lugubrious minimal Fireball tribute for John Holloway
Crag
2002 2'
* recorded on Light from the Dark
Instrumental
…of the honest
1981
Wind quintet, String trio, Celeste, Piano
Premiered by the Oxford Sinfonia, St James Piccadilly
Melodrama I - Compline
1981 Solo Flute
Harsh contrasts: showily melodramatic gestures and the quiet calm of the nocturnal Compline. Premiered in the Purcell Room by Katey Thomas
Quint
2013
Flute, Violin and Piano
A wedding anniversary for James and Lucy
18
2007
Violin and Piano
An eighteenth birthday for Susannah Hamilton
Flow
Bb clarinet and piano
Flow
solo guitar
Written for David Harvey and takes as its starting point the ever popular Dowland Lachrimae / Flow my Tears and updates its piquant, exquisite, solitary, sobbing pain. The solo voice invited the solitary intimacy of sadness. Unusually for my music it has a gentle sweet resolution.
Organ
Intercession
Short smoochy, sub Messiaen, atmospheric piece
Alleluia
1998
A christening gift. A short showy fanfare premiered by David Houlder in Bristol Cathedral
Expanse
1976
The first piece to explore the minimal, atmospheric world of stretching time and light and dark. Premiered by Andrew Parmely in Lancashire then by the composer at the Royal Northern College of Music
Ideas, Expanse, Fire
1979
The original piece became three pieces, exploring textures much influenced by Ligeti and Charles Camilleri's Missa Mundi
Vocal, Choral, Opera, Theatre
Love (free download on Sheetmusic)
2014
SSAATTBB. A loving bi-lingual wedding present for Bridget and George,
Vacation Time - A Song for Jo
1991
Soprano and piano
In the English tradition with a hint of irony. Written for Jo Burns. Text Frank Hutt
Child's Play
1987
3 saxophones, trumpet, synthesiser, children's voices, solos
Commissioned by the Leeds Youth Opera Group and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Premiered in Ripon Cathedral
Gestures
1986
Tape. Commissioned by Gestures Dance Company
Lovesong
2012
Two Sopranos, violin and piano
A pearl wedding anniversary gift
Happinesse
2013
Soprano and piano
A 21st gift for Alice Wright
Oak
2012
SATB (divisi)Fro Andrew Millinchip and the Cantores Roboriensis, Grange School
Song for J
1980
SATBarB Premiered by the Scholars in Keble College Oxford
…After the Incas
1986
SSAA Percussion, tape Premiered by the Bolton Youth Choir
Church Music
Responses (including Grace and Lord's Prayer)
1988-9
Unison, angular, gentle
Responses (including Third Collect)
1976
SATB
Evening Canticles Magdalen College Oxford
1979
SATB and organ. Premiered by Dr Bernard Rose, Simon Lawford and the choir of Magdalen College
Evening Canticles
1988
SATB and organ. ASB Text
Evening Canticles - Liverpool Cathedral
1991
Men's voices and organ. Premiered by Ian Tracey and the Men's Voices of Liverpool Cathedral. Incorporates the Marian Antiphon Salve Regina and the Hebrew prophecy Nahamu, Nahamu, ami yemar Lohichem
Psalm 100
1979
SATB (Divisi) and Organ
A rather mad, exploration of improvised texture premiered by Geoffrey Webber and the Oxford Chamber Choir
Psalm 102
1979
SATB (Divisi) and Sop solo
Similarly mad, exploration of improvised texture based on the magnificent Purcell Hear My Prayer, premiered by Geoffrey Webber and the Oxford Chamber Choir
Psalm 150
1979
SATB (Divisi) and Organ
A rather mad, exploration of improvised texture premiered by Geoffrey Webber and the Oxford Chamber Choir
Lighten our Darkness
1979
SSAATTBB and Organ
Grant We Bessech Thee
1976
Solo treble and SATB for Chester Cathedral
Mary of Nazareth
1980
Solo Oboe, Organ, Handbells, tape, Solo Tenor and SATB.
Premiered at St Chad's Poutlon-Le-Fylde
Four Propers: Adam's Apple, Confessions, Miserere Mei, Penance
1981
SSTB (amplified), flute, oboe, viola, harp
Commissioned by Edington Festival
