This year has seen the release of the CD EURASIA, recorded by Phoenix Classics,
works for clarinet and guitar, including my Petticoat Lane and Exmas Carol.
The performances by David Compostella and Alessandro Balsimini were excellent and the overall choice of music was refreshingly new and accessible.
Concerts involving some of my music this year have included:
Japanese Song, Im Schönsten Wiesengrunde and The Fallow Deer at the Lonely House at the NWCA concert on 27 September 2008 at Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, performed by Richard McHale (tenor) and the composer (alto and guitar).
The première of Canzone per Pesach (Song for Passover) for guitar solo, performed by Alberto Mesirca for the Jewish Communities of Baden, Graz and Rome
The première of my Songs of Melissanthi and Yiddish Folksongs at Montecchio, with
me singing alto and Alessandro Balsimini playing guitar -
Performances by Alessandro Balsimini of Coming out of the Fog, Calypso and Spider’s Web at Montecchio and Lugnano in Teverina during the interval in the choral concert given by The Summertown Choral Society, (in which I sang soprano!)
The première of La Chute des Anges rebelles for clarinet, bassoon and piano, written for the Fou de Basson Festival in Angoulême on 29 June [see below for details]
Two performances of Page d'écriture for flute, double-
Other recent musical activities -
Publications with Musik Fabrik and Productions d’Oz, in collaboration with Alessandro Balsimini, who has given my works some more professional polish by editing and fingering the guitar parts.
Publications with MyScoreStore
Ongoing transcription work from my old manuscript books... for publication soon...
Multimedia presentation of my works to the Sale U3A (University of the Third Age).
Performance of various show songs and WW2 songs, including Hey Big Spender (in a lovely blond wig!) and a passionate rendition of Oh Oh Antonio, at St Barnabas Penny Lane, Liverpool..
Singing alto in various services with Ex Choro in churches over the Manchester area.
October 2008:
Began a series of slideshow videos for which I am singing the soundtracks, which I’m putting on YouTube:
So far there are:
Saturnalia Song (Io! Saturnalia!)
Exprompt (an Armenian song of farewell)
The Recipe (Shakespeare’s three witches -
Pucelete -
Lord we beseech Thee -
Dont vient cela -
Tant que vivray -
And
Three little maids from school
And also a slideshow of some of my mother’s artwork to the accompaniment of “Purinjiti”
Published the scores of my guitar solos Twenty-
Published the score and parts to my short string quartet “No, Time, Thou shalt not
boast” -
Published the score and parts to my evangelical Christmas song for two voices, flutes, guitar, tambourine and double bass “The Message of Christmas” and also
the score for the guitar solo “A Toy”.
Published my old Saturnalia Song -
Published a simple but effective setting of “Street Song” based on a translation by James Russell of a poem by the Armenian poet Vahan Teryan. It can be seen and heard at MyScoreStore.
Recent composition for choir and piano, written specially for Roundelay, the choir of Cross Street Chapel, Manchester: it is a setting of John Mason’s poem “How shall I sing that Majesty”. It can be seen and heard at MyScoreStore.
================Earlier=================
This year has seen the release of the CD EURASIA, recorded by Phoenix Classics,
works for clarinet and guitar, including my Petticoat Lane and Exmas Carol.
The performances by David Compostella and Alessandro Balsimini were excellent and the overall choice of music was refreshingly new and accessible.
Concerts involving some of my music this year have included:
Japanese Song, Im Schönsten Wiesengrunde and The Fallow Deer at the Lonely House at the NWCA concert on 27 September 2008 at Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, performed by Richard McHale (tenor) and David Solomons (alto and guitar).
The première of Canzone per Pesach (Song for Passover) for guitar solo, performed by Alberto Mesirca for the Jewish Communities of Baden, Graz and Rome
The première of my Songs of Melissanthi and Yiddish Folksongs at Montecchio, with
me singing alto and Alessandro Balsimini playing guitar -
Performances by Alessandro Balsimini of Coming out of the Fog, Calypso and Spider’s Web at Montecchio and Lugnano in Teverina during the interval in the choral concert given by The Summertown Choral Society, (in which I sang soprano!)
The première of La Chute des Anges rebelles for clarinet, bassoon and piano, written for the Fou de Basson Festival in Angoulême on 29 June [see here for details]
Two performances of Page d'écriture for flute, double-
Other recent musical activities -
Publications with Musik Fabrik and Productions d’Oz, in collaboration with Alessandro Balsimini, who has given my works some more professional polish by editing and fingering the guitar parts.
Publications with MyScoreStore
Ongoing transcription work from my old manuscript books... for publication soon...
Multimedia presentation of my works to the Sale U3A (University of the Third Age).
Performance of various show songs and WW2 songs, including Hey Big Spender (in a lovely blond wig!) and a passionate rendition of Oh Oh Antonio, at St Barnabas Penny Lane, Liverpool..
Singing alto in various services with Ex Choro in churches over the Manchester area.
Singing with Roundelay at Cross Street Unitarian Chapel.
November 2008
Reconstituted the Greek folksongs page.
Translated the text for a Productions d’Oz special edition of all the works of Tárrega,
edited by Michel Beauchamp -
New score of mine published on Productions d’Oz
Two new scores published on MyScoreStore:
The Willow Song (tenor or alto and guitar)
The Swallows (alto and guitar)
Continuing my series of slideshow videos:
El Grillo -
The Echo Song -
The Swallows -
To music bent -
O Lusty May -
Rose -
Jubilate Deo -
Wrong side of the door (improved version) by D W Solomons
Dashing away with a smoothing iron -
Salga el torillo hosquillo -
When David heard that Absalom was slain -
Maria wallt zum Heiligtum (when Mary to the temple went) -
The 12 days of Christmas a conductor’s nightmare -
a cartoon in collaboration with David Marsh
Riu riu chiu -
My Lord Willoughby’s welcome home -
January -
New work with ZALO-
Dream on -
New works and arrangements available on MyScoreStore
Christmas Song for alto saxophone and guitar
Greek Wassail -
The finding of St Anthony (inspired by the poetry of Claude-
The finding of St Anthony -
Moonlight on sea for mezzo soprano, alto and guitar
Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (Tchaikovsky) arranged for alto or baritone and guitar
4 Schubert songs arranged for alto or baritone and guitar
Paddywhack variations (guitar solo)
Paddy asleep (simple guitar solo)
To Cassandra (alto and guitar)
Dorina -
Dream On (for flute, clarinet, guitar and cello)
Love’s God is a boy (Robert Jones) -
Ich Danke dem Herrn (Schütz) -
Nymphs and Shepherds come away (Henry Purcell) -
New Videos on YouTube:
Philomela across the centuries (Though Philomela lost her love -
Innsbruck I now must leave you
What shall I do to show how much I love her (Purcell)
Paddywhack variations (guitar solo)
Hoc est enim corpus meum (for choir)
Love’s God is a boy (arranged for alto and guitar)
Für d’Kotz [an Alsacien comic poem -
Prayer to the Virgin (two altos and guitar)
Paddy asleep (simple guitar solo)
Celebration (for Native American flute and strings /percussion)
Falling is Painless (based on poems by Carol Batton)
To a bee with no sense of direction (based on a poem by Audrey Vaughan)
How shall I sing that Majesty?
My Love (a canon for three equal voices)
December 2008
A bit slow this month due to illness, but .... I have made slideshow videos incorporating my performances of:
Winter Wonderland (with live footage from a friend in snowy climes)
Tourdion -
Chinese New Year celebration (with fireworks)
Chanukkah song: The feast of lights
Duetto buffo di due gatti (Cats duet) (arranged for 2 altos and guitar)
Mister Sandman (Pat Ballard arr dws)
Voyelles (setting by Mike Roberts)
The Storm -
Verbum Patris humanatur (anon)
Kalenda Maya (Raimbault de Vaqueiras)
Dido’s lament (when I am laid in earth) (Henry Purcell)
=================
Translated the CD booklet and Productions d’Oz publication of Michel Beauchamp’s
edition of the complete guitar works of Francisco Tárrega -
Sang at various venues, mainly Cross Street Chapel, Westhoughton, Christ Church Didsbury and PenMaenMawr.
Spring 2009
Events
Spring this year began early!.... at the end of February .... with two recitals of
my songs for alto (countertenor) and classical guitar, at St Martin’s Ashton-
I was accompanied by my great friend Alessandro Balsimini, from Treviso, on guitar.
I have created videos of most of these performances, some as live video thanks to
Daniella Cantamessa on digital camera, in which I dubbed the minidisk recording onto
the footage, and some as slideshow-
These videos can be seen here.
Links for scores of the songs from the recitals are provided at the end of each video and also on the voice and guitar page.
The St Martin’s recital was reviewed by local churchman and fellow singer at St Martin’s Peter McElhinney for the church magazine “The Ashtonian” here.
On 14th March I performed Milord and Je ne regrette rien (as sung by Edith Piaf,
well, almost “as sung”...) and songs by Noel Coward, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith
and the Gershwins, at the fund-
On 28/29 March I joined a group of German singers in Haworth, all from Lutheran churches in the North of England, and we sang a wide range of music, from Lutheran style motets, to canons by Hindemith and Purcell, Besame Mucho (!!) and a motet by me (Hoc est enim ), which they also enjoyed singing. More details are now posted on their site (in German of course!).
On 31st March at Peel Hall, Salford University, the Fell Clarinet Quartet did a brilliant
performance of various works by members of the North-
On 5th April I joined the Sylvan Singers for a concert at the Larkhill centre in
Timperley -
Various singing opportunities during Easter -
On 6th April Simon Clulow (countertenor) and Cobie Smit (guitar) performed my arrangement of Purcell’s “Music for a while” at Wells Cathedral. They may record it later.
New publications:
Sing Oh Daughter of Zion (from the Book of Zephaniah)
Tants fraylachs for clarinet quartet
Rossignol du bois sauvage -
Haikus by Basho -
Three works for Ocarina Septet:
L’incantatrice del Norte -
Noel di Gautier (Gautier’s Noel)
Serenata nella residenza estiva (Serenade in the summer residence)
Michel Beauchamp’s excellent book containing all of the guitar works of Tarrega, together with two CDs of his sensitive performance of each work, (in which I was involved as translator), has now been published by Les Productions d’Oz
New videos:
Apolytikion tis Pentikostis (Dismissal Hymn for the time of Pentecost)
Discord! Dire sister (Samuel Webbe)
O happy Fair -
Nänie (lament for a songbird) (Schumann)
....was writing:
works for men’s voices and Native American flute for James Pellerite
works for cello groups (octets and quintets) for Andrea Weiss in Seattle and a relatively simple work for choir based on Luther’s Bible.
Recent performances of my works
Tants Fraylachs (2nd performance) performed by the Fell Clarinet Quartet
And
Folksong wedding (Première) also performed by the Fell Clarinet Quartet
Details here
New Videos:
Mass for men’s voices and organ
Dorian Serendipity -
MP3 or Dorian Serendipity now also available on emusic
The Frostbound Wood -
Thou visitest the earth -
Past two o’clock (ATBarB)
Jellicle Catgut (String quartet)
It was a lover and his lass (ATTB or SATB)
Be not afear’d (Song based on Caliban’s speech in The Tempest)
String quartet (illustrated by carvings by Tim Burgess)
Tants fraylachs -
performed by the Fell Clarinet Quartet
The park on Sunday -
music by David W Solomons
Pax Eiscum (flute and guitar)
The Hebrew Class (alto and guitar)
Fuguing by doing -
The Girl in the choir -
Wenn ein starker Gewappneter -
8 Jewish Melodies for flute and guitar -
8 Jewish Melodies for flute and guitar -
An Exmas Carol (featuring the performance by Duo Musaikòn)
Petticoat Lane (featuring the performance by Duo Musaikòn)
The Stripper (after Gilbert and Sullivan)
Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone
Fire Dash -
Air Apparent for recorder and string quartet
Alleyways -
Wondrous Cool by Brahms -
Hiawatha -
Hari Bouriquet (Heehaw donkey)
New Publications:
To Cassandra (for eight cellos)
Song of the childless (alto and guitar)
Marie, for shame you keep your bed too long (alto and guitar)
Fire Dash (non-
Variations on “Ke Arona” for oboe (or flute), violin, viola and cello
Variations on Adon Olam for two flutes and guitar
Variations on Adon Olam for flute, viola and guitar
New Recordings:
Recording by Setrak Setrakian of my Scallywag's Kickwalk
The Storm (Procter and Rogers) sung by the dwsChorale
New Publications (with recordings)
Song to Idleness (original version for alto and guitar)
Chute des anges rebelles (clarinet, bassoon and piano)
Meinau Rag for flute, double bass and guitar
Crocodile Waltz for double bass and guitar
Wenn der Pott aber nu ein Loch hat (German folksong, origin of "There's a hole in my bucket")
Dans l'interminable ennui de la plaine
(setting for alto and guitar of the poem by Paul Verlaine with translation)
(alto, tenor and guitar (notation and also chords and fretboard versions))
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World première (création mondiale) of my "La Chute des anges rebelles" (fall of the
rebellious angels - Lola Lacomme - Eugénie Ricard - Stefan Denk - Score available from Myscorestore |
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