The following is a complete list of works, ordered by genre

Songs with ensemble
Songs (with keyboard or guitar)
Keyboard
Mixed instrumental ensembles
Orchestra and large ensemble
String ensemble pieces
Solo strings and strings with piano
Choral

Seas of Light and Dark - fl./picc. vla. pf.; 10 minutes (three movements)
First performance by Nancy Ruffer, Sarah Jane Bradley and Jonathan Ayerst, The Assembly House, Norwich, May 12th, 2000

First London performance (same performers) The Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, May 23rd 2000 Published by Music Haven

Paradis moins cinq: Five Gémont Songs - mezzo-sop. alto fl. harp pf. electr.(live) perc.(1) 3vls. 2vlas.
Commissioned by The Purcell School with funds provided by The Holst Foundation

First performance by Lana Skgratic and The Purcell Contemporary Ensemble, cond.Edward Longstaff, 18th March 1999

At the Tide's Mercy - high voice vl. vc. pf.
Two songs to words by Anne Cluysenaar.

Awarded 1998 Music Haven Composition Prize
First performed by Susanne Teufel (sop.) with the New London Trio, Conway Hall, London, May 1999.

Return to top

Seas Not Mingling: Four microtonal songs - soprano and keyboard-triggered electronics.
Traditional Arabic texts (in English)

Written in collaboration with the soprano Clare Lesser and the pianist David Lesser, exploring the potential of quartertonal melody and harmony. An ongoing project.

Four Shakespeare Songs (From The Passionate Pilgrim) - mezzo-sop. guitar; 9 minutes
First performance 20th October 2001 at the Stratford-upon-Avon Festival, by Sophia Grech (mezzo soprano) and Richard Chapman (guitar), with further performances by them at Leicester University and Guildford International Festival (24th January 2003 and 10th March 2003 respectively).

Only Dreamers Know - mezzo-sop. and guitar; 10 minutes (six songs; words by Thomas Hardy)
Commissioned by Sophia Grech, with additional funds provided by the Bridport and West Dorset Music Society

First performance 3rd November, 2000, by Sophia Grech and Richard Chapman in Bridport, Dorset

Voice of the Midnight Wind mezzo-sop. pf. (to words by Emily Bronte) 4 minutes
One of a set of six songs (Voices of Midnight) on the theme of night.
Winner of the 2nd prize in the English Poetry and Song Society's Composing competition, 1999.

First performance by Lorraine Worley and Ernest Woolford, Bristol Music Club, October 1999.

First London performance by Ann Murray and Christopher Gould, Wigmore Hall, 16th February 2000; commercial live recording on CRC1003-2.

Wild Nights: Seven Songs to Words by Emily Dickinson - mezzo-sop. pf.
Commissioned by Dr Stephen Johnson.

Joint First Prize winner in the 1997 Classic CD Magazine Composing Competition.

First performance Taunton, Somerset, July 1997, by Sue Pearson and Carolyn Doorbar

A Trace Known: Five Songs to words by Anne Cluysenaar baritone, pno
First performed by Jeremy Watkins and Michael Butterfield at St. Odoceus' Church, Llandogo, and The Bishop's Palace, Wells, February 1993.

If Mind Remember: Three Songs to words by Anne Cluysenaar baritone, pno
Written on an Arvon Foundation Totleigh Barton course for poets and composers and first performed there by Charles Gibbs and Nigel Dodd (October 1991); first public performance at The Bristol Music Club by Jeremy Watkins and Michael Butterfield (January 1992).

Return to top

In the Presence of the Angels
A series of organ pieces for inclusion in worship at Downside Abbey, Somerset, based on plainchant celebrating St Benedict.

Written in collaboration with Br Martin Gowman. Performed by Br Martin at the worldwide Synod of Abbots Present at Downside in September 2006.

First public performance on May 1st 2005 at King's College Chapel, University of Aberdeen, at a recital by Roger B. Williams forming part of the Aberdeen Music Prize weekend.
Programme note

Sassafras Leaves: Nine Variations on a Cryptogram - pf.; 11 min.
First performed by Masayuki Tayama at St Olave's Church, City of London, March 1999, then at Toho University, Japan, and at Leicester Cathedral, England.

Space Games: a concert piece for piano, 7 minutes
Written for Maki Sekiya, and performed by her at University of Bristol (October 1995), The Purcell School (January 1996) and Leicester Cathedral (August 1997). Shortlisted for the Cornelius Cardew Composition Prize, November 1996.

Return to top

MIXED INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLES

Crystallisations - flute, oboe viola, 11 minutes (a companion piece to Holst's Terzetto)
Commissioned by the Cheltenham International Festival of Music with funds from South West Arts.

First performed by Endymion (Helen Keen, Melinda Maxwell and Asdis Valdimarsdottir) on Friday 4 July 2003 in the Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham. Broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 10th July 2003.

Angel Music - clarinet, string quartet, 16 minutes (three joined movements): "The Bells of Rievaulx"; "Angel in a Thermal"; "Live with me and be my love")

Commissioned by Dr Stephen Johnson

First performance 23rd April 2002 at The Purcell Room, London, by Katherine Spencer and the Solaris Quartet

Silent Conversation - cl. vl. vc. pf.; 5 minutes
Written as a companion to Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time for an SPNM-promoted concert at the Tate Gallery, Liverpool, to accompany the Tony Cragg exhibition.

First performance May 27th, 2000 at the Liverpool Tate, by members of RLPO Ensemble 10:10 (Nicholas Cox, Shirly Laub, Jonathan Aasgaard, Kathryn Page)

First London performance December 4th 2001 at The Warehouse, Theed Street by The Contemporary Consort (Sarah Thurlow, Alexandra Wood, Rosie Banks, Huw Watkins), on the occasion of the SPNM AGM

Lulla cl. bsn. pf.
A 1985 work revised and rewritten for The Glinka Trio (Spencer Pitfield, Antal Mosjer and Risto Lauriaala) for their tour of Finland in November 1998.

First performances by them at Nurmes, Kuusomo, Lahti and Ruokolahti, and subsequently in the UK and USA.

Ripples and Cadenzas vl. pf. electr.(live); 16 minutes
An adaptation of the first movement of a concerto written for my daughter, Ruth Palmer.

First performed at The Victoria Rooms, Bristol and at The Royal Academy of Music, London, in February 1997 and May 1998 by Ruth Palmer (vl.) Masayuki Tayama (pf.) and the composer (live electronics)

"I really liked your concerto very much indeed . . . .marvellously played by Ruth" (Howard Davies, Professor, RAM)

Sonata for Three Cellos and Oboe
Written for students, who performed the work at St Cuthbert's Church, Wells, and at Wells Cathedral (April and June 1992), at The Purcell School (February and June 1998), and at Chamber Music International (August 2004).

First professional performance by Pierre Doumenge, Graham Waterhouse and Geoff Palmer (cellos) with Melanie Ragge (oboe) at Swaledale Festival, 6th June 2004

Four Nocturnes oboe, pno
Written for Emma Ringrose, December 1993

Music from Winter fl, ob, 2pft
Music from Winter chamber orchestra

Original version first performed May 1975 at The Recital Hall, Huddersfield

Return to top

Flute Concerto: Cancri 55 (fl, ob, cl, bass cl, bsn, hn, tr, trb, 2 x perc, hp, vl1, vl2, vla, cello, bass), 17 minutes (one movement)
Commissioned by New Music Concerts, Toronto
First performed in 2011 by New Music Concerts Ensemble with Robert Aitken, flute, on 6th March at Betty Oliphant Theatre. The work is dedicated to Jonathan Harvey, whose work was the focus of this concert.
Programme note

Concerto for Bassoon, Seven Solo Strings and Small Orchestra
First performance by the bassoonist Antal Mojzer, The Chamber Orchestra of Lapland (conducted by John Storgards) at Rovaniemi, Finland, on 5th May 2008

March, Lament and Fugue for Wind Orchestra and Percussion
Funded by Arts Council England. Commissioned by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.

First performance by TVYWO on 22nd April 2005, at Holy Trinity Church, Fairfield, Stockton-on-Tees.
Programme note

Mu Ara - full orchestra (3233-4231-timp+3-str) 8 minutes
Written as part of TVMS Composer-in-Education project

First performance on September 5th, 2002, at St Mary's RC Cathedral, Middlesbrough, by Tees Valley Youth Orchestra, conducted by David Kendall.

From Fell to Sea - full orchestra (2232-4331-timp+3-str.); 11 minutes
Commissioned by the Friends of the Tees Valley Youth Orchestra, supported by a British Reserve Youth Orchestra Award, to celebrate the Millennium and the orchestra's tour to Poland.

First performed by the TVYO, conducted by David Kendall, at St Elizabeth's Church, Wroclaw, July 19th 2000.

Recorded, with interview, for broadcast by Polish Radio Opole at St Nicholas Church, Brzeg, July 20th 2000.

First UK performance at Coulby Newham RC Cathedral, September 8th 2000.

Dances of Tess's Seduction chamber orchestra
Written for Jonathan Cross and the Bristol University New Music Ensemble; first performed by them at The Victoria Rooms, Bristol, November 1996

Moskenesøya chamber orchestra
Written for Raymond Warren and the Bristol University New Music Ensemble; first performed by them at The Great Hall, University of Bristol, November 1993.

Fugue, In Nomine and Serenata for Tenor, String Quartet and String Orchestra
First performance of the Serenata in May 1975 at The Recital Hall, Huddersfield, by a student ensemble conducted by Richard Steinitz.

Return to top

String Quartet No. 3: Within, above, beyond 20 minutes (one movement)
Written for the 2000 Cheltenham International Festival of Music in a project supported by Mr Jack Black and the Lord Ashdown Charitable Trust

First performance July 10th 2000 at Cheltenham, by the Sorrel String Quartet, with live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 (with interview)

"The composer's strengths lie in his realisation that, even in so emotive and emotionally loaded theme as (the Holocaust), the artistic and aesthetic are the key considerations . . . And what emerges here is a powerful, poignant and memorable piece that is devoid of mawkishness." (John Adler in Jewish Chronicle)

First overseas performance December 1st 2002 as part of New Music Concerts season, Toronto, Ontario, by the Accordes String Quartet.

String Quartet No. 2: La Maestà; 12 minutes
Written for The Nossek Quartet, Manchester and first performed by them, University of Bristol, May 1995.

SPNM-promoted performance by the Sorrel String Quartet at The Cheltenham International Festival of Music, July 1997

Extracted for inclusion on SPNM's CD "Short Cuts", April 1998

First broadcast performance (also by the Sorrel String Quartet, also from Cheltenham) live on BBC Radio 3, July 8th 1999, with interview. Repeat broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 20th August 2001

Sextet 2vls, vla, 3vlc
Written in memory of Arnold Zelter and performed in February 1993 by his former students at a memorial concert in St. Odoceus' Church, Llandogo, and at The Bishop's Palace, Wells.

String Quartet No. 1: In Nomine
First performance in April 1973 at The Recital Hall, Huddersfield

Return to top

West Country Sketches - solo violin, 8 minutes (five movements) "Castle Cary", "Launcells Cross", "Watern Tor", "Wells Cathedral", "Wimborne Minster".
Written to a request for recital material from my daughter, Ruth Palmer.

First performance (with dancer Antonia Grove and choreographer Raphael Bonachela) on 14th July 2003 at St Andrew's Church, Cheltenham, as part of the Cheltenham International Festival of Music.

First London performance (unaccompanied) on 29th February 2004 at The Purcell Room.

Reconciliation - solo violin, 8 minutes (one movement) Commissioned by New Music Concerts, Toronto, Canada. First performance 1st December, 2002, as part of the New Music Concerts season, by Fujiko Imajishi.

"Musical passion" (Robert Harris in The Globe and Mail)

Chansons for Violin and Piano

Chanson en fa (1989)
Chanson en sol (1999)
Chanson en la (2009)
Chanson en mi bémol (1979)

First performance of this compilation by Ruth Palmer and Alexei Grynyuk at Kings Place, London, on 1st March 2009, as part of the London Chamber Music Society series.
(Chanson en sol was commissioned for Haru and Maki Sekiya by the Institute of Socio-Cultural Development, Japan, and first performed by Haru and Maki Sekiya, Leicester Cathedral, August 1999, at a concert of the Anglo- Japanese Music Society)
Programme note

Variations for Violin and Piano; 10 minutes
Eight variations on an original theme written in 1993 for Mateja Marinkovic and his students at The Purcell School and The Royal Academy of Music in London.

First broadcast performance by Litsa Tunnah in the string semi-final and string final rounds of BBC Young Musician 2002: Variations 5, 6 and 8 broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four television (22nd May, 2002) and BBC Two television (25th May 2002).

The Call to Lazarus 2vlc, pno
First performed The Vicars' Hall, Wells Cathedral, September 1991, by Geoff Palmer and Samuel Palmer, cellos, and Nigel Dodd, piano.

Prelude for Solo Violin
First performed in May 1975 at The Recital Hall, Huddersfield by Herbert Whone.

Return to top

Leaden; Golden: Three songs of despair and their joyful echoes - SATB and harp, 15 minutes (to words by William Blake, William Shakespeare and Gerard Manley Hopkins)
Commissioned for the Tees Valley Youth Choir by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, 2004

Far Better Things - SSB, orch (1020-121-perc(2)-pno-hp-elec guit(2)-str) 35 minutes
Written as a part of TVMS Composer-in-Education project with support from SAGE, Gateshead

A choral/orchestral work for young people; words by J G Magee, the composer, and from Hindu tradition. Comprising eight movements: "Fanfare" "Sarajevo 1992" "Tiananmen Square 1989" "Antarctica 1912" "Dunblane 1996" "Farne Islands 1838" "Skies over Southern Britain 1940" "Dandi, India, 1930"

First performance by local musicians and schoolchildren, conducted by David Murray, on 2nd July 2003 at Stockton Baptist Tabernacle.

. . . snatches of lovely oblivion . . . Four Songs to Poems by D.H.Lawrence - chamber choir (SATB) and string quartet or string orchestra; 17 minutes
First performed by The Carillon Choir of St Albans, conducted by Simon Brown, 18th December 1998, at The Purcell School.

Esther one-act opera; words by Anne Cluysenaar; soprano, tenor and bass/baritone soloists and orchestra, 30 minutes.
Staged at Wickam Theatre, Bristol, in June 1994, in a joint production by the Music and Drama departments of University of Bristol; Jenevora Williams, Chritopher Lemmings, Ian Caddy, soloists; produced by Martin White; student orchestra conducted by Owen Leech.
Also: Esther - Concert Overture, based on material from the opera; selected for second round judging in Masterprize 1998

Christmas Cantata
Written for Sidcot School, 1985

Two Christmas Carols
That All, Which Alwayes is All: words by John Donne; SSATB, organ Angels: words by the composer; SATB unacc.

Return to top