Music creator Robin Fiedler talks about the premiere of their collaboration piece with Regent Brass Band and Camden Brass Band as part of Adopt a...
Over the years, the Adopt a Music Creator project has inspired fantastic musical creations that are worth sharing, so we've created a library of these compositions. The composers have re-scored their pieces to make them more accessible to other kinds of groups. These new versions are free for Making Music member groups to download and perform.
Below you can listen to recordings of each of the original pieces (made for the BBC Radio 3 broadcasts), and read accompanying notes from the composers and project mentors to help you identify which piece might work best for your group. We look forward to many more performances of these wonderful new compositions - let us know if you're thinking about performing them.
Contact the composers to request parts or if you have further questions about the pieces themselves. Or email sally@makingmusic.org.uk if you have more general enquires about the project.
Caitlin Harrison - From Dawn to Dreams
Scored for: orchestra
Composer's notes
From Dawn to Dreams was originally developed for both Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra (music director Andrew Taylor) and Reading Youth Orchestra music director Mel Le Breuilly) as part of the Adopt a Music Creator project 2022. The piece was re-orchestrated from two orchestras to one large orchestra in 2023 as a legacy project commissioned by Making Music.
The work consists of four movements, each inspired by a small fragment of poetry. Mary Russell Mitford was chosen especially as a poet who spent most of her life in Reading (the home city of both orchestras), which features frequently in her literature. All poems are nature themed, the work opens with a dawn, fantastical floral subjects fill the inner two movements before closing with a dreamy twilight.
Movement 1 — The Grey Dawn
'The balmiest hour the seasons bring,
Is that which summer joins to spring;
The sweetest moment of the day,
Is when the grey dawn slides away.'
— from 'Song' by Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855)
Movement 2 — Rhododendron Bells
'O hearken - hush! And lean thy ear,
Tuned for an elfin melody,
And tell me now, dost thou not hear
Those voices of pink mystery? -
Voices of silver-throated bells
Of breathing, rhododendron bells.'
— from 'The Rhododendron Bells' by Ella Higginson (1862-1904)
Movement 3 — The Greenhouse
'And how gladly the sun departs
From the empty gleam of the day,
He veils himself, he who suffers truly,
In the darkness of silence.'
— from 'Im Treibhaus' by Mathilde Wesendonck (1828-1902)
Movement 4 — Night
'It was as though the sky
had silently kissed the earth,
so that it now had to dream of sky
in shimmers of flowers.'
— from 'Mondnacht' by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788-1857)
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Edgar Divver - Brushstrokes
Scored for: flute ensemble
Composer's notes
When I first started this project, I had recently moved house and had started to think about some redecorations, especially repainting some interior walls. While researching paint colours, I noticed that many of them had very interesting names, and I was fascinated by this! Upon delving a little more, the most interesting names, without a shadow of a doubt, were from Farrow & Ball, and so I took a trip to my local F&B store to look at the colours in more detail. I honestly could have chosen at least a dozen colours for the movements, but I felt a resonance with five of them, and these names make up the individual movements in the suite.
'Green Smoke' is a swirling, unsettling, and jolting movement, exploring the full range of the flutes. It never feels stable, often moving unexpectedly, capturing the elusive and dangerous nature of smoke through a whirlwind of sound.
'Elephant's Breath' is a welcome change of pace, with the contrabass and bass flutes at the centre, but the smoke lingers slightly throughout, only clearing in the final few bars. The range is noticeably lower not just in the basses but across the entire ensemble, giving a greater sense of stability.
'Red Earth' maintains the low feel, but a sense of unease creeps in, the wariness of an unfamiliar place. The piccolo, G flute and alto flute play together warily, initially uncomfortable with their sound, but, eventually, the rest of the ensemble embraces the new environment as the movement closes.
'Borrowed Light' is a stark contrast to the previous movements. The flutes soar, free of their previous worries, as they relish a moment of sun, and all through the ensemble there is joy in the sound, culminating in the brightest moment of the entire piece.
'Citron' brings the suite to a close, reinventing what has gone before in a zesty new way, before nostalgia sets in and snippets of the sunshine return - finally ending with a race to the finish!
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Joshua Brown - Hardened by Sun and Air
Scored for: brass band
Composer's notes
Hardened by Sun and Air was composed for the Glasgow Orchestral Society and premiered in 2022. As a former cornet and flugelhorn player, I was keen to explore and reimagine the melodies and shifting ensemble colours of this piece in a new arrangement for brass band. The unfolding landscape presents the melody in a number of contrasting ways, until the evolving revelation becomes a cacophony.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Hannah Fredsgaard-Jones - Over the Moor
Scored for: SATB choir and piano
Composer's notes
Over the Moor was developed for Voices of Exmoor as part of the Adopt a Music Creator project in 2022. It is a piece for mixed voices that explores the dialogue between the softness of soaring birds and blooming hills and the expressive nature of rivers and coastline. Over the Moor is a song about the wild and the gentle, the changing of the seasons, the turning of the leaves and the salmon in the rivers waiting for the right moment before they head for the open sea. It is a piece about the changing of time, about ancient stones and about the here and now as we experience it; as we listen to the sounds around us and see new life preparing to burst through the ground.
Words and music were created in collaboration with Voices of Exmoor through workshops and correspondence using images, text, nature recordings, musical instruments, improvisation and graphic scores as creative stimuli and modes of producing.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Emily Peasgood - Oxted Suite
Scored for: brass band
Composer's notes
Oxted Suite comprises of a Chorale (~2m), a March (~5m) and a Second Line (~3m 45s). It can be performed as a full suite (~9m 15s) or standalone Oxted March (~5m). Oxted Suite is a contemporary brass band work. While a traditional march is at its core, it is sandwiched between a sombre choral and a funky second line that celebrates comerarderie and friendship in brass bands. Oxted Suite subverts traditions around instrument roles in the brass band. Melodic lines are shared between players. Instruments that traditionally take a leading role take supporting roles, and vice versa. The drum kit usually forms the rhythmic focus as a supporting instrument. In Oxted Suite, percussion takes centre stage with glockenspiel, woodblock, triangle and kit, inviting focus from the audience. This is an exciting piece for players who desire a challenge, with adequate time to change instrument if there is only one player.
The Chorale emerges slowly, with the warmth of an awakening warm summer day. The glockenspiel calls to band members and twinkles, punctuating the ends of phrases. The band builds to an intense crescendo and a fanfare accounces the march.
Oxted March is the centrepiece but can also stand alone. Playful and rhythmic, it celebrates the pomp and glory of brass band pageantry. A subtle melodic motif is introduced, reiterated as the march progresses; sometimes reversed and sometimes reordered. Accompanying harmony moves through several moods. Pomp, an Indiana Jones reference, the warm haze at the end of a hot day, and a concluding fanfare are puncutated by wood block and snare drum. There are two possible endings. For the full suite, perform ending J2. When performing Oxted March alone, perform ending J1.
In Second Line, the Chorale is referenced alongside the melodic motif from Oxted March; clear and strong. It playfully bounces around the band, sometimes in two parts with the first questioning and the second answering; bantering between players. Second Line takes inspiration from brass band parades in New Orleans, where people follow the band as a 'second line'. It involves dancing, celebration, engaging with the community and getting funky. In our Second Line, rhythmic lines start to emerge, building layers and creating repetitive minimal interlocking textures. But don't be fooled! The work is repetitive but it is also intentional and well-paced: you must maintain focus. There is a phat melody line, and syncopation drives the feel, with a rhythmic challenge for the percussionist. As each group locks in, we build to a crescendo, playing above the rafters, roaring the house (or village green) down!
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Charlotte Marlow - Banks of Lyme Brook; Industry
Scored for: mixed ensemble
Composer's notes
These two pieces explore two contrasting aspects of post-industrial Northern British culture.
Inspired by the ongoing conservation and rewilding efforts in the area, The Banks of Lyme Brooke is composed for small mixed ensemble. In this piece, the orchestra is tasked to explore the tranquillity of the Lyme Brooke, imitating the songs of birds found in the area, and using extended techniques such as breath sounds and timbral shifts in the strings to merge (and emerge) from a field recording taken from the Brooke by one of the members of NULCO involved in the ecological restoration of the area.
Industry is a piece for large mixed ensemble which provides a sonic exploration of Newcastle-under-Lyme's rich historical connection with pottery works. It also paints an audible picture of the town's connection to Astley's Circus. Both elements are bound together with a playful underpinning of percussion using spoons on teacups spread throughout the members. The teacups were made of pottery from the area in the original performance but I encourage you to explore timbres with your own ensemble. The cups not only link to Newcastle’s industrial history, but they also connect to the present day. They reference the community aspect of amateur music making, where tea, camaraderie and conversation can be just as important as the act of performance.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Ben Lunn - Somari for Robert Burns
Composer's notes
Somari for Robert Burns was composed as an extra piece to the main composition Rhymes and Recollections for Ugie Voices and the Aberdeenshire Saxophone Orchestra. I had been paired with the choir and the orchestra and felt that, unlike other partnerships under the Adopt a Music Creator scheme, each separate ensemble would not have a piece that is just theirs to mark the fun collaboration.
The Venezuelan poet, Gustavo Pereira, coined the term Somari as a sort of miniature poem akin to a haiku but with different characteristics – but still very small and philosophical in nature. The poem describes the poet’s own vision of Robert Burns in Edinburgh, dealing with Scottish life of the time and paints some beautiful and interesting images to match – though as the choir rightly pointed out there are no beaches in Edinburgh.
As part of the Legacy Project, following on from my tenure with Adopt A Music Creator, it was agreed this piece would be gifted to leisure-time groups in Britain also.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Lucy Callen - Songbook of Spaces
Scored for: SATB choir
Composer's notes
A Songbook of Spaces is a theatrical choral work that takes the listener on a journey from home, to old historic lanes, to woods full of creatures, to the sea and to high-up places. The choreography, staging and props are suggestions to help this journey come to life in performance, but the songs can also be performed individually, or as a smaller selection.
- Song I HOME - SSAATB
- Song II LOVERS LANE - SSAATB
- Song III THE WOODS - SSSAAATB + four brown paper bags, four ocean drums (paper plates with lentils inside), eight stones, a few handfuls of sea-shells
- Song IV STEEP SEAS - SATB
- Song V UP HIGH - SATB
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Carmel Smickersgill - Hear Us
Scored for: mixed ensemble
Composer's notes
Hear Us is a piece designed to encourage communication. It works best in a context that involves musicians from different disciplines and genres. Players are advised to approach the piece as a 'choose your own adventure' type score. Each section might involve individuals swapping roles within the group, e.g. a bass player plays the melody line, a flute becomes amplified and uses mouth or finger movements to play the drum part. Ultimately, the aim is for it to be entirely lead by the ensemble rather than conducted and for the sections to be developed together as a group. Hear Us is about connecting with other people, music just being a catalyst for that scenario. The material given in the score was devised alongside the Leeds Junior Conservatoire Creative Collective. In the original performance the below lyrics were used. They can be used in whatever context seems appropriate in future performances. Chanted, sung, projected onto the performers or not at all. They sum up the attitude of the piece, the pride you should take in the music you write and the joy to be gained from playing together.
'These are the sounds of all our instruments and we want you to listen to the sounds, now. /
No we’re not looking for approval we’re just looking for a way to make you bounce, now.'
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Aileen Sweeney - Breathing Place
Scored for: SATB choir and piano
Composer's notes
The piece has three main sections. The first section/stanza aims to depict the beauty and tranquility of the Loch Lomond area. The choir creates a bed of thick, lush harmonies that supports the two soloists who soar over the choir creating a feeling of space and expansiveness, just like the landscape itself.
The second and third stanzas create the main body of the piece. The text talks about how the changing weather conditions are harming the area and yet Loch Lomond itself is a fantastic resource in the fight against climate change. There's a sense of urgency in the music with fast, constantly changing meters, an energetic piano accompaniment which drives the music and bold, homophonic declarations from the choir.
There's a brief return to the opening material which fizzles away before the final section. To conclude the piece, I harmonised the original Loch Lomond folk tune almost in a hymn like fashion which the choir hum inwardly as a final homage to the area that means so much to them.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Rob Jones - Drift
Scored for: piano
Composer's notes
My piece Drift for the Edge Chamber Choir in Ludlow was first inspired by reading about Christina Koch and Jessica Meir’s space-walk back in 2019, when they ventured outside the international space station to replace a power controller. The imagery of this space-walk was really powerful and felt like a great place to start a piece from. Together with the choir we had several workshops together to create text for the piece all inspired by the theme of space-walks. The final words in the piece are actually taken directly from these workshops so are co-written between the composer and choir members. Of course this whole process was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was a long period where it was not possible to rehearse together. We did stay in touch via Zoom, but it was really exciting to meet back up in October 2021 for the final preparations for the premiere.
The piece begins with an acapella movement where we hear the choir float nervously, as if they are about to exit into the vacuum of space. This movement is followed by an interlude for Solo Soprano and Celeste, sung so wonderfully by Celia Gibb in this recording. The middle movement entitled Waltzing in the Void is where I imagine Koch and Meir to be outside fixing the space station. The final interlude and final movement which are sung together without a break between are what I imagine to be the Homecoming of this piece, the time when the walk is over and Meir and Koch are back safely on the space station.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Laura Shipsey - Of Far Flung Skies
Scored for: brass band
Composer's notes
Begun with the bright eyed enthusiasm of a new partnership and the promise of a year of collaboration, Of Far Flung Skies is a chronicle of new horizons, flight, and suddenly shifting, vividly coloured, open spaces. It was written between November 2019 and December 2020, within which time the relationship I had with the ideas behind the work was forcibly reshaped, primarily by the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic and associated restrictions.
Of Far Flung Skies is set in four continuous movements, each imagining a different sky. The material originates from one set of pitches, rotated and rotated to give an array of interlinked patterns. The musical language as a result is driven by intervals, occasionally centring on specific pitches, but only rarely anchored by any sense of home. It is harmonically a flight through ever moving sightlines. Hidden within the journey are one or two references, memories, or dreams.
In the first movement New Sky, the horizon is bright and fresh and the glistening sky arcs high above. A new world, seeing and feeling for the first time, full of childlike overexcitement, occasionally overbalanced by the confusion of the new. Dreaming dark blue skies sees a simplification from a world of options and beginnings, to a singular thread, or daydream, winding through a softer setting. The line follows a continually opening path, ever wider in its wandering. Fireflung Skies bursts this clarity with a barrage of fast moving threats and flaring force. A whirlwind of rhythmically driven energy takes over and a suddenly tighter sound blares a sharply focussed beam. Finally we arrive at a Bright Night Sky, a mobile stillness under a slowly swirling sky inhabited by a thousand ancient stars singing softly together up above.
Huge thanks to the brilliant City of Bristol Brass Band, their Learner Band, and their conductor Ian Holmes, who have stuck with this project through an incredibly challenging time and welcomed me wholeheartedly into the world of brass. Thanks also to Steve Ellis and the committee of COBBB for their commitment to this project, and to Fraser Trainer, Making Music, Sound and Music and the PRS Foundation for their continuing support of new music through the Adopt a Composer scheme.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Jonathan Brigg - Seafaring Folk
Scored for: trio
Composer's notes
Seafaring Folk was composed in collaboration with Sussex Folk Orchestra as part of Making Music's Adopt a Composer scheme, funded by the PRS Foundation and the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust, in partnership with Sound and Music.
The original piece was a suite cast in five movements, composed on my melodica, in the garden, during the first lockdown of the pandemic period. Since its first performance with Sussex Folk Orchestra, the piece has been re-arranged and performed by the Fretful Federation Mandolin Orchestra (incidentally another Adopt a Composer group), and the final movement, 'Sea of Solitude' was performed in an arrangement for flute, melodica and guitar for a commemoration service at St. Martin in the Field.
As the trio arrangement worked so well, I decided to make a trio version of the whole suite as a legacy project for Making Music. I look forward to playing the piece with friends in the near future, and hope that many more ensembles will request new arrangements of the piece.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Chloe Knibbs - Clara
Scored for: choir and harp
Composer's notes
Clara is a three-movement choral work, exploring the life of Clara Schumann with a particular focus on her professional output as a pianist and composer. The work has been written as part of Making Music's Adopt a Composer Scheme 2018/19 which was written in collaboration with the choir, Ex Urbe. In addition, the text itself draws from Clara's diaries and letters and also features a new poem 'Faithful diary,' from poet and Ex Urbe member Di de Woolfson. In light of Clara's 200th birth anniversary in 2019, the work is a celebration of her achievements and explores Clara's internal conflict with regard to expressing her creative voice as a composer, indicative of 19th century misogynistic attitudes, and the strength and solace she found in her career as a virtuosic pianist.
Mentor's notes
Clara, is an ambitious and original choral work in three distinct parts. It celebrates the bicentenary of the birth of the composer Clara Schumann, who struggled to fulfil her creative voice in an era when women were discouraged from careers as composers. It is a powerful and heartfelt piece which can be performed as a complete three-movement work or as individual songs. The inclusion of the harp makes for a distinctive piece of repertoire, but this can alternatively be performed on the piano. The first movement has lots of lyrical and flowing material which is fulfilling to sing. The second movement is the hardest of the three movements, but a showcase song with the right amount of rehearsal time. The third movement provides solo opportunities for solo soprano and alto.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
James Banner - Concertino for Concert Band
Scored for 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet in Bb, bass clarinet in Bb, bassoon, soprano - alto - tenor - baritone sax, French horn, trumpet, 2 trombones, tuba, euphonium, cymbals, triangle, snare drum, glock
Composer's notes
This piece was written in collaboration with Two Rivers Concert Band from Ilkley. In initial meetings, the idea of contrasts and opposites materialised, represented mainly in the contrasting industry and nature found between Bradford and Leeds, and Ilkley and the Moors: melodies that tie the piece together, emerging at different points, something pastoral in nature. These melodies are the foundation for all of the music in Movements I and II, alongside a more ‘industrial’ counterpart. The two parts are equally as valuable (both in conversation and at odds), evoking the disparity between industry and nature. Movement III serves to draw the audience into a new way of listening, to show how individual performers contribute to a much larger overall being, using improvisation with limitations to create a short story. Fire and floods, three words from band members and a recent memory of Ilkley inspired Movement IV, along with the desire to contribute to the band’s chorale repertoire. The climax of the Concertino can be performed as a piece in itself. It also features the call of the Curlew, a bird found on Ilkley Moor.
Mentor's notes
Concertino for Concert Band explores the dynamic contrast between industry and nature. These two landscapes are evoked through rhythmic tutti sections, contrasted with sweeping melodic sections (often played by a soloist or smaller chamber groups within the band). The piece contains some opportunities for improvisation, with clear supporting guidelines for players. The work is in four sections, with the fourth and final section (a wind chorale) also working as a standalone piece. The complexity of the music varies between instrumental parts, but the piece is generally described by players as a medium level of challenge with some more difficult moments, including improvisation and solo/chamber group passages. The score comes with a detailed set of composer’s notes, which will greatly aid ensembles in understanding and realising the music.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Laura Snowden - Evensong
Scored for: SATB choir
Composer's notes
This piece is in two movements, but the second movement can also work by itself as a stand-alone piece.
The starting point was the poem 'Evensong' by Irish poet Cherry Smyth. Cherry wrote the poem in London, and that ‘despite being in a big city, I could sense the interconnectedness of everything’. The first movement is therefore intended to depict a busy, interconnected city, with the sun coming down towards the end of the piece as conveyed by the slides in the voices. This sets the scene for the start of Cherry’s poem: ‘the way evening comes in (or on, or down).’
The second movement, 'Evensong,' is a setting of this poem in which I have tried to reflect her evocative words by creating different colours and atmospheres for each part of the text. Cherry told me that the sense of clarity that comes with falling in love is there in the line 'the universe heard’, so I particularly sought to create the glorious feeling of falling in love at the end of the piece.
Mentor's notes
'City' and 'Evensong' are a pair of unaccompanied choral pieces depicting a city as it transitions from rush hour to the peace of the evening. City is a minimalist, lively piece with repeated vocal sounds emphasising the five four setting. In contrast, Evensong is a rubato setting of Cherry Smith’s poem featuring changing time signatures and shifting melodic lines. The pair can be performed together or separately. Both feature extensive divisi (SSSAATTBBB /SSAATTBB) and complex harmonies, so would suit a more advanced choir.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Nathan James Dearden - 3 Postcards
Composer's notes
This work was arranged from 3 postcards, a work that was developed for Swansea Philharmonic Choir.
home... for SSAATTBB choir
(Difficulty: Intermediate)
The idea of home has been one that regularly plays on my mind. A home may not merely be the four walls that surround you, but the people within it, the memories you share and the community that surrounds it. Home is shaped by the good and the bad. Home can be the shelter from the outside. Home for some can be a place of worship or a safe place that you hold close. Home is fluid and can be moved. Through an excerpt of 'LovelyUgly' by Swansea-based poet Rebecca Lowe, I have written a work that draws an intimate idea of home – a sacred home.
Hymn for string orchestra (violins I and II, viola cello and double bass. Parts available on request)
(Difficulty: Easy)
Hymn for string orchestra is an adaptation of the choral work, O’r galon, a collaborative response with writer Catrin Alun to the profound words of love, purity and song within the Welsh hymn, 'Calon Lân.'
Return Journey for SATB choir
(Difficulty: Intermediate)
It wasn’t until February 1947 that poet and writer, Dylan Thomas, felt ready to write about the Swansea Blitz. In his broadcast, the narrator travels through Swansea seeking his younger self, and in so doing, attempts to recover a Swansea lost to the Blitz, undertaking meticulous research to ensure he had correctly named all the shops and buildings that had been lost. It was recorded for the BBC Home Service in April 1947 and broadcast a month later.
Mentor's notes
Home is an intimate yet playful setting of a text by Rebecca Lowe. Its challenge is not so much in pitch or rhythmic complexity but in achieving a precision and clarity of ensemble.
Hymn... Written almost in complete rhythmic unison, it quietly explores tender, consonant harmonies, allowing the orchestra to focus entirely on quality of sound and ensemble. O’r gallon is a setting of a Welsh language text by Catrin Alun.
Return Journey is a piece for any combination of instruments derived in collaboration with the Swansea Philharmonic Choir. The composer explores three distinct types of musical material and character. This, together with a jaunty 7/8 riff that sets up a tricky rhythmic test when laid over a spiky 4/4 pulse, represents the main challenges. I’m sure ensembles will enjoy experimenting with different instrumental combinations and sonorities when orchestrating the four parts.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Robert Laidlow - Jumpcut/Longshot
Scored for: piccolo, flutes 1 & 2 oboe, Eb clarinet, Bb clarinets 1, 2 & 3, Bb bass clarinet, bassoon, alto saxophones 1 & 2, tenor saxophone 1 & 2, baritone saxophone, 4 horns in F, 4 trumpets in Bb, 2 tenor trombones, 1 bass trombone, euphonium, tuba, 3 percussionists
Composer's notes
Jump cut: a sudden, often jarring, cut from one shot or scene to another without intervening devices. Long shot: a cinematic shot that shows the entire object or set, often at an extremely wide angle.
Cinematic editing is a fascinating art; in many films, editing is more than simply moving from one scene to another but is an important tool used to manipulate an audience’s sense of time and narrative and sometimes may even be actually the focus. While creating this work with Southampton Concert Wind Band, I became increasingly interested in how some of these thoughts and approaches might effectively be mapped onto music.
The piece is roughly divided into two halves, though it uses exactly the same material throughout. The second half (the long shot) exists as one unbroken stream of music for the entire band without cuts or pauses. Throughout this, four distinct musical ideas are woven together simultaneously. In this way it is a long shot not only because it shows the entire band, but also because it features all of the piece’s musical material simultaneously.
The first half (the jump cut) again uses these four distinct musical ideas, but this time starkly juxtaposed with one another. Every note in the first half comes from somewhere in the second half, but the way that the ideas are presented creates an entirely new context.
Mentor's notes
Jumpcut/Longshot is a substantial, engaging and very exciting piece, ideally suited to an advanced wind band who will relish the sonic strength and impact of the work on both performers and listeners. It will certainly provide some challenges in terms of stamina, concentration and attention to the quality of sound in all registers, but will repay the time and attention needed in huge amounts with its many exciting and impressive features.
The piece explores the contrasting elements of unity of line, rhythmic precision and working together as one complete unit with the need for confident independent layers and sudden changes of direction and atmosphere. There are opportunities for small groups of instruments to come into the foreground, with tubas and percussion taking important roles and arresting climaxes for the whole band to let it rip! The semi-improvised sections are a wonderful feature of the piece that are very tangible and totally work to enhance the expressive range of the music.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Nicholas Olsen - Three Carriages
Scored for: mandolin 1, mandolin 2, mandola, guitar, double Bass, concertina (optional - if no concertina, sing vocal line without concertina part)
Composer's notes
When I first met Da Capo Alba, I was excited to explore what makes a mandolin and guitar orchestra based near East Kilbride tick. It wasn't long before I discovered their shared love for the camaraderie of their ensemble, their heritage, and Scotland. I was keen to use these themes while adding a few of my own interests along the way. Three Carriages explores the work song of Irish Navvies on the Scottish Railroads, a runaway train, and the exhausted creaking of locomotives at a railway siding at the end of a long day. I'd like to extend a special thank you to David Horne for his mentorship on this project, to Barbara Pommerenke-Steel for her insight and knowledge, and to all in Da Capo Alba for putting up with my bad jokes, but most importantly for making music with me.
Mentor's notes
Nicholas Olsen’s Three Carriages is an inventive and highly engaging work that will appeal to fretted string ensembles of medium ability. The work remarkably combines a sophisticated sound world with an immediately compelling and communicative narrative, the sound of the historical Scottish railroads never far away. There is terrific contrast in the three movements and a mixed-ability ensemble would have much fun learning the work, while also finding it helped them develop ensemble and musical skills. The individual parts are very manageable and the ensemble writing cleverly sounds detailed while being impressively economical. In the first performances the opening folk-like song was sung solo but would work equally well for a ‘choir’ drawn from the ensemble.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
Esmeralda Conde Ruiz – The Other Ocean
Scored for: 6 mandolin 1, 8 mandolin 2, 3 mandola, 6 guitars, 1 double bass, 1 mandoloncelli, 1 soprano
Composer’s notes
This piece explores memories through music and archive film images, provided by Screen Archive South East. It is inspired by real memories of Fretful Federation Mandolin Orchestra Brighton. Written as a poetic journey from childhood to adulthood life, all seven movements show different colours. We all might see the same images but it will trigger a complete different memory and that duality fascinates me. What makes the piece so special is the connection that it creates between the orchestra, the audience and the music.
Mentor’s notes
In The Other Ocean, Esmeralda conjures a wide variety of sounds, atmospheres and moods. Originally composed to accompany silent film, the music is beguiling, haunting, tender, playful and quirky. The piece is an intriguing balance between old and new, blending ancient and modern sonorities and I’m sure any fretted orchestra would enjoy playing these pieces with or without the images that originally inspired them. None of the movements present particularly difficult technical challenges. The skill is in the ensemble being present in the moment and quickly capturing the unique style, mood and tempo of each new movement they encounter along the way.
Find out more about the composer or request parts.
If you would like to use the footage from Screen Archive South East, please email them directly so that they can send you the link to the film programme and to discuss their requirements for publicity credits.
Ben See – We Want and fingerprintplurals
We Want
Scored for: Voice, flutes, oboes, Bb clarinets, horns in F, trumpets in Bb, trombones, euphonium, strings, drum
Composer's notes
This is an orchestral piece for very young players. The piece balances the everyday things that children want (like delicious biscuits), with bigger-picture feelings about being taken seriously. In this age of referendums and climate change do young people have a strong enough voice? We Want features accessible orchestral playing alongside homemade percussion, singing, shouting and the consuming of biscuits!
fingerprintplurals
Scored for: 3.2.2.2 4.3.3.1 3perc str
Composer's notes
This piece is about identity. The players are encouraged to take the material in lots of different directions and shape the piece in their own image. All the instrumental parts include elements of improvisation and sections which are open to interpretation. The score pushes the performers to make decisions, explore and play. The whole idea of the piece is to take ownership of the music and make it your own!
Mentor's notes
These two commented pieces for both junior and senior youth orchestras are colourful for both players and audience. They provide plenty of variety for all the instrumental sections as well as some unexpected dramatic elements too. Ben’s lyrical approach, stemming from his extensive vocal writing is warm, friendly and original in a really appealing way for young people.
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Gaynor Barradell – Step-up
Composer's notes
Step-up is an imaginary journey by bike through Edinburgh’s streets, dodging traffic, pedestrians, tourist groups spilling across steps and closes, reaching Parliament Square for some trickery on the concrete walls and benches, then climbing the stony paths of Arthur’s Seat, reaching the summit, legs and lungs burning from the sheer exertion.
Mentor's notes
Step-up by Gaynor Barradell is an energetic and invigorating work for large wind band that contains an impressive and enjoyable range of colours and musical expressions. It inventively plays with a number of folk and dance traditions from Scotland but also more distant tropical climes, and blends these in an original and exciting way. The work cleverly reuses material so that while the music constantly renews for the listener - the players do not feel that they are constantly learning new material. The option to improvise in some sections is very clearly explained and could be of great interest to some of the performers in the ensemble. There are very helpful musical details, such as articulations and dynamics that intermediate level and above and above will greatly enjoy practising and performing.
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Edmund Hunt – Vita Hominum
Scored for: SSAATTBB, with at least one soprano soloist and a tenor soloist
Composer’s notes
Vita Hominum was inspired by the early medieval history of Northumbria. With the exception of the last movement, all of the texts come from writings by the Venerable Bede. The overriding theme is of a journey from storm and uncertainty to a place of serenity. At the end of the piece, the journey resumes and the music disperses.
Mentor’s notes
Vita Hominum is a significant, substantial and very strong choral work. It’s atmospheric, thought-provoking and meditative in character. It's suitable for choirs who identify with being somewhere between experienced amateur, semi-professional and professional. The piece moves the singers around the performing space, splits the choir into small groups, highlights soloists and demands a certain level of independence from each member of the ensemble.
However, please do not let these unusual features, which enhance the work tremendously, put you off! The work needed at the outset will be repaid ten-fold once the shape and intention of the piece is realised and internalised. The pitching and rhythmic language is not highly demanding and every singer will be extremely aware of how their own particular contribution to the overall sound and texture impacts on the work and the listener.
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Peter Yarde Martin – Nocturne
Re-scored for: 3-5 octaves of handbells, to allow the greatest number of handbell groups to play the piece
Composer's notes
Nocturne was inspired by the bright starlit skies over rural Norfolk in the process of writing and developing this piece with the Bellfolk Handbell Ringers. The piece is essentially three different versions of the same melody, which grow increasingly complex. The first version is a lullaby melody with gently pulsing accompaniment, like the first stars that begin to appear in late evening as the sky darkens. The second melody at letter ‘C’ is a big chorale, depicting the appearance of larger dazzling constellations as the night progresses. The glittering, ever shifting accompaniment from letter ‘F’ mirrors the way in which the night sky shifts and changes over the course of the night, the planets moving in their own spheres and the constellations slowly turning around the earth.
This piece may be performed by 3 to 5 octaves of handbells. If 3 octaves are used, the notes in brackets should not be played, even if they are in the range of the handbells being used. This is so that melodic lines retain their original shape.
Mentor's notes
Nocturne is an evocative depiction of the ever-shifting night sky, centred around a tonal melody and accessible for performers and audiences alike. The notation is initially less complex than some pieces, but teams will have to balance a moving melody and suspended chords using both handbells and chimes. The piece grows in complexity as it progresses, requiring good ensemble skills across the team. Nocturne would suit groups looking to move beyond the dots to work on shaping and expression.
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Anna Appleby – Turbines
Re-scored for: 2.2.2.2 4.2.2.1 tmp+2 hp str
NB 4 whirly tubes required
Composer’s notes
This piece was inspired by wind turbines seen from a train window on the journey between Glasgow and Manchester. It explores the meeting of nature and technology, as well as the spirit and identity of Merchant Sinfonia as a unique orchestra. The piece was written in collaboration with Merchant Sinfonia and is dedicated to them on the occasion of their 10th Anniversary. I would like to thank the orchestra and conductor Louise for their generous welcome to me, as well as their hard work, creativity, humour and enthusiasm in collaborating with me. I have been a very happily-adopted composer!
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Mentor's notes
Anna Appleby’s Turbines is an exciting orchestral work that contains much energy and colour. It employs a number of unusual playing techniques, all of which are very manageable, and which always contribute in a meaningful way to the narrative behind the work. The musical ideas are divided excellently throughout the orchestra so that all sections have a chance to shine and it very cleverly uses relatively straightforward rhythms and melodic passages to build up to a seemingly more complex whole. The whirly tubes are particularly appreciated by both the orchestra and the audience, a real surprise! It is a work that intermediate level and above orchestras of all ages would enjoy playing.
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Max Charles Davies - Y Goes Fawr
Scored for SATB choir and piano
Composer's notes
Myfyrdod yw'r cywydd 'Y Gors Fawr' lle mae'r awdur yn ymweld a'r cylch cerrig hwn ym Mynachlog-ddu. Mae'n teimlo ias wrth gerdded i mewn i'r cylch ac yn dychmygu ei fod nol yn yr oes neolithig ac yn 'gweld' sut roedd y llwyth yn byw drwy eu gweithgareddau o ddydd i ddydd. Mae'n teimlo wrth ymadael ei fod wedi cyffwrdd y ffin a'i orffennol.
In 'Y Gors Fawr, the author visits an old stone circle in Mynachlod-ddu and is bewitched as he enters the site. He feels that he is back in the neolithic age and imagines what the tribe members are doing on a day to day basis. On leaving, he feels that he has touched an element of a previous life.
Mentor's notes
This is a well-crafted short piece for choir and piano of medium difficulty. It is a setting of a specially-written text in Welsh. The piece is varied in mood and contains elements of divisi for all voices.
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Christopher Schlechte-Bond - Martian Saloon
Re-scored for: more flexible concert band 3flt(3rd Picc.).2ob.2bsn 3clr.bsclr 2asx.2tsx.bsx 2hn.3tpt.2tbn.bstbn.tba.euph 2perc bsgtr
Minimum requirements: 2flt(2nd Picc.).ob.bsn 2clr asx.tsx 2hn.2tpt.2tbn.bstbn.tba perc bsgtr
Composer's note
This piece is made up of two sections. The first is a martian soundscape of ethereal harmonies, atmospheric playing techniques and a lot of 'playing in freetime', beginning with a cloud of dreamy whistling and rumbling bass drum. The piccolo is heard mysteriously in the distance and then the instruments begin to creep in one by one. A more upbeat rhythm is hinted at through various ominous vocal effects. After a while, the second section emerges suddenly: exciting, fast-paced and clamorous.
Mentor's note
This is an inventive composition for wind band which is of moderate difficulty, though the composer cleverly re-uses much of the works more rhythmic ideas so that the players do not need to learn a great deal of new material. The work also uses extended techniques, but these support the narrative of the music effectively and would make sense to any audience hearing the work for the first time. The evocative and atmospheric music in the first part of the piece is contrasted very well with more energetic and rhythmically driven sections, giving much variety for both players and audiences.
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Aran Browning - A Quiet Life
Re-scored for: SATB and piano
Composer's notes
The piece delves into what it's like to be a part of a community choir, highlighting and sharing the other elements off-stage that the audience don't usually see; from membership change to organising lifts, performance nerves to finding a place to rehearse. This customisable version gives the opportunity for choirs to contextualise and personalise the work to their story and community. Two versions of the score are provided, one with suggestive lyric gaps and another with the original text for reference. Incorporating video, which reflects and captures being in your choir, is encouraged. For support in customising, such as changing lyrics which would affect rhythm, contact the composer through Making Music.
Mentor's notes
This is an attractive work which takes its inspiration from the particular history of The Strathendrick Singers, for whom it was written. It can certainly be performed by other choirs in this original version, as the words and themes would have currency for many amateur groups, such as the strong sense of community. However, Aran has given the option for new groups to insert their own particular words or phrases, in order to individualise the piece, an innovative move that has been cleverly achieved. The work is of moderate difficulty and contains a separate piano part, but this would be easily managed by most choir pianists. The musical language is broadly tonal, with some attractive chromaticism that again would be within the grasp of most amateur choirs.
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Rosie Clements - In Reginald's Garden
Composer's notes
In Reginald’s Garden is inspired by the life of horticulturalist Reginald Cory and his family who resided at Dyffryn House and Gardens in Wales from 1891. Reginald went on many plant-hunting expeditions and funded many others and it it these trips and expeditions which gave Dyffryn Gardens it’s spectacular flora and fauna. This piece uses descriptions of flowers from the book Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland to reflect the scientific nature of these expeditions. Lily of the Valley and Yellow Whitlow Grass are featured heavily in this piece because of their connections to Dyffryn; Dyffryn is the Welsh word for valley as well as the name of the house, and Yellow Whitlow Grass is the county flower of the Vale of Glamorgan where Dyffryn lies.
Text from Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland by Marjorie Blamey, Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter, by permission from Domino Books Ltd.
Mentor's notes
Rosie’s piece is highly idiosyncratic with a dramatic beginning involving spatial presentation. The text is based on the names and descriptions of flowers, and through its mantra, it evokes a close up view of a garden through the medium of singing. It evolves passages of textural music and then more choric material. If you’re interested in something a bit different which might challenge your choir in many ways, then this piece is for you.
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Adriano Adewale - Suite Dialogues
Composer's notes
This piece is based on and inspired by the wonderful power dialogues have. It enables people to communicate feelings, emotions and thoughts in different levels. It creates possibilities of understanding one another while also nurturing a space for all people to come together through peaceful and yet poignant and truthful ways.
Mentor's notes
Suite Dialogues is a spirited and warm-hearted orchestral conversation in which every section of the orchestra has a chance to shine.
After a sparse, wistful opening, the pace soon quickens to expose a lightness of touch embedded in rhythmic intricacies which pass neatly through the orchestra.
Lyrical lines give way to tiptoeing tangos, while nimble pizzicato dance rhythms scurry from sudden punctuations. Perhaps a little more demanding in terms of rhythmic vitality for the string section than any other, the challenge here is not in notational complexities, but in bringing a radiant effervescence to sound, ensemble, rhythmic precision and dialogue.
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Mark Boden - Homo Sum
Re-scored for: SATB, Children's chorus and sinfonietta
Composer's notes
Homo Sum was conceived as a celebration of multiculturalism, reflecting both the diversity of Croydon and the Croydon Bach Choir for whom the piece was commissioned, in addition to celebrating the cosmopolitan nature of London and the UK in general. Across the eight movements comprising Homo Sum, some of the references to multiculturalism are very direct (such as the use of nine different languages), though there are also more more subtle allusions to different cultures and traditions, through varied use of rhythm, texture and harmony.
Mentor's notes
Mark’s piece exists in three forms; the full ‘choir and sinfonietta’ version, the ‘choir and strings’ version, and the ‘choir and piano’ version. It is a very accessible and varied piece, allowing for maximum flexibility. There are, for example, sections for soloists from within the choir. The texts form a wonderful collection from around the world, and the music is similarly eclectic. This is a powerful piece for a choir wishing to commit to a large-scale new work.
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Download SATB and String Ensemble score
Chris Hutchings - Janya
Re-scored for: full orchestra (3333; 4331; timp&perc, strings)
Composer's notes
Based on a sculpture by Annette Yarrow outside Chester Cathedral. A trio of trumpet, horn and trombone play together at several points (trio trumpet and trio horn should be high players) and should be seated together if possible, although they do not need to be separated from the rest of the brass. This trio trumpet part may be played by a soprano saxophone instead, if one is available.
Mentor's notes
Janya is an attractive orchestral work that takes as its inspiration the eponymous bronze elephant sculpture gifted to the city of Chester by the local zoo. While the inspiration was local to the orchestra that first performed the piece the work’s clear narrative will appeal to all audiences and performers. The music is cleverly written at an intermediate level of difficulty, containing freely written sections for some instruments and powerful passages in rhythmic unison, such as the opening and close of the work.
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Ed Scolding - Land Cycle
Re-scored for: SATB and piano acc.
Composer's notes
There are three movements, each focussing on a different moment of the year in a different outdoor landscape. Thaw by Edward Thomas sets a scene damped by a layer of melting snow; Shaun Gardiner’s Invocation sees new life bursting with violent insistence in spring; 8th century poet Li Po writes In the Mountains on a Summer Day of a hazy wood so hot that all movement slows to near stillness.
Mentor's notes
Land Cycle is a very evocative and compelling piece for voices, recently re-scored with piano. Its three movements each have a very distinctive feel and character. Winter Ending has an optimistic openness, a robust rhythmic template and offers an optional piano part to support the striding vocal lines. Spring Bursting is the most demanding movement with its taught, angular lines and independent layers. Great for developing the confidence in pitching of the group! Summer Heat demands precise ensemble and stamina whilst still wanting to sound relaxed and calm in the stifling temperatures.
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Angela Slater - Fantasy of the Dawn
Re-scored for: String orchestra (2vn, va, vc, db)
Composer's notes
In its original form, the piece begins with a section that explores the unusual sounds that the Ukulele can make, conjuring up imagery of nortunal activity. In this new version the same types of sounds are explored but using the strengths and unique timbres of bowed string instruments. This builds to a dramatic point of climax, marking the beginning of an energetic rhythmic section that represents the emergence of the day and the energy that it brings.
Mentor's notes
Fantasy of the Dawn is an imaginative work for string orchestra that combines fascinating extended techniques with more straightforward rhythmic passages filled with driving energy. At an intermediate level of difficulty this would be an excellent introduction to unusual sounds and textures for string players of all ages. The rhythmic sections are similarly fun to play and will definitely improve counting ability!
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Neil Tòmas Smith - The Hoard and Perle (excerpt)
Re-scored for: SATB + solo SATB (The Hoard) or SATB (Perle)
Composer's notes
The Hoard: In this piece I wanted to explore the idea of hoards in general, while also relating some aspects specifically to Thame. Above all I was interested in the strange juxtapositions of time – of history encountered through objects – that hoards embody so well. Past and present mix in this piece, creating a musical space in which the new can sound old, and the old new.
Perle: Originally the conclusion to The Hoard, Perle is a partial setting of a Middle English text by an unknown author (usually known as the ‘Perle Poet’). The poem is a lament for the loss of a woman dear to the narrator – a pearl who has slipped into earth.
Mentor's notes
The Hoard: This is a rich and thoughtful piece with variety in its three movements. Whilst is a serious undertaking, it is one that brings huge rewards for the choir as it is so well-written. For singers interested in stretching themselves and engaging with some new techniques and ways of performing, this would be an excellent piece to sing. There is also the opportunity to personalise the music by including local historical information. A part for children’s choir adds a further dimension, although again the music is flexible in that it can also be performed by an adult choir alone.
Perle: For a choir wishing to extend the range of their work, but to get back much as they put in, this is the perfect piece. It is very well written for a choir and has a clear structure. It is reasonably short and provides the interest of singing in Middle English.
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Download The Hoard score Download Perle score
Lee Westwood - Barricades
Re-scored for: Orchestra (3333; 43211; 2perc, strings)
Composer's notes
Barricades takes its name from the old Jewish folk song Barikadn, which was written by the Vilna poet-partisan Shmerke Kaczerginsky. Whilst the lyrics describe another time and place in Jewish history, they resonate very closely with the events that took place during the Battle Of Cable Street. The music is built from two contrasting textures which meet face to face in stark fronts of sound, cutting each other off abruptly. As these collisions continue, and the barricades between them gradually weaken, the structural autonomy of the two textures is compromised, and they begin to overlap and merge in a simple dialogue of dynamics and colour.
Mentor's notes
Barricades is an earthy musical drama that sets two independent musical ideas against each other. It’s a great piece for developing the confidence and independence of players within an ensemble. The difficulty level is moderate and aims at developing the quality of intention, sonic presence and innate flexibility of each player. The notation is slightly different from the norm, but is consistent, effective and straightforward to interpret.
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Alison Willis - Journeys
Re-scored for: Orchestra (flexible)
Composer's notes
Journeys is a response to the ongoing Refugee Crisis. This version builds on the original string orchestration and is intended to be flexible, working with any orchestral ensemble that has a solid string section as its foundation. The piece is written in three movements, or 'Acts', which can be performed individually or as a whole. The first Act is about leaving, the second about travel and the third arriving. Each movement features solo lines that represent the millions of individuals that combine to become a 'bunch of migrants'.
Mentor's notes
This is an exciting and varied piece for youth orchestra/amateur orchestra and provides dramatic and instantly-enjoyable interest for all players. Some aspects are straightforward and others will take more time to put together, but the music always gives the players plenty to engage with. Each movement could I think also be performed separately.
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The Adopt a Composer project matches vocal and instrumental leisure-time music groups with some of the UK’s most promising composers to collaborate on creating a new piece of music. The project leads to a première performance and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. If you’re a music group or composer and you’d like to take part, find out more.
