Paul Mealor: De Profundis Context Paul Mealor was born in North Wales, 1975, and as a young child he studied composition with William Mathias. He attended the University of York, and studied under John Pickard and Nicola LeFanu. For fourteen years now, Mealor has taught composition at the University of Aberdeen. Mealor Read more…
Camille Saint-Saëns: Bassoon Sonata in G Context Saint-Saëns’ Bassoon Sonata in G was composed in 1921, and was one of the composer’s last works before his death later that year. Throughout his career, Saint-Saëns only composed three sonatas for solo wind instruments, the others being for oboe and clarinet. Although Read more…
Nancy Dalberg: String Quartet No.1 Context Nancy Dalberg (1881-1949) was a Danish composer. A trained pianist, Dalberg had dreams of attending the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen, but sadly her father refused her this. After being treated for a medical complication in her arm, Dalberg took up composition instead. She took Read more…
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No.2 Context In 1901, Jean Sibelius left his home country and travelled to Italy and stayed in a mountain villa near Rapallo. Baron Axel Carpelan raised funds for Sibelius to take this trip, and it was in this villa that he started work on his Second Symphony. Read more…
Fred J Allen: When the Stars Began to Fall Context Subtitled My Lord, What a Mornin’, Fred J. Allen’s arrangement of this anonymous spiritual song has become a staple in most wind orchestra bad rooms. Published in 1992, When the Stars Began to Fall was summed up by the composer Read more…
Bohuslav Martinů: String Sextet Context Bohuslav Martinů composed his String Sextet in under a week in May 1932. The sextet was popular and won awards, which surprised Martinů somewhat. Even though it was popular among Martinů’s contemporaries, the work itself was not published until 1947 – 14 years after it Read more…
Dora Pejačević: Two Piano Sketches Context Dora Pejačević was born in Budapest on 10th September 1885, and her family descended from the old Croatian noble Pejačević family. Her mother, Countess Lilla Vay de Vaya was a very competent pianist and she gave Pejačević her first piano lessons when she was a young girl. Read more…
William Grant Still: Wood Notes Context Inspired by William Grant Still’s love of nature and K. Mitchell Pilcher’s poetry, Wood Notes is a four-movement orchestral suite. Still’s classic American style is woven into the fabric of this suite, with warm melodies and rich textures creating a truly pleasing suite of Read more…
Howard Goodall: The Lord is my Shepherd Context Known for his choral music and his music for television, English composer Howard Goodall CBE is a household name. After studying music at Christ Church, Oxford, Goodall has since been a professional composer and broadcaster. His work for television includes theme tunes Read more…
Takashi Yoshimatsu: Saxophone Concerto ‘Cyber Bird’ Context Composed in 1994 for virtuoso saxophonist, Nobuya Sugawa, Takashi Yoshimatu’s Saxophone Concerto remains one of his most devilishly difficult works. Described as a ‘triple concerto’, Yoshimatsu’s concerto is subtitled Cyber Bird, which refers to, in the composer’s words, “an imaginary bird in the Read more…