DIANA BURRELL tells us about her current project, Horae canonicae: "this is a large scale project consisting of a set of pieces for organ (or other members of the organ family such as the harmonium and accordion) with various ensembles, based on the ancient Hours of the Divine Office of the Church - Vigilis, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Vespers and Compline. The pieces are intended to create a new repertoire for the organ, challenging its traditional role and bringing it to the forefront of the new music scene. The idea of developing new repertoire for the organ and mixed ensemble has been in my mind for some time; new music now includes all manner of exotic instruments - Hardanger fiddles, accordions, Laptops, 12-string electric guitar etc. - but rarely an organ. Yet this instrument has technical possibilities and singular colours of sound that most composers have barely begun to explore, certainly not in relation to other instruments, or indeed voices, with an ensemble. An Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship at the RAM has made the project possible."

So far, four works have been written and performed: Lauds - organ and electronics; Terce - organ and accordion; Sext - harmonium, electric keyboard, 3 singers and cello; and Nones - organ, 2 bassoons, 2 double basses, 2 tubas and percussion. Vespers, the next work to be written, will be for organ with large mixed ensemble. Each work is being premiered at the Royal Academy of Music as they are written and plans are already underway for a number of complete performances of the cycle.


Das meer, das so gross und weit ist... for string orchestra, premiered by the Orchestra of St John's Smith Square and John Lubbock in 1992, will be given no fewer than 10 performances by the Australian Chamber Orchestra in their 2009/2010 season. The ACO will play the work in all state capitals.

EDWARD COWIE writes from his home in Maurens, France, telling us his latest news: "After many years of composing works for the magnificent BBC Singers, I finally realised that it was high time that I wrote for less technically dazzling singers. Choral forces, especially a cappella, have always excited me. Realising that a lot of my existing choral repertoire was too technically demanding for even the most brilliant professional choirs, I approached two of the best amateur choirs in the UK - the Choir of the 21st Century in London, and Commotio in Oxford - with the idea of a cycle of choral ‘soundscapes’ based on places familiar to me, and cast in the form of four groups of three motets based on The Four Seasons. The work has been commissioned with funds from the PRS, RVW Trust and The Lydia Corfe Trust. The work is now three-quarters done and the first to be performed was Summer in London in June 2009, under the direction of my good friend and past collaborator, Howard Williams. The problem facing me was one of keeping intact my own voice whilst at the same time adapting it to less complex means of execution. To my utter relief, the performance of Summer (on only four rehearsals!), validated my hope that I could still make choral music sound like ‘Cowie’ without forcing technical problems beyond the good amateur singer and choir. Autumn was premiered in Merton College Chapel, Oxford, under Matt Berry with Commotio on 5 December 2009, Spring will be premiered on 2 May by the Choir of the 21st Century conducted by Howard Williams in The Purcell Room, and the final set, Winter, will be given its first performance in that same season by Commotio in Oxford.

It’s hoped and expected that the entire cycle will be performed at a new (form of) Festival that I’m founding right now. For a long time, I’ve been considering the possibility of an arts festival, the entire content of which being the presentation of acoustic and visual responses to the living world. Festival of the Earth, will be based at the St George’s Centre in Bristol. Bristol is a natural choice for a festival like this, with the BBC Natural History Unit based there, the National Archive of Wildlife Films, the innovative and researching Bristol Zoo and the Wetland and Wildlife Trust headquarters at Slimbridge, just up the road! At the moment, sponsorship is the big issue, but since conservation, ecology and global warming are the BIG issues of our time, we have no doubts of the ultimate success of getting this up and running, albeit on a small scale for 2011, when the festival will kick-off. I’m forming a small chamber ensemble whose mission will be the promotion and performance of a vast repertoire of nature-inspired music which goes back well over 350 years! Visual exhibitions by eminent wild-life artists will be mounted at the same time.

I met (and heard) the pianist, Richard Casey (Boulez’s favourite in the UK by the way!), when he played in the performances of my Psappha Portraits a couple of years ago, and then again in the world premiere of my INhabitAT with the BBC Singers in London. He’s a remarkable musician AND a deep and lateral thinker. I asked Richard if he’d be interested in a new major cycle of piano pieces and he jumped at the idea. Rutherford’s Lights is now well under way, the commission-fee being provided by the Institute of Physics in Bristol. We now have four definite performances, the London premiere being sponsored by the National Portrait Gallery in collaboration with The Royal Society, the latter also sponsoring a Manchester performance as part of the RS’s 350th anniversary celebrations. The world premiere is in May at Mayfest in Hertfordshire followed immediately by a recording for UHR label. The fourth fixture is St George’s in Bristol who are also mounting a 3 month exhibition of the 32 drawings I’ve made for the piece. Why Rutherford’s Lights? It’s a long story! I was originally a physicist and the theory of light and colour has always fascinated me. This cycle of 32 pieces is thus an acoustic realisation of some of the fundamental laws of the physics of light and colour. Not that I’ve taken a mathematical approach to the idea, at least not just equations! As I made my preparatory drawings before starting through-composing, I realised that there were powerful structural and dynamic connections between wave theory in light and colour and wave theory in sound. The result is going to be a set of 2-3 minute piano pieces, that unfold (in sound and time) a series of progressions concerned with the theory of light. More than this isn’t relevant right now. The music and drawings should do the rest! If you want to see what these ‘process and priming drawings’ look like, visit my web-site on www.edward-cowie.com and go to the drawings section of the gallery.

My Badlands Gold gets its world premiere at the Paris Conservatoire in April, 2010 with James Gourley as the tuba soloist. Beyond that is an infinitude of musical possibilities. A large-scale organ project with Michael Bonaventure; a cycle (another one!) of piano pieces on the movement of water with and for Peter Hill, and a new work for flute, clarinet and harp for Korros Ensemble. Beyond that, it’s a fertile haze. A piece for piano and brass perhaps; a new string quartet (No.6); a large-scale orchestral piece and maybe a piece for dance on Kandinsky. It’s more than enough to be going on with at any rate although I admit that I’m also trying to write a novel, a 5-part series for Radio 3, and continuing to draw and paint - (recently in oils)!!

Postscript: 5,000+ European Cranes flew directly over my house in clear opal-blue skies, on their way south for the winter... magic..."

Christopher Redgate, who will give the first performance of Edward Cowie's Kandinsky's Oboe on 18 March at the Holywell Music Room, Oxford has written the following about the work: "Edward Cowie has in Kandinsky's Oboe been able to draw together two important strands of his life: that of composition and of painting, and, from my point of view as a performer and very amateur artist (with a particular interest in the art of Kandinsky and his contemporaries) there are similar resonances. This is of course no mere coincidence as Edward knows my interests and has reflected them beautifully in this work. Edward has taken Kandinsky's 'points/lines/planes' idea and created a work which deals with the same ideas in musical form - the result is a work of great virtuosity. The opening movement Points is a rich exploration of very subtle nuances, especially with regard to articulation and dynamics and includes fascinating changes of time signature the momentum being 'tripped up' by the occasional fermata. Lines is a bold exploration of musical shapes which, in part, explores the extreme high range of the instrument. The movement is enriched once again by carefully nuanced rhythmic ideas and carefully balanced climaxes sometimes giving the effect of a multiplicity of 'lines' interweaving, appearing and disappearing. The final movement, Planes, is a virtuoso tour de force both in terms of its composition and for the performer. The movement draws together a rich tapestry of sounds; instrumental, vocal, percussive, sometimes overlaid on top of each other in order to meet the ideas Kandinsky exemplifies in his discourse. This movement is thrilling in its colours, spectacular in its virtuosity and quite startling in what Edward has managed to achieve in so short a movement. The work is a delight to play, full of imaginative ideas - I am sure Kandinsky would have enjoyed it!"

NAJI HAKIM gives several performances of his Glenalmond Suite during 2010 - in Ljubljana (22 February), Konzerthaus, Vienna (6 March), Dordrecht (22 April) and St Gall Cathedral (19 June). In addition, Hakim's large-scale oratorio for soloists, narrator and orchestra, Saul de Tarse (Leduc) will be performed at Monaco Cathedral in June 2010.

ROGER REDGATE is writing two new works commissioned by ELISION. The first, a Trio for bass clarinet, trombone and cello, will be premiered at Kings Place, London on 8 February. The second is a major work for solo violin (Graeme Jennings) and ensemble, and will be premiered at Kings Place on 7 July. In addition, Roger has curated a weekend concert at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, which will include three of his own works - The Oboe Quintet and Ausgangspunkte for solo oboe (Christopher Redgate/Kreutzer Quartet) on 20 February, and +R for solo clarinet (Andrew Sparling) on 21 February.

NMC continues their support of EDWIN ROXBURGH's music with a new CD of Solos and Duos to be released in April. The CD includes an archive recording of the composer himself playing his landmark work for oboe and electronics At the still point of the turning world..., the virtuoso percussion solo Aube and Flute Music with an Accompaniment played by the dedicatees Michael Cox and Nigel Clayton. Central to the new disc is a series of three string solos entitled Soliloquy commissioned by the distinguished teacher David Takeno, all inspired by the artistry of the performers on this disc (Sulki Yu - violin, Dimitri Murrath - viola, Marie McLeod - cello) and each, as the composer explains, 'exploring the individual characters of the instruments with the widest range of expression and virtuosity'. The disc is completed by Duologue for two violas, composed as a birthday present for David Takeno. NMC D161

Having won an Elgar Trust Award for a BBCSO commission, Edwin has composed a Concerto for Orchestra, to be performed at the Barbican on 10 September, conducted by Sir Andrew Davies. The title refers to the virtuosic qualities of each member of this remarkable orchestra, which is renowned for its exceptional commitment and expertise in the performance of contemporary music. Several members have performed and recorded instrumental works by the composer, so it will be no surprise that a challenging piece is waiting for them. While the work is in a single movement there are extremes of contrast and characterisation in the substance, from slow and exotic to explosive toccatas. Biting rhythmic complexity is punctuated by a large percussion involvement in metric cross-rhythms and flourishes, culminating in a triple inversion of three harmonic elements in a divided orchestra. The conductor is also put in a virtuosic role in these sections, especially when the orchestra divides into two and he is required to conduct 4/4 with the left hand against five with the right. This precedes a final climactic section which emphasises the essentially romantic nature of the piece. It is an intensely passionate work which uses a vast range of textural colours, each instrument playing a distinctive role in the unfolding soundscape.

Other new works planned include a work for quartertone alto flute and electronics for Carla Rees, an oboe concerto for Paul Goodey, a work for oboe and piano for Christopher Redgate and a viola concerto for Hsin Yun Huang.

MAJOR PREMIERES FOR THEODORE PRESSER COMPOSERS IN 2010

MAJOR PREMIERES FOR FRENCH AGENCY COMPOSERS IN 2010

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