Welcome to my February Newsletter!
Recent performances
I was delighted to go to two performances of my cantatas in the run-up to Christmas: O Come Emmanuel performed by Great Missenden Choral Society, and A Light in the Stable performed by South Chiltern Choral Society. And there were many other performances, of cantatas or individual carols, that I wasn’t able to get to – several in the United States.
And, more recently, I was honoured that Sarah MacDonald, currently President of the Royal College of Organists, programmed my Postlude on ‘Woodlands’, in her Candlemas recital at Westminster Abbey on 2 February, and at Selwyn College on 30 January. I was unable to get to either as I was playing chamber organ for another Candlemas concert for the Suffolk Villages Festival – but both recitals are on YouTube and it is fascinating to compare the French-Canadian sound of the Létourneau organ at Selwyn College with the traditional British sound of the Harrison and Harrison Westminster Abbey organ. Woodlands is published in Oxford Hymn Settings for Organists, vol. 9
More organ music
Recently published by Banks Music Publications is my collection Lent and Easter Preludes for Organ: this contains five preludes based on Lent and Passiontide hymns, and three based on Easter hymns – a companion to my similar collection of Christmas preludes. And the indefatigable and enterprising Steven Maxson – thank you, Steven! – has recorded all of these preludes on YouTube – they are the most recent additions to this playlist.
I’m currently putting the finishing touches to two more organ preludes: a prelude and a postlude on Veni Creator Spiritus planned for the Pentecost evensong at Chelmsford Cathedral in association with Colchester New Music (see below).
Colne Edition
New Colne Edition publications include:
King Wenceslas – a dramatic scena for soprano and recorder
A Colchester Suite – four movements for amateur orchestra
Be thou my vision – a new arrangement in the Prayer and Praise for Choir series
Zoological Band – five easy pieces for flexibly scored wind band
Also published by Colne Edition, Six Dances for Four Hands will be performed by Nadia Lasserson and the composer in the concert series at Aldeburgh Parish Church, Suffolk, on Monday 17 March, 12pm.
Colchester New Music
Colchester New Music (a slightly misleading title as it has members over a wide spread of East Anglia and the South East) was founded as a ‘composers’ cooperative’ just over forty years ago, in 1984, by Eric Hudes and Alan G. Parsons. Both composers were involved in organising a wide range of concerts in East Anglia and London, giving many contemporary composers (some famous, and some less well-known) the opportunity to hear their music performed by high quality professional ensembles. More recently, changes in funding and in fashion, and the death of the founders, forced a change of direction and the organisation, which I recently re-joined, has undertaken a number of successful workshop/concert projects with a variety of performers and a range of composers from the region. The next project is a Pentecost evensong at Chelmsford Cathedral for which almost all the music is being composed by members – and a few days ago I hosted a very interesting and productive discussion group between some of them, with the opportunity for each composer to present a piece on which they were working.
Scrolling Scores
In my last newsletter I wrote about how I am finding that the ‘scrolling score’ – a video in which the music scrolls by on-screen while the piece is played or sung – is becoming a very useful way of demonstrating music to possible performers and listeners. Conductors and performers increasingly expect this, particularly amateur choirs and instrumental groups – and so when a live performance is not available, I use software to produce the audio component. And recently I’ve found some fairly inexpensive software that will ‘sing’ words and music – not perfectly, but well enough to give an idea of the piece. Here are examples, in two arrangements of existing melodies: Steal Away, and Be thou my vision. I think this kind of software will develop quite quickly over the next year (one of the positive uses of AI, perhaps), and, when I don’t have live recordings available, I hope to make more use of it.
It’s a very gloomy and wet February day as I write this newsletter – but I hope you find something of interest to brighten your day!
Alan