String Quartets 1 to 14
“A talent such as this deserves a greater and more frequent airing.” - review of premiere by local critic |
I began my first string quartet in my final year at the Birmingham School of Music under the guidance of Andrew Downes. It is subtitled ‘Of steel and concrete’ because building work on a new concert hall was going on all around at the time - it was noisy and messy and it went on for two years. The results of the building was the Adrian Boult Concert Hall. (Ironically this multi-million pound, purpose built, concert hall was pulled down just twenty years later).
Quartet no.1 is in three movements with the third movement played segue. It opens with a strident, angular theme for all instruments. It was premiered in 1986 by a student quartet led by Simon Jackson on violin and performed again a year later at St. Stephen’s Church, Cheltenham by the Cotswold Quartet. In 2002 the Bellini Quartet included the work in an all-Decio programme in the Pitville Pump Room, Cheltenham. Other works in the programme performed in the round were - Opening of a Rose (written after 9/11), Piano Trio No.1 for Anne Frank (for which I created 17 wooden picture frames so that we could display the artworks by Greg Tricker that inspired the piece) and Spirits of Our Age I for piano and string quartet. |
String Quartet No. 2
in three movements - duration 27:00
in three movements - duration 27:00
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Recorded on May 8th 2010 in Francis Close Hall, Cheltenham, UK, by final year students from the Birmingham School of Music (now Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) Boult Quartet.
Cindy Wu - 1st violin, Catalin Chelaru - 2nd violin, Philippa Lodge - viola & Philip Handy - cello. |
My second string quartet was composed in Cheltenham Spa in 2006, twenty years after the first quartet and two years after the premiere of my Symphony No.2 – The Cheltenham Symphony. A lot happened during those twenty years (I had married and divorced, had visited relatives that I had never met before in the Ukraine and I lived and worked on a cruise ship for 6 months cruising the Straits of Malacca). The three movement Quartet no.2 was influenced by the beautiful Cotswold landscape in which it was written. In particular the escarpment where I once found a Neolithic arrowhead and where Victorians would gamble on horse races. The opening theme was inspired by a promising young composition student, James Trickey, who sadly died in a tragic bicycle accident. Quartet No.2 was premiered on May 8th 2010 in Francis Close Hall Chapel, Cheltenham, as part of a chamber concert series of my own works. It was performed by the Boult Quartet who were final year students at the Birmingham School of Music (I have always been keen to support student musicians). And again in 2010 at The Grange, Newnham-on-Severn.
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String Quartet No. 3
in four movements - duration 30:00 |
Premiered by the Bantock Quartet in the Pitville Pump Room, Cheltenham, UK, July 2013.
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String Quartet No.4
in three movements - duration 15:00
in three movements - duration 15:00
String Quartet No.5
in two movements - duration 17:26
in two movements - duration 17:26
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String Quartet No.6 - 'Daisian Chains'
in three movements - duration 18:00 |
Composed coincident with the wind trio no.1. The Daisian mode is a mode used in plainsong which allows the natural progression of perfect fifths, thereby avoiding the tri-tone.
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String Quartet No.7
in three movements - duration 26:00 |
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I believe String Quartet No.7 to be one of my my finest string quartets so far. The opening theme arrived fully formed in my head on waking one morning. I felt compelled to write the work. My nick-name for this piece is - ‘The Fezziwig’s Christmas Barn Dance on a Greek Island with playful children’. Barn dance because of the open string rhythmic ostinati and Greek island because at the end of the first movement a most wonderful ‘Greek’ melody arrived, almost hymn-like in character. There is a classical feel throughout the three movements. The quartet ends with a play between two voices, like children inviting each other to play.
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String Quartet No.8
in four movements - duration 24:00 |
Composers using a musical monogram is not a new concept - consider BACH in German nomenclature - Bb, A, C, B natural. And Shostakovich – DSCH = D, Eb, C, B natural. Perhaps less well-known Schumann - SCHA = E-flat, C, B-natural, A and Gustav Holst – GSAH = G, Eb, A, B natural. My own musical monogram, used in the 8th string quartet, is a little simpler – just CD; my initials. These two notes are the foundation of the opening chords. The rise of a tone also helps to set the scene for the work; the two-note motif itself is not overused. And the main reason I wanted to ‘sign’ this work was that I quote a lot of other compositions of mine in it. This was not by design, more a happy accident; sometimes composers need to get an overview of their work because sometimes - you can’t see the wood for the trees!
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String Quartet No.9
in three movements - duration 13:30
in three movements - duration 13:30
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String Quartet No.10
'Circle Dances' in five movements - duration 24:15 Whilst writing this composition I had a vision of young couples in traditional costume holding hands and dancing in a circle. Not only did they dance the lively, joyful tunes but they also danced the more sorrowful ones by slowing down their movements as if in slow motion. The types of dances included are - Sarabande, Allemande, Gavotte, Irish Jig, Gigue, Sephardic Hora and a Ukrainian Dumka. The Dumka (Ukrainian Lament) was taught to me by my Ukrainian family when I visited them in 1994, shortly after the end of the Soviet era. It is also included in my Symphony No.2. The poignancy of the lament at the end of the six-movement work serves as a reminder of the Ukraine that has been lost to intolerable violence, stupidity and force. |
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String Quartet No.11
in four movements - duration 19:47
in four movements - duration 19:47
Beasts of England.........." |
My four movement twelfth string quartet was inspired by George Orwell’s extraordinary novel Animal Farm, which was first published in 1945. The animals of Animal Farm (formerly Manor Farm) are taught an anthem by Old Major, the old boar. It begins, “Beasts of England....” My quartet begins with this anthem played on solo violin. By degrees the animals start to sing in their various fashions, learning slowly but then singing out with more confidence. Suddenly all the animals realise that they have the tune and all sing together in a whisper. Then two little lambs do a duet. When the animals realise that they are ‘as one’ they start to dance and celebrate. At the height of their energetic dancing they sing the song again, this time each choosing their own key and timing. This is broken by the sheep, who have been programmed by Napoleon the lead pig, with a chant, “Four legs good – two legs bad”. Again the animals dance. The chickens take fright when the big dogs appear, flying up into the rafters. The first movement closes with the anthem.
Boxer was the old dependable cart-horse, the Stakhanovite. His motto was, “I will work harder”. Boxer’s tune is sung by the cello as the opening of the second movement. But death knocks, Boxer will be in the knackers yard before too long. The second movement closes with the Rat’s Waltz on tiny sharp claws; during the siege of Leningrad the radio station played a ticking metronome, the Rat’s Dance has something of this too in it’s use of col legno (playing with the wood of the bow). The third movement continues in a mood of death lurking in shadows, knocking on doors. A distant snatch of a half-forgotten melody is heard in the distance. It comes closer reminding us of happier times gone by. The melody becomes a dance and the pigs, in a drunken stupor, prance boisterously around the farmhouse. Death or a hang-over ensues and the quartet ends with a recall, or call-to-arms, of the opening anthem. (The musicians may hum the final tune or opt for the first violin to play over a cello droning a fifth like wheezy old bagpipes in the Scottish highlands). |
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String Quartet No.13 - '1984' - new work 2025
in eight chapters - duration 20:00 
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1 – Two-Minutes Hate, 2 – Ring-a-Ring-a Roses, 3 – Thoughtcrime, 4 – BIG BROTHER, 5 – Julia, 6 – Ownlife,
7 – London Bridge, 8 – Oranges and Lemons My 12th string quartet was inspired by George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Therefore it was only natural that I would read 1984 next and I knew from the start that I wanted to compose a work based on this story, and that became my 13th string quartet. It is in eight Chapters rather than movements. Some are played without a break others naturally pause but the overall effect of the work is one large movement. ....a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and this magnifies the distinction between one group and another." |
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String Quartet No.14 - new work 2025
in 3 movements - duration 26:00 
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Unlike my two previous quartets (12th & 13th), the 14th is non-programmatic. Inspiration came from hearing a pizzicato chord built of minor 9ths. This gave rise to the first movement. The contrasting, more melodic and harmonic, 2nd movement has a chordal/choral theme, though the music is always wanting to dance. The final movement begins with a melody above a drone. But the feeling to dance finally becomes overwhelming and the music breaks into a reel. The quartet closes with a return to the drone now in a major key. |
Suite for String Quartet - duration 15:00
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The Suite for String Quartet is based on a series of solo violin pieces by New Zealand composer/violinist Christopher Prosser. Chris asked me to arrange the pieces for string quartet. The challenge was to maintain the original integrity of the lovely tunes whilst maintaining interest and variety throughout. As the 'melodies' were in binary form - part A and part B, I needed to create a development section without composing too much new music, which may take away from the simplicity of the melodies. I achieved this by varying keys and time signatures, though I did create some new material as the music demanded.
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- Person of ethnic origin
- Looking into the distance
- A fond memory
- Hilly Day
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The Opening of a Rose
for string quartet - duration 7:00 composed in memory of 9/11 This work is also arranged for string orchestra |
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Harlequinade
for string quartet - duration 12:30
for string quartet - duration 12:30
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Harlequinade for string quartet develops several of the themes from the play, Harlequin & the Secret of Life, which was composed for John Wilmott Secondary School, Sutton Coldfield and was premiered at the school in 1984 with Jeff Skidmore (of Ex Cathedra fame) conducting. Harlequinade also embraces The Jews of Old Prague, originally written for piano but developed further in this piece.
“The music was simply beautiful.. it was haunting.. it was heartfelt.. and the musicians received quite an applause.... I cannot begin to tell you how moving and powerful it was...” |
Stolypin's Necktie - for string quartet in one movement - duration 8:00
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Stolypin’s Necktie for string quartet is a single movement work composed in 2022 (during the pandemic).
Pyotir Stolypin (1862 — 1911) was governor of the Russian provinces of Grodno and Saratov. In his time he instituted a network of courts-martial, which were authorized to try accused rebels and terrorists; within the few months of their existence they used “Stolypin’s necktie” (the noose) to execute several thousand defendants. |
Chamber Works