(scores in alphabetical order)
Alarch, Yr for SATB chorus (Aug. 2017) (Anon.) 4’ LISTEN
SATB choir
1st perf: Cardiff Univ. Contemporary Music Group, Robert Fokkens, conductor, Cardiff University School of Music Concert Hall, 3 May, 2018
Pub. Tŷ Cerdd, 2017
The lyrics of the setting by Rhian Samuel of ‘Yr Alarch’ (‘The Swan’), by an anonymous Welsh poet of the fourteenth century, displayed a sense of delight in nature which is unusual in a writer of that period, such as the description of the bird as ‘the gleam of a snowdrift’. The composer matched the meaning of the words in a setting full of fire and passion. Paul Godfrey, Seen and Heard International, 25 May, 2018
The lyrics of the setting by Rhian Samuel of ‘Yr Alarch’ (‘The Swan’), by an anonymous Welsh poet of the fourteenth century, displayed a sense of delight in nature which is unusual in a writer of that period, such as the description of the bird as ‘the gleam of a snowdrift’. The composer matched the meaning of the words in a setting full of fire and passion. Paul Godfrey, Seen and Heard International, 25 May, 2018
Ave Maria (Jan. 2014) 6' LISTEN
SATB choir
Commissioned by the Choir of New College
1st perf: Choir of New College, Oxford, Edward Higginbottom, director, New College Chapel, Oxford, 4 February, 2014.
Pub. Tŷ Cerdd, 2016
Ave Regina Coelorum (Jan. 2013) 6' LISTEN
SATB choir
Commissioned by the Choir of New College
1st perf: Choir of New College, Oxford, Edward Higginbottom, director, New College, Oxford, 4 May, 2013.
Pub. Novello, 2013 (# NOV294206)
This [is a] highly effective six-minute motet. . . The choral writing is demanding but well-conceived, nowhere more so than at the first entry of the choir, which shimmers in a uniquely beguiling manner. There is much variety in this short piece, but it makes a coherent whole. Jeremy Summerly, Choir & Organ,May/June, 2014
Clear Midnight, A (Nov. 2014) (Walt Whitman) 3'
This [is a] highly effective six-minute motet. . . The choral writing is demanding but well-conceived, nowhere more so than at the first entry of the choir, which shimmers in a uniquely beguiling manner. There is much variety in this short piece, but it makes a coherent whole. Jeremy Summerly, Choir & Organ,May/June, 2014
Changes (1973, rev. 1978) (Priest Saigyo) 8'
SATB chorus with solo vibraphone
Text trans. Geoffrey Bownas and Anthony Thwaite
I The winds of spring III The cry of crickets
II Is it a shower? IV Every single thing
1st perf: Washington University Choir, Orland Johnson (cond), Matthew Furfine (vib), Washington University, St Louis, Missouri,USA, 16 April 1980.
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, ref AC158.
Clear Midnight, A (Nov. 2014) (Walt Whitman) 3'
SATB choir and organ
Commissioned by Magdalen College School, Oxford
1st perf: Magdalen College School Choir, Jon Cullen (cond), University Church of St Mary, Oxford, Commemoration, 4 July, 2015.
Pub. Tŷ Cerdd, 2017
Dear Night (1998) (Henry Vaughan) 4'
SATB choir and organ
Commissioned for the St Peter’s Singers, Hammersmith
1st perf: St Peter’s Singers, Hammersmith, Michael Emery (cond), St Richard’s Church, Chichester, 12 July 1998.
Pub. Stainer & Bell, ref Y163
(rev. version)
SATB chorus w. soprano solo
1st broadcast perf: BBC Singers, James Sherlock (cond), 'Afternoon Concert', BBC Radio 3, 9 February, 2023
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, ref Y365
Earth Newborn (2023) (Edward Thomas) 22'
SATB choir
Commissioned by BBC Radio 3
1. The Trumpet LISTEN2. Lights Out3. Brights Clouds of May4. After Rain LISTEN
1st perf: BBC Singers, Nicholas Kok (cond), St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, London, 28 April, 2023.
Pub. Stainer & Bell, ref Y368 ('The Trumpet'), 369 ('Lights Out') , 370 ('Bright Clouds of May'), 371 ('After Rain').
Gossamer Thread, The (2014, rev. 2017) (Walt Whitman) 3'
SATB chorus (Nov. 2014) + organ (Jan. 2017)
Commissioned by Tŷ Cerdd
1st perf, with organ: National Youth Training Choir of Wales, St Mary's Priory Church, Monmouth, 19 April, 2017.
Version w. organ pub. Tŷ Cerdd, 2017
Jacobean Lyrics (1979) 6'
SATB chorus
SATB chorus
Finalist, Theo. Presser / Ithaca College Composers Competition, 1979
I I got me flowers (George Herbert)
II Slow, slow, fresh fount (Ben Jonson)
II Slow, slow, fresh fount (Ben Jonson)
III Now the lusty Spring (Beaumont and Fletcher)
1st perf: Horseheads High School Choir, Joseph Kruppi (cond), Ithaca, NY, USA, 10 November 1979.
1st perf: Horseheads High School Choir, Joseph Kruppi (cond), Ithaca, NY, USA, 10 November 1979.
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, ref Y151.
Jolly Wat the Shepherd (1970) (Anonymous) 3' LISTEN
1st perf: Washington University Madrigal Singers, Orland Johnson (cond), Washington University, St Louis, Missouri, USA, December 1971.
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, Y155 Listening Eye, The (2017) (Anne Stevenson) 12'
SATB choir
Commissioned by Cantorion Ardwyn
1. Morning
1. Morning
2. Eros
3. Gannets Diving
3. Gannets Diving
1st perf: Cantorion Ardwyn/Cardiff Ardwyn Singers David Leggett, conductor, RWCMD, 17 November, 2018.
Pub. Tŷ Cerdd
LISTEN (at 45 mins in)
SATB choir
1st perf: Choir of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney (cond), New College Chapel, Oxford, 28 November 2015.
Pub. S&B, in choral series, Choral Now. Copies available for purchase, ref CN5P. Also available for purchase as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file at www.stainer.co.uk/choralnow (immediate download, ref CN5S) (S&B ref CN5)
Lovesongs and Observations (1989) (Emily Dickinson) 9'
SATB chorus
I Let me not mar IV The first arbutus
II To make a prairie V Proud of my broken heart LISTEN
1st perf, nos. I–IV & VI: Reading University Chamber Choir, conducted by the composer, Reading, 9 June 1989; 1st perf, complete set: Ithaca College Choir, Laurence Doebler (cond), Ithaca, NY, USA, 22 February 1990; 1st UK perf: Joyful Company of Singers, Peter Broadbent (cond), Purcell Room, London, 17 April 1992; 1st broadcast perf: The Britten Singers, Terry Edwards (cond), 18 August 1992.
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, ref W201
Opposites (1980, rev. 2010) 6'
SATB choir
I Age and Youth (William Shakespeare)
II Sun and Shadow (Thomas Campion)
II Sun and Shadow (Thomas Campion)
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, ref Y280
Pan ddaw ust y nos / When the calm of night (2005) 6' (Nesta Wyn Jones / English trans. by the composer)
SATB choir + organ
Commissioned by the London Welsh Chorale in memory of organist Carys Môn Hughes
1st perf (Welsh text): London Welsh Chorale, Kenneth Bowen (cond), Timothy Noon (org), St Davids Cathedral, Pembs, 24 September 2005; 1st perf (English text): City University Chamber Choir, Tansy Castledine (cond), Steven Grahl (org), St Marylebone Parish Church, London, 14 March 2006; performed on the annual summer tour of the National Youth Choir of Wales, Ben Parry (cond), Huw Williams (org), 2011
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, ref Y222
SATB choir + organ
1st perf: Cambridge Chorale, Owain Park, cond, Makoto James, organ, recorded April 2022.
Pub. Multitude of Voyces, vol. 3 (distributed by Stainer & Bell), 2020.
Also pub. separately in the Choral Now Series, Stainer & Bell, 2022.
SATB choir
1st perf: BBC Singers, Grace Rossiter, cond. St Peter's Church Eaton Square, London, 27 February, 2020.
Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for 'Seven Ages of Woman', International Women's Day, 2020
Pub. Choral Now Series, Stainer & Bell, 2020.
So Long Ago (1979) (John Pudney) 5' LISTEN
1st perf: BBC Singers, Grace Rossiter, cond. St Peter's Church Eaton Square, London, 27 February, 2020.
Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for 'Seven Ages of Woman', International Women's Day, 2020
Pub. Choral Now Series, Stainer & Bell, 2020.
So Long Ago (1979) (John Pudney) 5' LISTEN
SATB choir
First prize, Greenwich Festival, London, 1979
First prize, Greenwich Festival, London, 1979
1st perf: Thomas Tallis Choir, Philip Simms (cond), St Alphege’s Church, Greenwich, London, 9 December 1979; performed by the choir of Westminster Abbey, Martin Neary (cond), Evensong, Christmas Eve 1997
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, ref Y154.
SATB choir & piano
Commissioned by Cantorion Ardwyn
1. Beth yw Dagrau
2. Wennol Fach
3. Y Gerdd Goll
2. Wennol Fach
3. Y Gerdd Goll
1st perf: Cantorion Ardwyn/Cardiff Ardwyn Singers, David Leggett, conductor, RWCMD, 17 November, 2018.
Pub. Tŷ Cerdd, 2018
Tair Cân Werin/ Three Welsh Folksongs (2021) (Anon) c.8'
Version 1: SAA choir & piano (text in Welsh and English translation)
Commissioned by 'Dare to Sing' Choir, Aberdare, Wales
Version 2: SATB Choir & piano (text in Welsh and English translation)
1. Lliw Gwyn Rhosyn yr Hâf/ The White Rose of Summer2. Croen y Ddafad Felan/ The Yellow Sheepskin
3. Pa le mae Nghariad I?/ O Where is my True Love?
1st perf of Version 1 ( forthcoming), 'Dare to Sing' Choir, Llinos Davies, conductor
Pub. Tŷ Cerdd
Elizabethan Songs (1967, rev. 2017) 5'
SATB choir
1. Westron Wynde
2. Without Dyscorde
2. Without Dyscorde
1st perf: Reading University Singers, Reading University, conducted by the composer, 10 March 1967.
[Copies available from the composer]
Two English Carols (1969, rev. 2017) 5’
SATB choir
1. Ivy.
2. The Heron flew East
2. The Heron flew East
1st perf: Washington University Chamber Singers, conductor, Orland Johnson, Washington University, December 1968
[Copies available from the composer]
[Copies available from the composer]
What Cheer? (2011) (Anonymous 16th century) 6'
SATB choir with organ
Commissioned by the Choir of New College
1st perf: Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom (cond), Stephen Grahl (organ), New College Chapel, Oxford, 4 December 2011.
Pub. Stainer & Bell. Copies available for purchase, ref Y287