STEVIE WISHART | COMPOSER
Please contact us for purchase or hire of all Stevie Wishart's Scores
C O M P L E T E W O R K S
o Choir & Voice
o Orchestra
o Opera & Music Theatre
o Ensemble & Solo
o Improvisations
o Gallery and Foyer Sound Installations
o Choir & Voice
o Orchestra
o Opera & Music Theatre
o Ensemble & Solo
o Improvisations
o Gallery and Foyer Sound Installations
C H O I R & V O I C E
Voicing The Dawn, 2019
Commissioned by Ex Cathedra for vocal consort or chorus
Composed in collaboration with sound engineer Ruben Nachtegaele
Sultry Songs, 2017-18
Music specially created for Barbara Raes’s (T)here & Here exhibition at the Europalia Arts Festival ‘Indonesia’, Bozar, Brussels, 10th October 2017 - 21st January 2018. For the opening for press and VIPs, including the King of Belgium, we performed Sultry Songs, which has three components: acapella songs for 4 voices, solo hurdy-gurdy improvisations based upon gamelan music and medieval chant, and the sound-track which I composed for the video based upon minimal mechanical sounds of the hurdy-gurdy.
“A Noisy Christmas Medley”, 2017
The boar’s head edited and arranged by © stevie wishart December 2017
Miri it is and Estampie on Miri it is © stevie wishart 1993
Alleluia! Salvator mundi, Domine © Stevie Wishart December 2017 with optional hurdy-gurdy/ or instrumental accompaniment
Strahlender Himmel 2017
instrumentation: Soprano and Piano.
Commissioned in honour of Helen Buchholtz, by Danielle Roster, Cid Femme, Luxembourg.
Songs for Yuletide & Christentide 2015.
i. Te Deum Laudamus/ of Mary a maide
ii. Lets be merry as bird on berry for 4-part upper-voice choir/ choristers.
iii. Lullaby for Freya, based on the Scottish Christmas carol Tàladh ar Slànaigheir
Instrumentation: Upper-voice choir
Commissioned by St Catharine’s Girls’ Choir, University of Cambridge.
http://www.resonusclassics.com/nova-nova-contemporary-carols-st-catharines-cambridge
Happy Song, 2014
Instrumentation: three upper-voices.
Premiere: Union Street Chapel, Islington London.
Commissioned by Voice.
Heed My Spreading Wings, Jasmin Ann Corray text, 2013
Instrumentation solo voices or choir.
Commissioned by Voice:
O Choruscans Lux on a cantus firmus by Hildegard of Bingen, 2012
: three-part upper-voices solo/semi-choir (with optional Choir).
Premiere by Voice at the Royal Festival Hall, London.
Commissioned by the Southbank Centre, London.
The Seasons, 2013/2014
i. Winter. Text from the poem Carol by Sir Rowan Williams (then Archbishop of Canterbury/Head of the Church of England, with permission), for SATB choir.
ii. Spring. Text from Dayspring by Trevor Blakemore (1879 - 1953). 15 pages, 6,30min
iii. Summer. Text: from Summer Song by Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924). SATB Choir & semi-choir.
iv. Autumn. Text: poem Autumn by Siegfried Sassoon, for SATB choir, CT, A, T soloists, strings, piano
Premiere by the Ipswich Choral Society, Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh, 2014
Commissioned by Ipswich Choral Society, UK
Vespers for St Hildegard, 2012/2013.
Movements may be performed separately:
i. Introitus: Sancta Prelude & Karitas habundat
ii. Invitatorium: Deus in adiutorium
iii. Antiphona: O virtus sapientie
iv. Psalmus CIX: Dixit Dominus tertii toni
v. O Virtus Sapientie alio modo
vi. Antiphona: O Beata Infantia
vii. Psalmus CXI: Beatus Vir septimi toni
viii. O beata infantia alio modo
ix. Antiphona: Nunc gaudeant
x. Psalmus CX: Confitebor tibi octavi toni
xi. Antiphona: O successores
xii. Psalmus CXII: Laudate pueri secundi toni
xiii. O successores alio modo
xiv. Capitulum: Proverbia IX, v.1
xv. Responsorium: O quam preciosa
xvi. Hymnus: Iste confessor
xvii. Antiphona: O frondens virga
xviii. Magnificat primi toni
xix. O frondens Virga alio modo
xx. Commemoratio: O doctor optime
xxi. Conclusio: Deo gratias (optional)
Instrumentation: Choir (S,A,T,B), soloists (S,A,T), hand-bells, hurdy-gurdy, harp and organ.
Part-premiered at St Peter’s, Rome (2012), full premier in York Minster (2013) with the University of York Chamber Choir, York Minster organist and bell-ringers, and Sinfonye.
Commissioned by Decca and the York Early Music Festival
Lingua Ignota - settings of the Lingua ignota text by Hildegard von Bingen, 1997/2000/2013
i. Azeruz for three-part upper-voices with optional instrumental accompaniment
ii. Ploschinantz, for solo soprano and hurdy-gurdy (or viola)
iii. Viriditas: A canonic motet for up to three voices on a chromatic cantus firmus and instrumental duo on the same cantus firmus
Commissioned by Fo.am, Brussels
Inner Garden, 2012
Instrumentation: Community choir and green-house plants
Premiere tropical & subtropical glass-houses of the Botanical Garden (Plantentuin), University of Ghent, October 2012
Commissioned by Fo.am, Brussels
Out of this World, 2011
i. O Verbum Patris, (T,B) 7' -- (Score available here)
ii. O Fili dilectissime, (S,A) 2'30 -- (Score available here)
iii. O factura Dei, (S,A,T,B) 6' -- (Score available here)
iv. O eterne Deus, (S,A,T,B with additional high voices) 7'30 -- (Score available here)
Instrumentation: SATB Choir
Premiered in the BBC PROMS on 27 August 2011 at the Cadogan Hall, performed by the BBC Singers and Sinfonye, conducted by Robert Hollingworth
Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the BBC Singers
Subrosa, 2001
Instrumentation: Upper-voice choir
Commissioned by the Oxford Girls’ Choir Premiered Mansfield College Chapel, December 2001
Azeruz, 2000
Three upper-voices & optional hurdy-gurdy.
Commissioned for A & E TV Networks (USA) ‘Mission Berlin’ Flashback Television, UK
Red Rage Rouge, 1993-1997
Instrumentation: upper-voice choir
Commission by the Oxford Girls’ Choir, director Richard Vendome with funds from the Foundation for Sports and Arts, UK
Voicing The Dawn, 2019
Commissioned by Ex Cathedra for vocal consort or chorus
Composed in collaboration with sound engineer Ruben Nachtegaele
Sultry Songs, 2017-18
Music specially created for Barbara Raes’s (T)here & Here exhibition at the Europalia Arts Festival ‘Indonesia’, Bozar, Brussels, 10th October 2017 - 21st January 2018. For the opening for press and VIPs, including the King of Belgium, we performed Sultry Songs, which has three components: acapella songs for 4 voices, solo hurdy-gurdy improvisations based upon gamelan music and medieval chant, and the sound-track which I composed for the video based upon minimal mechanical sounds of the hurdy-gurdy.
“A Noisy Christmas Medley”, 2017
The boar’s head edited and arranged by © stevie wishart December 2017
Miri it is and Estampie on Miri it is © stevie wishart 1993
Alleluia! Salvator mundi, Domine © Stevie Wishart December 2017 with optional hurdy-gurdy/ or instrumental accompaniment
Strahlender Himmel 2017
instrumentation: Soprano and Piano.
Commissioned in honour of Helen Buchholtz, by Danielle Roster, Cid Femme, Luxembourg.
Songs for Yuletide & Christentide 2015.
i. Te Deum Laudamus/ of Mary a maide
ii. Lets be merry as bird on berry for 4-part upper-voice choir/ choristers.
iii. Lullaby for Freya, based on the Scottish Christmas carol Tàladh ar Slànaigheir
Instrumentation: Upper-voice choir
Commissioned by St Catharine’s Girls’ Choir, University of Cambridge.
http://www.resonusclassics.com/nova-nova-contemporary-carols-st-catharines-cambridge
Happy Song, 2014
Instrumentation: three upper-voices.
Premiere: Union Street Chapel, Islington London.
Commissioned by Voice.
Heed My Spreading Wings, Jasmin Ann Corray text, 2013
Instrumentation solo voices or choir.
Commissioned by Voice:
O Choruscans Lux on a cantus firmus by Hildegard of Bingen, 2012
: three-part upper-voices solo/semi-choir (with optional Choir).
Premiere by Voice at the Royal Festival Hall, London.
Commissioned by the Southbank Centre, London.
The Seasons, 2013/2014
i. Winter. Text from the poem Carol by Sir Rowan Williams (then Archbishop of Canterbury/Head of the Church of England, with permission), for SATB choir.
ii. Spring. Text from Dayspring by Trevor Blakemore (1879 - 1953). 15 pages, 6,30min
iii. Summer. Text: from Summer Song by Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924). SATB Choir & semi-choir.
iv. Autumn. Text: poem Autumn by Siegfried Sassoon, for SATB choir, CT, A, T soloists, strings, piano
Premiere by the Ipswich Choral Society, Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh, 2014
Commissioned by Ipswich Choral Society, UK
Vespers for St Hildegard, 2012/2013.
Movements may be performed separately:
i. Introitus: Sancta Prelude & Karitas habundat
ii. Invitatorium: Deus in adiutorium
iii. Antiphona: O virtus sapientie
iv. Psalmus CIX: Dixit Dominus tertii toni
v. O Virtus Sapientie alio modo
vi. Antiphona: O Beata Infantia
vii. Psalmus CXI: Beatus Vir septimi toni
viii. O beata infantia alio modo
ix. Antiphona: Nunc gaudeant
x. Psalmus CX: Confitebor tibi octavi toni
xi. Antiphona: O successores
xii. Psalmus CXII: Laudate pueri secundi toni
xiii. O successores alio modo
xiv. Capitulum: Proverbia IX, v.1
xv. Responsorium: O quam preciosa
xvi. Hymnus: Iste confessor
xvii. Antiphona: O frondens virga
xviii. Magnificat primi toni
xix. O frondens Virga alio modo
xx. Commemoratio: O doctor optime
xxi. Conclusio: Deo gratias (optional)
Instrumentation: Choir (S,A,T,B), soloists (S,A,T), hand-bells, hurdy-gurdy, harp and organ.
Part-premiered at St Peter’s, Rome (2012), full premier in York Minster (2013) with the University of York Chamber Choir, York Minster organist and bell-ringers, and Sinfonye.
Commissioned by Decca and the York Early Music Festival
Lingua Ignota - settings of the Lingua ignota text by Hildegard von Bingen, 1997/2000/2013
i. Azeruz for three-part upper-voices with optional instrumental accompaniment
ii. Ploschinantz, for solo soprano and hurdy-gurdy (or viola)
iii. Viriditas: A canonic motet for up to three voices on a chromatic cantus firmus and instrumental duo on the same cantus firmus
Commissioned by Fo.am, Brussels
Inner Garden, 2012
Instrumentation: Community choir and green-house plants
Premiere tropical & subtropical glass-houses of the Botanical Garden (Plantentuin), University of Ghent, October 2012
Commissioned by Fo.am, Brussels
Out of this World, 2011
i. O Verbum Patris, (T,B) 7' -- (Score available here)
ii. O Fili dilectissime, (S,A) 2'30 -- (Score available here)
iii. O factura Dei, (S,A,T,B) 6' -- (Score available here)
iv. O eterne Deus, (S,A,T,B with additional high voices) 7'30 -- (Score available here)
Instrumentation: SATB Choir
Premiered in the BBC PROMS on 27 August 2011 at the Cadogan Hall, performed by the BBC Singers and Sinfonye, conducted by Robert Hollingworth
Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the BBC Singers
Subrosa, 2001
Instrumentation: Upper-voice choir
Commissioned by the Oxford Girls’ Choir Premiered Mansfield College Chapel, December 2001
Azeruz, 2000
Three upper-voices & optional hurdy-gurdy.
Commissioned for A & E TV Networks (USA) ‘Mission Berlin’ Flashback Television, UK
Red Rage Rouge, 1993-1997
Instrumentation: upper-voice choir
Commission by the Oxford Girls’ Choir, director Richard Vendome with funds from the Foundation for Sports and Arts, UK
O R C H E S T R A L
BBC Proms Commission "The last dance?" - a Baroque tango, 2019
A new work written as an accompanying piece to one of Bach's Suites
To be performed by John Butt and the Dunedin Consort in their Bach Night as part of the 2019 BBC Proms in celebration of the centenary of Sir Henry Wood
Rough with the Smooth, a concerto for double-bass in the form of a concerto grosso, 2015
i. Overture - prelude & fugue
ii. Air|
iii. Passacaglia
Instrumentation: solo double-bass, with solo violin, harp, theorbo, harpsichord, concertante and string orchestra.
Premiere: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Commissioned by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment., and by The Haydn & Handel Society, Boston (ongoing)
Iced, 2004
i. Comme l'eau devient glace ... As water becomes ice ...
ii. la transparence se décompose dans le blanc... transparency is distorted into white ..
iii. et le mouvement gèle à l'intérieur … and motion is frozen inside. (after Mallarmé)
Instrumentation: string orchestra, theremin, gongs, midi drum-pads, midi keyboard and real-time computer transformation, with multi-speaker sound-diffusion. Programming by Kasper Toeplitz.
Premiered at thee Théâtre Marni, Brussels.
Commissioned by Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, Belgium and Art Zoyd, Transfrontalier de Productions et de Créations Musicales, Valenciennes, France.
Illuminations, 2003
Instrumentation: string orchestra
Premiered by the Ten Tors Orchestra, conducted by Simon Ible, at Holyrood Hall, Chard on 1st June, 2003. Commissioned by the Ten Tors Orchestra, England, with funds from South-West Arts, UK.
BBC Proms Commission "The last dance?" - a Baroque tango, 2019
A new work written as an accompanying piece to one of Bach's Suites
To be performed by John Butt and the Dunedin Consort in their Bach Night as part of the 2019 BBC Proms in celebration of the centenary of Sir Henry Wood
Rough with the Smooth, a concerto for double-bass in the form of a concerto grosso, 2015
i. Overture - prelude & fugue
ii. Air|
iii. Passacaglia
Instrumentation: solo double-bass, with solo violin, harp, theorbo, harpsichord, concertante and string orchestra.
Premiere: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Commissioned by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment., and by The Haydn & Handel Society, Boston (ongoing)
Iced, 2004
i. Comme l'eau devient glace ... As water becomes ice ...
ii. la transparence se décompose dans le blanc... transparency is distorted into white ..
iii. et le mouvement gèle à l'intérieur … and motion is frozen inside. (after Mallarmé)
Instrumentation: string orchestra, theremin, gongs, midi drum-pads, midi keyboard and real-time computer transformation, with multi-speaker sound-diffusion. Programming by Kasper Toeplitz.
Premiered at thee Théâtre Marni, Brussels.
Commissioned by Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, Belgium and Art Zoyd, Transfrontalier de Productions et de Créations Musicales, Valenciennes, France.
Illuminations, 2003
Instrumentation: string orchestra
Premiered by the Ten Tors Orchestra, conducted by Simon Ible, at Holyrood Hall, Chard on 1st June, 2003. Commissioned by the Ten Tors Orchestra, England, with funds from South-West Arts, UK.
O P E R A, D A N C E & M U S I C T H E A T R E
Henric, 2013-2016
Literary film-concert / Een literair filmconcert.
Co-composed with Gerrit Valckenaers for the writer Elvis Peeters, video by Jan Weynants Commissioned by the Festival van Vlaanderen, Belgium
i. In den zî, daz die rôsen (solo alto & solo instrument accompaniment)
ii. Diu minne betwanc Salomône (2 altos & solo instrument accompaniment)
iii. Als dan de vogels vrolijk Zingen (2 altos & solo instrument accompaniment)
iv. Het hebben die kalde nechte gedaan (solo alto & solo instrument accompaniment)
On texts by Henic van Valdeke (c.1150–1210)
Folie Douce after Erasmus, 2011
Music-theatre miniature
Performed by Stevie Wishart with Sergei Istomin (Cello & Viola de gamba, and Catherine Jauniaux (voice) at Erasmushuis, Brussels. Instrumentation: reciter-vocalist, viola da gamba, cello, violin, hurdy-gurdy
Commissioned to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first edition of L’Éloge de la Folie d’Erasme by the Erasmushuis, Brussels
Demain, 2010
Pre-recorded soundscape for a multiform choreography for four assistants, one cameraman and a dancer, by Michèle Noiret, with Todor Todoroff.
Premiere by Michèle Noiret and Compagnie Michèle Noiret, Théâtre National in Brussels,
Commissioned by Compagnie Michèle Noiret & Théâtre National, Brussels
Quartet, 2007
Music sound-track and live performance Dancer, robot camera and virtual dancer, video by Margie Medlin
Instrumentation: Violin, music sensors and computer instruments (performed by the composer)
Commissioned by the ICA and the Wellcome Trust, London.
The Myth Of Europa, opera-miniature setting the Greek story by Moschus fl. c.150 BC, and Metamorphoses," Book II, 846-875 by Ovid (in Greek, Latin & English) 2007.
Instrumentation: female singer & chorus, piano, theorbo, hurdy gurdy
i. Prelude - The third watch of the night
ii. Soft-footed on the eyes in gentle bondage - dream part one “malakō kata fa-e-a dēsmo”
iii. Like a vision - dream part two "ō-isat’ ēpeirous doi-as peri hei-o maches-thai”
iv. The sea-going cow "de pontoporon boun" (text Moschus)
v. The artifice of man "facta manu"
vi. The bisected rim of the horned moon "eluthe d'es leimōna kai ouk efobēse fa-antheis" (text Moschus)
vii. Immortal scent …across the surface of the middle sea “laron a-ūtmēn"
Commissioned by Thomas Hoeft for Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Styriarte Festival, Graz, Austria, 2007
La Chambre Blanche, 2006
Four dancers and soundtrack
Commissioned by Compagnie Michèle Noiret Premiere by Compagnie Michèle Noiret, Théâtre Les Tanneurs, and Festival Bellone-Brigittines, Brussels. 2006
Lauréate du Prix de la Danse 2006 de la Communauté française de Belgique
Wraak (revenge), 2003
Music for theatre piece by Nadia Abdelouafii about the lives of Moroccan women in northern Europe.
Toured in Holland and Belgium with music performed live by the composer.
Produced and commissioned by the Cultural Centre of Berchem, Antwerp, Belgium.
Aelfgyva, 2003
Music for theatre piece by Jane Woollard.
Instrumentation: voices, harp, pre-recorded soundtrack.
Premiered at the Autumn Music Festival, Melbourne; music performed by the composer and ensemble.
Commissioned by the Autumn Music Festival in Melbourne, Australia.
Slow Love (revised version), 2002
Music for Slow Love by the Australian writer Richard Murphet
Instrumentation: violin, hurdygurdy, analogue & digital sound processing, vocals
Premiered at the Beckett Theatre, CUB Malthouse, Melbourne, Australia; music performed by the composer.
Commissioned for revised version by Chamber Made Opera.
Awarded the 2002 Green Room Award for best new music composition for opera and theatre.
Slow Love, 2000
Music for Slow Love by the Australian writer Richard Murphy
Commissioned by Theater Malpertuis, Belgium
Premiered at Theater Malpertuis, Tielt, Belgium 1999 and Adelaide Festival, Australia, 2000; music performed live by the composer
Instrumentation: violin, hurdygurdy, analogue & digital sound processing, vocals
Red Iris, 2000
The enigmatic instrumental pieces known as "istampitte" from the Italian trecento are played solo as a staged performance with muslin screens showing projections of images from medieval frescoes and the original music manuscripts, together with live close-circuit camera projections of the musician.
Instrumentation: medieval violin/hurdy-gurdy, reciter, video.
Designed byGenevieve Blanchette.
Produced by Boris Kelly and Mob Productions with funding by an Australia Council New Media award.
Henric, 2013-2016
Literary film-concert / Een literair filmconcert.
Co-composed with Gerrit Valckenaers for the writer Elvis Peeters, video by Jan Weynants Commissioned by the Festival van Vlaanderen, Belgium
i. In den zî, daz die rôsen (solo alto & solo instrument accompaniment)
ii. Diu minne betwanc Salomône (2 altos & solo instrument accompaniment)
iii. Als dan de vogels vrolijk Zingen (2 altos & solo instrument accompaniment)
iv. Het hebben die kalde nechte gedaan (solo alto & solo instrument accompaniment)
On texts by Henic van Valdeke (c.1150–1210)
Folie Douce after Erasmus, 2011
Music-theatre miniature
Performed by Stevie Wishart with Sergei Istomin (Cello & Viola de gamba, and Catherine Jauniaux (voice) at Erasmushuis, Brussels. Instrumentation: reciter-vocalist, viola da gamba, cello, violin, hurdy-gurdy
Commissioned to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first edition of L’Éloge de la Folie d’Erasme by the Erasmushuis, Brussels
Demain, 2010
Pre-recorded soundscape for a multiform choreography for four assistants, one cameraman and a dancer, by Michèle Noiret, with Todor Todoroff.
Premiere by Michèle Noiret and Compagnie Michèle Noiret, Théâtre National in Brussels,
Commissioned by Compagnie Michèle Noiret & Théâtre National, Brussels
Quartet, 2007
Music sound-track and live performance Dancer, robot camera and virtual dancer, video by Margie Medlin
Instrumentation: Violin, music sensors and computer instruments (performed by the composer)
Commissioned by the ICA and the Wellcome Trust, London.
The Myth Of Europa, opera-miniature setting the Greek story by Moschus fl. c.150 BC, and Metamorphoses," Book II, 846-875 by Ovid (in Greek, Latin & English) 2007.
Instrumentation: female singer & chorus, piano, theorbo, hurdy gurdy
i. Prelude - The third watch of the night
ii. Soft-footed on the eyes in gentle bondage - dream part one “malakō kata fa-e-a dēsmo”
iii. Like a vision - dream part two "ō-isat’ ēpeirous doi-as peri hei-o maches-thai”
iv. The sea-going cow "de pontoporon boun" (text Moschus)
v. The artifice of man "facta manu"
vi. The bisected rim of the horned moon "eluthe d'es leimōna kai ouk efobēse fa-antheis" (text Moschus)
vii. Immortal scent …across the surface of the middle sea “laron a-ūtmēn"
Commissioned by Thomas Hoeft for Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Styriarte Festival, Graz, Austria, 2007
La Chambre Blanche, 2006
Four dancers and soundtrack
Commissioned by Compagnie Michèle Noiret Premiere by Compagnie Michèle Noiret, Théâtre Les Tanneurs, and Festival Bellone-Brigittines, Brussels. 2006
Lauréate du Prix de la Danse 2006 de la Communauté française de Belgique
Wraak (revenge), 2003
Music for theatre piece by Nadia Abdelouafii about the lives of Moroccan women in northern Europe.
Toured in Holland and Belgium with music performed live by the composer.
Produced and commissioned by the Cultural Centre of Berchem, Antwerp, Belgium.
Aelfgyva, 2003
Music for theatre piece by Jane Woollard.
Instrumentation: voices, harp, pre-recorded soundtrack.
Premiered at the Autumn Music Festival, Melbourne; music performed by the composer and ensemble.
Commissioned by the Autumn Music Festival in Melbourne, Australia.
Slow Love (revised version), 2002
Music for Slow Love by the Australian writer Richard Murphet
Instrumentation: violin, hurdygurdy, analogue & digital sound processing, vocals
Premiered at the Beckett Theatre, CUB Malthouse, Melbourne, Australia; music performed by the composer.
Commissioned for revised version by Chamber Made Opera.
Awarded the 2002 Green Room Award for best new music composition for opera and theatre.
Slow Love, 2000
Music for Slow Love by the Australian writer Richard Murphy
Commissioned by Theater Malpertuis, Belgium
Premiered at Theater Malpertuis, Tielt, Belgium 1999 and Adelaide Festival, Australia, 2000; music performed live by the composer
Instrumentation: violin, hurdygurdy, analogue & digital sound processing, vocals
Red Iris, 2000
The enigmatic instrumental pieces known as "istampitte" from the Italian trecento are played solo as a staged performance with muslin screens showing projections of images from medieval frescoes and the original music manuscripts, together with live close-circuit camera projections of the musician.
Instrumentation: medieval violin/hurdy-gurdy, reciter, video.
Designed byGenevieve Blanchette.
Produced by Boris Kelly and Mob Productions with funding by an Australia Council New Media award.
E N S E M B L E & S O L O
Weft and Warp, 2019
For hurdy-gurdy, violin, and piano, with qanun and percussion
Proem, Prelude & Fugue (Soul of a Woman), 2018
Solo piano, written for Joanna MacGregor
‘Gloam’ solo Hurdy-gurdy music composed and improvised on the duskish cusp of music and noise, 2017
Recorded July, 2017 and currently in progress for vinyl and CD release 2018
En Fugue, 2017
Music sound-track for - A Light's Travelogue by Els van Riel (funded by the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds), Brussels
Instrumentation: hurdy-gurdy played (bowed) with off-cuts of film, July 2017
Out of the Mists, 3rd August 2017
A tone poem for harpsichord and piano inspired by the mists of the River Dart
world premiere performed by Joanna Macgregor - piano, Jane Chapman - harpsichord
Between Cities in Sound (Eurostar) - a tone-poem.
Instrumentation: soprano, Bb clarinet & bass clarinet, harp, double-bass.
Commissioned by the Hermes Ensemble for their Metropolis project.
Premier April 19 2016 for The Park Lane Group, St John’s Smith Square, London
Stillness, 2016
live music performed and improvised on solo hurdy-gurdy
To conclude Nik Gaffney's photographic explorations of Stillness and the beginning of our year-long transiency at FoAM Brussels, we invite you to join us for a unique event. Stillness was a year long series of experiments with ethereality, materiality and time. Prints and books from the series will be presented together for the first time in the FoAM Studio with atmospheric textures by Stevie Wishart, Maja Kuzmanovic and Rasa Alksnyte. Feb. 7. 2016
The Sound of Gesture, 2010
A set of 9 solo pieces using a hybrid of real-time sound processing, music-gesture and violin, improvisation and electroacoustic composition.
Instrumentation: solo violin, sensors & computer sound transformation/synthesis
Performances: Mucsarnok (Kunsthalle) Budapest, Kubus concert hall at ZKM, Karlsruhe and Muffathalle in Munich, Germany
Commissioned by ZKM, Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie, Germany and ADK, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Frozen Particles, 2010
Instrumentation: viola and pre-recorded sound
Premiered by Julia Eckhardt, Netwerk Art Gallery, Aalst, Belgium
Commissioned by q-o2, Brussels, Belgium
Canti del Paradiso, 2012
i. The song of Beatrice
ii. Credo
iii. Danza dei santi on texts from Dante's Il canto xxiv del paradiso
Instrumention: 3 upper voices, small-harp and hurdy-gurdy
Commissioned for La Fede di Dante – il canto xxiv del paradiso, at the Chiesa del Gesu, Rome in the presence of His Eminence Cardinal Ravasi Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura of the Vatican, Rome
Nocturne, 2012
A string quartet in two movements on the theme of Clara Schumann.
Commissioned by the 2012 Hugo Wolf Festival, Brussels
Solos for Strings, Wheel, and Fingers, 2008
Instrumentation: solo hurdy-gurdy
Premiered at ORF RadioKulturhaus,Vienna 2008; and performed at Breuckenmusik, Koln, 2009; The Future University's Improvisation in the Round concert, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge University, 2012; Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music, Queen's University Belfast, 2013,
and Urban Rituals Festival, Les Brigittines, Brussels
Commissioned for Wiener Drehleier-Festival, ORF RadioKulturhaus, Vienna
Reduction, 2008
Instrumentation: String quartet
Commissioned for the members of the Britten Sinfonia, Cambridge, UK
Allegretto con fuoco, 2008
Instrumentation: String quartet
Commissioned for members of the Britten Sinfonia, Cambridge, UK
Arrow after So Lanc so meer, c.1450, 2005
Instrumentation: Counter-tenor, organ, and strings
Commissioned and premiered by Augsburg, Pax Festival by Thomas Hoeft (Germany).
Island Universes, 2004
Ensemble with live electronics and the mechanical sounds of 4 slide projectors
Instrumentation: Tuba, bass flute, viola, bass clarinet, harp & live electronics, slide projection
Commissioned by the new music group Q02, Brussels with funds from the Flemish Government, in production with Concertgebouw, Bruges, and De Singel, Antwerp
Jongleurs du Coeur, 2004
Instrumentation: Soprano, lute, wind instruments, tromba-marine, percussion, hurdy-gurdy and medieval fiddle, and story-teller.
Commissioned by the early music group, Zefiro Torna, Brussels
Rouge Cloître, 2004
Renaissance and contemporary voices, harp, organ, lutes, hurdy gurdy
Instrumentation: voices, harp, organ, lutes, hurdy gurdy
Commissioned and produced by the Festival van Vlaanderen/Radio Klara 2004, Belgium
Transients, 2002/2009
Instrumentation: 3 female voices, prepared & classical harps, oud, sentir (Arabic lute and string bass), frame-drums, drum-kit, hurdy-gurdy.
Commissioned by Transreligiosa, Festival, Beursschouwberg, Brussels, radio Klara, BelgiumArt
No Strings Attached - improvisations for solo violin, 1993
i. Falling skywards
ii. Clair de Lune
iii. Grains of Desire Grains of Desire
iv. (Wish) You were here
v. No Strings Attached
Weft and Warp, 2019
For hurdy-gurdy, violin, and piano, with qanun and percussion
Proem, Prelude & Fugue (Soul of a Woman), 2018
Solo piano, written for Joanna MacGregor
‘Gloam’ solo Hurdy-gurdy music composed and improvised on the duskish cusp of music and noise, 2017
Recorded July, 2017 and currently in progress for vinyl and CD release 2018
En Fugue, 2017
Music sound-track for - A Light's Travelogue by Els van Riel (funded by the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds), Brussels
Instrumentation: hurdy-gurdy played (bowed) with off-cuts of film, July 2017
Out of the Mists, 3rd August 2017
A tone poem for harpsichord and piano inspired by the mists of the River Dart
world premiere performed by Joanna Macgregor - piano, Jane Chapman - harpsichord
Between Cities in Sound (Eurostar) - a tone-poem.
Instrumentation: soprano, Bb clarinet & bass clarinet, harp, double-bass.
Commissioned by the Hermes Ensemble for their Metropolis project.
Premier April 19 2016 for The Park Lane Group, St John’s Smith Square, London
Stillness, 2016
live music performed and improvised on solo hurdy-gurdy
To conclude Nik Gaffney's photographic explorations of Stillness and the beginning of our year-long transiency at FoAM Brussels, we invite you to join us for a unique event. Stillness was a year long series of experiments with ethereality, materiality and time. Prints and books from the series will be presented together for the first time in the FoAM Studio with atmospheric textures by Stevie Wishart, Maja Kuzmanovic and Rasa Alksnyte. Feb. 7. 2016
The Sound of Gesture, 2010
A set of 9 solo pieces using a hybrid of real-time sound processing, music-gesture and violin, improvisation and electroacoustic composition.
Instrumentation: solo violin, sensors & computer sound transformation/synthesis
Performances: Mucsarnok (Kunsthalle) Budapest, Kubus concert hall at ZKM, Karlsruhe and Muffathalle in Munich, Germany
Commissioned by ZKM, Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie, Germany and ADK, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Frozen Particles, 2010
Instrumentation: viola and pre-recorded sound
Premiered by Julia Eckhardt, Netwerk Art Gallery, Aalst, Belgium
Commissioned by q-o2, Brussels, Belgium
Canti del Paradiso, 2012
i. The song of Beatrice
ii. Credo
iii. Danza dei santi on texts from Dante's Il canto xxiv del paradiso
Instrumention: 3 upper voices, small-harp and hurdy-gurdy
Commissioned for La Fede di Dante – il canto xxiv del paradiso, at the Chiesa del Gesu, Rome in the presence of His Eminence Cardinal Ravasi Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura of the Vatican, Rome
Nocturne, 2012
A string quartet in two movements on the theme of Clara Schumann.
Commissioned by the 2012 Hugo Wolf Festival, Brussels
Solos for Strings, Wheel, and Fingers, 2008
Instrumentation: solo hurdy-gurdy
Premiered at ORF RadioKulturhaus,Vienna 2008; and performed at Breuckenmusik, Koln, 2009; The Future University's Improvisation in the Round concert, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge University, 2012; Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music, Queen's University Belfast, 2013,
and Urban Rituals Festival, Les Brigittines, Brussels
Commissioned for Wiener Drehleier-Festival, ORF RadioKulturhaus, Vienna
Reduction, 2008
Instrumentation: String quartet
Commissioned for the members of the Britten Sinfonia, Cambridge, UK
Allegretto con fuoco, 2008
Instrumentation: String quartet
Commissioned for members of the Britten Sinfonia, Cambridge, UK
Arrow after So Lanc so meer, c.1450, 2005
Instrumentation: Counter-tenor, organ, and strings
Commissioned and premiered by Augsburg, Pax Festival by Thomas Hoeft (Germany).
Island Universes, 2004
Ensemble with live electronics and the mechanical sounds of 4 slide projectors
Instrumentation: Tuba, bass flute, viola, bass clarinet, harp & live electronics, slide projection
Commissioned by the new music group Q02, Brussels with funds from the Flemish Government, in production with Concertgebouw, Bruges, and De Singel, Antwerp
Jongleurs du Coeur, 2004
Instrumentation: Soprano, lute, wind instruments, tromba-marine, percussion, hurdy-gurdy and medieval fiddle, and story-teller.
Commissioned by the early music group, Zefiro Torna, Brussels
Rouge Cloître, 2004
Renaissance and contemporary voices, harp, organ, lutes, hurdy gurdy
Instrumentation: voices, harp, organ, lutes, hurdy gurdy
Commissioned and produced by the Festival van Vlaanderen/Radio Klara 2004, Belgium
Transients, 2002/2009
Instrumentation: 3 female voices, prepared & classical harps, oud, sentir (Arabic lute and string bass), frame-drums, drum-kit, hurdy-gurdy.
Commissioned by Transreligiosa, Festival, Beursschouwberg, Brussels, radio Klara, BelgiumArt
No Strings Attached - improvisations for solo violin, 1993
i. Falling skywards
ii. Clair de Lune
iii. Grains of Desire Grains of Desire
iv. (Wish) You were here
v. No Strings Attached
I M P R O V I S A T I O N S
Sultry Songs, 2017-18
Music specially created for Barbara Raes’s (T)here & Here exhibition at the Europalia Arts Festival ‘Indonesia’, Bozar, Brussels, 10th October 2017 - 21st January 2018. For the opening for press and VIPs, including the King of Belgium, we performed Sultry Songs, which has three components: acapella songs for 4 voices, solo hurdy-gurdy improvisations based upon gamelan music and medieval chant, and the sound-track which I composed for the video based upon minimal mechanical sounds of the hurdy-gurdy.
Stillness, 2016
live music performed and improvised on solo hurdy-gurdy
To conclude Nik Gaffney's photographic explorations of Stillness and the beginning of our year-long transiency at FoAM Brussels, we invite you to join us for a unique event. Stillness was a year long series of experiments with ethereality, materiality and time. Prints and books from the series will be presented together for the first time in the FoAM Studio with atmospheric textures by Stevie Wishart, Maja Kuzmanovic and Rasa Alksnyte. Feb. 7. 2016
VINYL VARIATIONS 20 June, 19H, Brussels, 2015
hurdy-gurdy solos with specially composed vinyl variations http://www.fetedelamusique.be/2-region-de-bruxelles-capitale/events/1789-re-creation-iii
Le Son du Nous, 2010
by Philippe Starck, with music improvised by the Soundwalk Collective, Atau Tanaka, Stevie Wishart, Carol Robinson and Laurent Dailleau
Commissioned by the Exit Festival, Paris
Transients, 2002/2009
Voices, prepared and classical harps, oud, sentir (Arabic lute and string bass), Moroccan hand drums, drum-kit, hurdy-gurdy and live electronics.
Commissioned by the Beursschouwberg, Brussels and the Radio Klara Festival van Vlaanderen, 2002; revised for the Take the Risk Festival, Southbank Centre, London, 2009
Violet, 2009
Composed and improvised with Werner Dafeldecker, Christof Kurzmann and John Tilbury
Compass, Log and Lead, 2006
Composed and improvised with Fred Frith and Carla Kihlstedt
No Strings Attached - improvisations for solo violin, 1993
i. Falling skywards
ii. Clair de Lune
iii. Grains of Desire Grains of Desire
iv. (Wish) You were here
v. No Strings Attached
Commissioned for Tall Poppies, Sydney 1
Sultry Songs, 2017-18
Music specially created for Barbara Raes’s (T)here & Here exhibition at the Europalia Arts Festival ‘Indonesia’, Bozar, Brussels, 10th October 2017 - 21st January 2018. For the opening for press and VIPs, including the King of Belgium, we performed Sultry Songs, which has three components: acapella songs for 4 voices, solo hurdy-gurdy improvisations based upon gamelan music and medieval chant, and the sound-track which I composed for the video based upon minimal mechanical sounds of the hurdy-gurdy.
Stillness, 2016
live music performed and improvised on solo hurdy-gurdy
To conclude Nik Gaffney's photographic explorations of Stillness and the beginning of our year-long transiency at FoAM Brussels, we invite you to join us for a unique event. Stillness was a year long series of experiments with ethereality, materiality and time. Prints and books from the series will be presented together for the first time in the FoAM Studio with atmospheric textures by Stevie Wishart, Maja Kuzmanovic and Rasa Alksnyte. Feb. 7. 2016
VINYL VARIATIONS 20 June, 19H, Brussels, 2015
hurdy-gurdy solos with specially composed vinyl variations http://www.fetedelamusique.be/2-region-de-bruxelles-capitale/events/1789-re-creation-iii
Le Son du Nous, 2010
by Philippe Starck, with music improvised by the Soundwalk Collective, Atau Tanaka, Stevie Wishart, Carol Robinson and Laurent Dailleau
Commissioned by the Exit Festival, Paris
Transients, 2002/2009
Voices, prepared and classical harps, oud, sentir (Arabic lute and string bass), Moroccan hand drums, drum-kit, hurdy-gurdy and live electronics.
Commissioned by the Beursschouwberg, Brussels and the Radio Klara Festival van Vlaanderen, 2002; revised for the Take the Risk Festival, Southbank Centre, London, 2009
Violet, 2009
Composed and improvised with Werner Dafeldecker, Christof Kurzmann and John Tilbury
Compass, Log and Lead, 2006
Composed and improvised with Fred Frith and Carla Kihlstedt
No Strings Attached - improvisations for solo violin, 1993
i. Falling skywards
ii. Clair de Lune
iii. Grains of Desire Grains of Desire
iv. (Wish) You were here
v. No Strings Attached
Commissioned for Tall Poppies, Sydney 1
G A L L E R Y I N S T A L L A T I O N S
The Sound of Gesture, 2010
A music-video installation with live performance by the composer (solo violin).
Instrumentation: violin, sensors & computer sound transformation/synthesis
Commissioned by Netwerk / centrum voor hedendaagse Künst, Aalst Belgium with support from ADK, Akademie der Künst, Berlin
Ophelia, 2005
Soundtrack for video installation by Anouk de Clercq
Commissioned by Contour 2nd Biennale of Video Art 2005, Mechelen and Temps d'Images for the exhibition Pang
Exhibition at Les Halles de Schaerbeek (Brussels) and at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (Poland), 2005
Instrumentation: Electronics
Miss World, 2003
Soundtrack for triple screen film installation by Australian artist Margie Medlin
Surround sound format using urban field recordings, electronic generated sound and treatments for voice and string instruments
Commissioned by 2003 Future Cinema ZKM, Zentrum für Neue Künst Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
UT, 1998 - 2001
Drawn on Sound with artist Joan Grounds
The piece explores the medieval system of visualising music on the palm of the hand, the hurdy-gurdy, and how they embody space and architecture.
Opened at Arts Gallery of New South Wales, Australia and was re-designed for CACSA Contemporary Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2001
Commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia with support of Bose.
The Sound of Gesture, 2010
A music-video installation with live performance by the composer (solo violin).
Instrumentation: violin, sensors & computer sound transformation/synthesis
Commissioned by Netwerk / centrum voor hedendaagse Künst, Aalst Belgium with support from ADK, Akademie der Künst, Berlin
Ophelia, 2005
Soundtrack for video installation by Anouk de Clercq
Commissioned by Contour 2nd Biennale of Video Art 2005, Mechelen and Temps d'Images for the exhibition Pang
Exhibition at Les Halles de Schaerbeek (Brussels) and at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (Poland), 2005
Instrumentation: Electronics
Miss World, 2003
Soundtrack for triple screen film installation by Australian artist Margie Medlin
Surround sound format using urban field recordings, electronic generated sound and treatments for voice and string instruments
Commissioned by 2003 Future Cinema ZKM, Zentrum für Neue Künst Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
UT, 1998 - 2001
Drawn on Sound with artist Joan Grounds
The piece explores the medieval system of visualising music on the palm of the hand, the hurdy-gurdy, and how they embody space and architecture.
Opened at Arts Gallery of New South Wales, Australia and was re-designed for CACSA Contemporary Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2001
Commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia with support of Bose.
T : +44 (0) 141 404 7444 M : +44 (0) 7841 582 851 | E : info@loganartsmanagement.com | W : www.loganartsmanagement.com
