Cherry Blossom ချယ်ရီ ပွင့် for Small Orchestra and Piano

Demo Recording

Score

I have a friend who, when she wants time alone to relax, goes to stand near or under plants and trees, occasionally reaching out to gently touch the flowers and twigs and branches. 

This piece captures these moments, and a little more...

(To T.G.)  

Mae'r Mari Lwyd Yn Curo (A Symphonic Poem for Orchestra)

Mae’r Mari Lwyd Yn Curo is a symphonic poem that reimagines the Mari Lwyd, the spectral horse‑skull figure of Welsh winter tradition, as an elemental presence arising from the sea. 

The work begins within a submerged watery sound‑world: slow tidal movements, distant glimmers and glints, hints of half heard or remembered sea shanties, 

and a slow low murmur that suggests something ancient stirring beneath the waves. 

As the Mari Lwyd awakens from her slumbers, gradually takes form and moves toward the land, the music gathers momentum...

The scene shifts: a gallop through an eerie forest under a full moon, the rush of cold night air, wind gusting through bare branches, and the unsettling rattle of bones sounding from somewhere unseen. 

The landscape is alive, watchful, and charged with silvery strange nocturnal energy.

Eventually, the Mari Lwyd arrives at a grand, warmly lit gothic manor. She knocks loudly upon the door, and the music becomes a dance; a medieval dance transforms into a frenetic waltz, which in turn fragments into music upon the edge of chaos. The knocking persists within the tumult, as if the Mari Lwyd is everywhere at once: both outside the door in the frozen winter night and inside within the heat of the dance.

Score

Demo Recording

"I see it all, as divers see what is going on above them, through a medium, dense, rippling, but to me, transparent." 

From Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu 

Mari Lwyd, Lwyd Mari:

 

A sacred thing through the night they carry.

Betrayed are the living, betrayed the dead:

All are confused by a horse's head.

From The Ballad of the Mari Lwyd by Vernon Watkins

For know there are two worlds of life and death:

One that which thou beholdest; but the other

Is underneath the grave, where do inhabit

The shadows of all forms that think and live

Till death unite them and they part no more....

From Prometheus Unbound by P. B. Shelley   

    

Pared Pen-Blwydd: A Short Piece for Concert Wind Band

Demo Recording

Score

 

 

Ka Wahine `Ai Honua

 I hear your prayer:

Stand! Breath! Listen!

Score

(Please take a look at the score as it contains vocal effects that are not possible to replicate in a demo recording.)   

Demo Recording

Hear me night march down the mountain towards you;

See me flame trees to light my way.

Feel my smouldering song flame within your ears;

Feel the scorching as I kiss your bare feet;

Feel the blistering heat of my bright hot deadly body;

Feel me pour in and burn away your heart.

Comer, come, come:

I lift you from the drift of time;

You catch fire and I burn away your soul;

I breath in the smoke from the embers of your dying.  

  

Amama ua noa:

Your prayer is done.

How "Anicca: An Adagio for Orchestra" was created

Watch this video to hear how my latest orchestral work was created and the insights I gained from the process:

    

Here is the piano improvisation that was the starting point for the orchestral piece:

Anicca: Piano Improvisation

Here is a demo recording of the orchestral piece:

Anicca: An Adagio for Orchestra - Recording

Here is the orchestral score:

Anicca: An Adagio for Orchestra: Score

  

Anicca: An Adagio for Orchestra

Within a petal's fall is a whispered refrain:

Enjoy life's fleeting beauty; never dwell on pain.

Demo Recording

Score

World premiere of 'Flying to Venus'

St Alban's Concert Band Cardiff is working hard on its next concert programme.

The concert will take place on Saturday 20th July at Ararat Baptist Church & Centre for the Community, Whitchurch, Cardiff.

The concert theme is 'Space and Beyond' and the band will be celebrating the anniversary of the Apollo moon landing by performing a great selection of space inspired pieces.

The selection will include the world premiere of Flying to Venus, a piece written for the band by Composer Charles M Lines.

The band also has a very special surprise up its sleeve... so go along to find out what it is.

Tickets are available at the Ark Cafe, Ararat Baptist Church.

(A limited number of tickets will also be available at the door).

Don't hesitate: go where no concert band or audience has gone before!