Chester Music

This is the sacred comedy among Davies' pieces of music-theatre. Brought on by a children's wind band in a 7/8 march, the juggler presents himself at an abbey and is accepted by the abbot, the only si...

The authorship of the six poems used in this song cycle is generally attributed to Petronius Arbiter (died ca AD66), Nero's Arbiter of Elegance and author of the Satyricon, a comic novel with poems in...

Acquainted with Night', is a cycle of six songs, for alto and strings, harp and timpani. The texts are all concerned with different aspects of night. The first song, 'Lullaby' to a poem by Beaumont an...

Psychologists agree that dreaming is essential to our mental well-being. Artists have always been intuitively aware of this, and the above lines are one illustration of this awareness. Composers, as w...

Written for and first performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer, in December 1986.

Opera in One Act After Cervantes

Work commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra.

A short piece for small orchestra, written in 1989 when the composer heard of Michael Vyner's death. Premiered in October 1989 at Glyndebourne Sussex, by the London Sinfonietta and conducted by the co...

This first version was compiled from sketches by musicologist Antonio Gallego in 1986. Originally written in 1914-15.

The task: to write a piece that could involve children as players, singers and composers alongside a professional symphony or chamber orchestra. The solution: a peace-cry for the biosphere, in which t...

This work was commissioned by the 1976 Three Choirs Festival and first performed in Hereford Cathedral on 26 August 1976.

Orchestral work commissioned by the BBC, and premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Davis, The Barbican Hall, November 1992. Quoting Lindberg: 'After having written a Pi...

A ballet in two acts which premiered on the stage of the Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen, on 14th March 1991. Based on the true story of the sister of George III, Caroline Mathilde (1751-1775), who a...

The story centres on the English princess Caroline Mathilde (1751-1775), sister of George III, who at the age of 15 was sent to Denmark to marry the 17-year-old eccentric and schizophrenic Danish King...

Conceived as a connecting link for orchestra alone between Lutoslawski's Partita and Chain 2, both for orchestra and solo violin. It can, however, be played independently. First performed as part of a...

Orchestral work for school orchestra A short tone-poem which will let a school orchestra glow. Characteristically, Davies finds ways to engage and stretch young players while staying within the bounds...

Fuego Fatuo has an interesting history. Manuel De Falla (1876-1946), often regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the 20th century, wanted to write an opera based around themes from Chopin, whom...

Commissioned by the first Sibelius Conductor's Competition held in Helsinki in May 1995, as an obligatory piece to be rehearsed by all the competitors, Arena was performed in its totality at the annua...

This work for orchestra was commissioned by the BBC and premiered by the BBC Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Davis in Tokyo, May 1997.

At every turn Nyman has proved eminently practical. Not for him the ivory tower anguish of a tormented composer grappling with abstract systems. Rather he has consistently displayed an openness to col...

Composer's Notes: This piece, written during the winter months of 2000-2001, consists of one movement, Allegro con fuoco, in which an old score is revisited, raided and ravished by its composer. The e...