Thea Musgrave

This Concerto was commissioned by the Feeney Trust for the City of Birmingham Orchestra and was written between March and November 1967.It consists of five sections and they are played without a break.

A work for Soprano Woodwind 2 Horns and Strings.Duration: circa 15 minutesProgramme Note: 'This work was commissioned as a possible companion piece to Mozart?s Exsultate Jubilate and the decision was quickly made to write something as a complete contrast. The poems chosen one anonymous from the early 16th century the other two by the famous Scottish poet William Dunbar [1460? 1513?] describe the promise of salvation after life?s dark passage. Each of the three poems echo this thought: ?In celum ther is joy with Thee? ?A short torment for infinite gladness? and ?Since erdly joy abides never Work for the joy thatlastès ever?. Thus in each poem the poet can overcome the fear of his inevitable death with the certainty of salvation: this work also has its ?dark? moments but the overall mood is one of calmness and peace. As with the words there are several musical motives that link the three songs. The musical motive for the refrain ?Terribilis mors conturbat me? in the first macaronic poem [also a salute to Mozart since the Exsultate is in Latin] returns a little higher and more despairingly in each verse until the last verse where it is played a whole octave higher. This motive reappears [played mostly by the oboes] in the last song but now the pitch of each repeat goes in reverse that is from high to low. The famous motive of the Gregorian chant Dies Irae [representing death] is used to accompany the prayer of the second song. A musical motive for the joy of Paradise appears in the second song ?A free choice given to Paradise or Hell?. There is also a ubiquitous 3-note chordal cluster which is used to illustrate the words: sometimes as a colour and

Written for orchestra. Commissioned by the City of Glasgow to mark the opening of a new International Concert hall on 19 October 1990 and to celebrate the city as cultral capital of Europe.Rainbow is a soundscape in both a literal and a figurative sense. In nature of course a rainbow heralds the end of a storm and the reappearance of the sun.

This work was commissioned by the BBC (Scotland) and the Saltire Society to commemorate the bicentennial of the birth of Beethoven. The first performance was by the BBC Scottish Orchestra 1970 conducted by James Loughran.

Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the 2012 BBC Proms.First performed on 5th August 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall London by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Runnicles.Instrumentation3 Flutes 3rd doubling Piccolo3 Oboes 3rd doubling Cor Anglais2 Clarinets in BbBass Clarinet2 BassoonsContrabassoon4 Horns in F3 Trumpets in Bb3 TrombonesTubaHarpTimpaniPercussion (3 Players):Vibraphone Crotales 2 Suspended Cymbals (High Medium) Tam-Tam Chinese Bell Tree 5 Tom-Toms Bass DrumStrings (at least16.14.12.10.8)

This is the Full Score and Parts for The Voices Of Our Ancestors by Thea Musgrave. This work is scored for a chorus with soloists (Soprano Mezzo-Soprano Tenor and Baritone) Brass Quintet and Organ. A full performance of the work lasts around 30 minutes. The text for The Voices Of Our Ancestors is drawn from 12 poems that are united in their attempt to answer the question of human existence. Inspired by these poems Musgrave composed this work which was first performed on 9th July at St Bride's church Fleet Street as part of the City of London Festival. 

Largo In Homage to B.A.C.H. was commissioned by the Carmel Bach Festival 2013 and Music Director Paul Goodwin to whom the work is dedicated.COMPOSER NOTE:My very first idea was to use the BACH initials as a basis for the work - not as the melodic motif often used by composers but rather as a harmonic structure. This is possible because in the German musical tradition B stands for B flat and H for B natural. This led to the thought that there would be four short sections each led by a different soloist forming an emotional journey: Lamentoso (mournful) Ardente (fervent) Inquieto (restless) and Sereno (peaceful).TheDouble Bass leads the first section B. Lamentoso (B flat major). The Cello leads the next A. Ardente (A major) faster and higher in pitch to reflect the change of mood and when the Viola soloist urgently interrupts in C. Inquieto (C major) the scene is set for a big climax. In the final section H. Sereno (B minor) the mood persuaded by the Violin soloist quietens and eventually leads to a brief quote from the famous chorale from the St. Matthew Passion O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden which ends the work in calm and peace with a 'tierce de Picardie'.In turn each soloist carries the linear activity as protagonist on this emotional journey and the accompaniment to each section is dominated by the ?tonality? indicated. But there is also a mysterious ?misty? overlay only dissipating after the Viola?s tempestuous climax. The cluster of notes that makes up this ?mist? is formed from the octatonic scale in each case incorporating notes of the triad of the relative section to determine its tonality (B flat major C major etc).Each section therefore uses only the notes of the octatonic scale1 associated with it - until the Viola begins to incorporate a chromatic scale2 - and it is only in the final section that the familiar diatonic scale 3 appears and the mist is dissipated. Therefore although the overall feeling of