Partitions de Cadenza Music

Patrick Nunn's Music Of The Spheres for Piano with pre-recorded accompaniment.Music of the Spheres was written for Thalia Myers. It was first performed in its entirety by Thalia Myers (piano) and Patrick Nunn (electronics/visuals) on the 11th March 2008 at the David Josefowitz Recital Hall Royal Academy of Music London.Music of the Spheres is available on CD from www.RedSockRecords.comDuration: c. 12 minutes

Piers Hellawell's A White Room for Piano Quartet.a white room was the second short piece to be commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble for Chamber Music 2000. It was written in spring of 1999 during the composition of Inside Story a double concerto for the 1999 BBC Proms. a white room complements its predecessor in that it is a hushed scherzo rather than a slow aria; the latter type was by 1999 becoming rather prevalent among Chamber Music 2000 commissions and the Schubert Ensemble suggested that I tackle the challenge of writing 'easy' fast music. It turned out to be a challenge indeed; my solution to creating rapid movement using players of unknown technique wasto employ ostinato repetition of simple fragments largely using open strings - materials of a sort that in any case feature in my wider musical language. In addition I supplemented the rhythmic drive by percussive drumming on piano and cello (also aspects typical of me).These features add up to a sound picture in which rhythmic momentum predominates over line - though a chorale fragment persistently tries to establish itself. The title a white room indicates that this piece is an uncluttered space a location in sound perhaps free of the more exotic images in Hall Of Mirrors. - Piers HellawellCommission made possible by Keith Nimmo.

Philip Cashian's Music For The Night Sky for Piano Quartet.Comissioned by the Schubert Ensemble as part of their 'Chamber Music 2000' scheme.Duration: 5 minutes

Ed Hughes' Secret Sky for Piano Quartet.Secret Sky was commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble's Chamber Music 2000 project and has been performed by school children in the south west of England and in the Purcell Room by music college students. The piece lasts 4 minutes and aims to create an evocative sound scape through pools of modal harmony created by a mix of piano repeating patterns and melodies in the 3 strings. As in all my work the ebb and flow of line is important to the development tensions and resolutions of the piece. The piece is probably suitable for players of the standard of at least Grade 6. It can be performed either by violin viola cello andpiano or by 2 violins cello and piano. - Ed HughesCommission made possible by Michael McLaren for his daughter Iona McLaren.

'From the Beginning of the World was commissioned by the Cardinall’s Musick and premiered at Cadogan Hall on the 20th July 2015 in the first of the 2015 BBC Proms Chamber Music Concerts. The concert launched The Tallis Edition a new project by the ensemble with an aim to throw new light on Tallis’s work and part of the commission brief was that my new piece should be a homage to this great English polyphonist. I spent several weeks in libraries attempting to find a suitable text eventually settling on excerpts from Tycho Brahe’s German Treatise on the Great Comet of 1577. Whether Tallis knew about the comet is unknown of course but this seismic event to me seemed emblematic of all the great changes that occurred during his lifetime in areas such as religion the calendar and time-keeping (finding out that Tallis lived out his last days in Greenwich was an extra bonus). The text also seems to speak to contemporary times: whilst Brahe may have thought the comet’s birth would cause the sun to ‘bring unnatural heat’ nowadays we know that its ‘venom [will be] spewed over the lands’ due to mankind’s continued pillaging of the earth’s natural resources. Yet our political ‘pseudo prophets’ prefer to distract us with an austerity delusion rather than confront a reality perpetuated by certain corporations for whom ‘seek[ing] their own honour’ is of primary value. The music itself is very influenced by Tallis and canons and imitation abound. During my time as a ‘cellist at the Yehudi Menuhin School I performed Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis many times and so From the Beginning of the World which also uses Tallis’s Third Mode Melody from the English Hymnal is really a homage to both composers.' - Cheryl Frances-Hoad.

Rory Boyle's Campani In Aria for Piano Quartet.Scored for piano quartet Campani In Aria is essentially in a lyrical vein although the music is suffused with an underlying chill most clearly suggested by the bell-like sounds running through the strophic structure. The title is deliberately abstract so as to avoid any programmatic imagery although the subtitle ‘berceuse’ gives a hint of the music’s original concept as a carol. - Rory BoyleCommission made possible

Colin Matthews' March for Piano Trio.As well as many large-scale orchestral works and much chamber music Colin Matthews has written a number of works for children to play most notably Machines And Dreams a 'toy symphony' for young players and the London Symphony Orchestra (1990). The March Waltz and Nocturne were composed specifically for the Schubert Ensemble’s Chamber Music 2000 project in 1999. - Colin Matthews

Cheryl Frances-Hoad's The Madness Industry for Brass Quintet.Commissioned in 2012 by Onyx Brass generously supported by the PRS for Music Foundation's 'Woman Make Music' scheme and the RVW Trust.Duration: 12 minutes