Thea Musgrave

This work was written in 1958. It was commissioned by the University of Glasgow under the terms of the McEwen Bequest.

Five Love Songs are scored for Soprano and Guitar They were composed in 1955 making them one of the composer's earliest published works. They are dedicated to the Soprano Flore Wend and the guitarist HermannLeeb while the text is drawn from poems by the Welsh poet Robert Parry (1540-1612) which were first written around 1595. Thea Musgrave (b. 1928) is a Scottish-American composer. Over a career spanning more than60 years she has established herself as one of the leading contemporary composers on both sides of the Atlantic.

For Clarinet solo with wind quartet and string quartet. Score OnlyFirst performed by Michael Collins Clarinet London Winds and the Endellion String Quartet on 27th January 2011 at the Wigmore Hall London.Scoring:Solo ClarinetFluteOboeBassoonFrench Horn2 ViolinsViolaCelloDuration:circa 13 minutes'During a visit to the exhibition of Francis Bacon at the Tate Gallery in December 2008my eye fell on Figure in a Landscape 1945 which resonated in me powerfully. It is a sceneof devastation and despair and also it seemed to me of latent anger and hostility... butabove it all a serene blue sky beckons. So perhaps even in the darkest moments there is aglimmer of hope - the possibility of change.This idea became the starting point for this work - Towards the Blue - a mini concerto forclarinet who eventually becomes the leader of the group.The work starts without the clarinet and all is desolate yet fiercely argumentative discordant and uncomfortable. Suddenly the offstage clarinet is heard and the players insurprise are quietened. However when the clarinet enters and approaches with a lyricalmusical motif some of the players respond others resist. Gradually the clarinetpersuades the dissident voices to join him in a spirit of co-operation and harmony.A brief memory of the opening desolation casts a momentary shadow which is quicklydispelled by the coda marked Gioioso.'Thea Musgrave (May 13th 2010)Parts available for hire separately

Going North was commissioned by the Young People’s Chorus of New York for ‘Transient Glory the Voices of Children’ Francisco J. Nunez artistic director. First performed at the Transient Glory Concert on 29th April 2006 at the Ethical Culture Society New York City. The composer writes of her composition 'It is challenging to find a way to compose that hopefully will be interesting and fun for young people and yet not too difficult. A major concern of course is to find the right text: something that will be appreciated by urban young people. I thought that this 'nonsense' poem of John Keats would be highly suitable. It is set for young voices soprano and alto andaccompanied by two clarinets.' Set of parts.

Cantilena was commissioned by the London Chamber Music Society to celebrate their move to King's Place in October 2008. First performed by Nicholas Daniel and members of the Chilingirian Quartet at King’s Place London on 5th October 2008. The work is a short lyrical piece where an outsider [the oboe] joins the group [a string trio] and adds to their dialogue. At first the newcomer is treated with a mixture of suspicion and agitation but eventually is made welcome. The oboe is invited to share the musical theme that has been established which he then proceeds to embellish and adorn. He leads the harmonic changes that result in the theme being heard in manydifferent keys. He then introduces a new theme. The excitement grows and leads to a climax. A peaceful coda re-establishes the original theme and all ends harmoniously among the integrated quartet.

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