Edward Gregson

Aztec Dances was commissioned by Christopher Orton with the assistance of the BBC Performing Arts Fund. The first performance was given by Christopher Orton (recorder) and Magdalena Nasidlak (piano) at a concert in the Manchester Midday Concerts series at the Bridgewater Hall Manchester in March 2010.The version for flute and piano was premiered by Wissam Boustany (Flute) and Aleksander Szram (Piano) at St James?s Church Piccadilly on Thursday 19 May 2011.1. Ritual/Pastorale2. Fertility Dance3. Ghost Dance/Song4. Sacrificial Dance Composer's Note The idea for the genesis of thiswork and indeed its title and individual movements came after visiting an exhibition at the British Museum entitled Moctezuma ?Aztec Ruler. The exhibition traced the events following the election in 1502 of Moctezuma as Supreme Ruler of the Aztecs and the subsequent invasion of 1519 by a Spanish expedition led by Hermán Cortés ? an event that was to eventually lead to the demise of the Aztec civilisation.Part of the exhibition explored the role that music and dance played in Aztec life. The primitive recorder together with trumpets and drums were used as an important part of the formal ritual ceremonies (including rather gruesomely human sacrifice) that took place to appease the many Gods which the Aztecs worshipped as well as for other more informal occasions in their social and cultural life.I have tried to reflect some of these highly contrasting and dramatic ideas in this four movement work.        Edward Gregson

Three Études. For solo piano. The first of these Études was written in memory of Mark Ray, former Head of Keyboard Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), who died in tragic circumstances in 2006. It makes use of syncopated rhythms and percussive articulation, with a passing reference to Ravel?s G major concerto, the work he performed in concert when he was a student at the RNCM. The Étude was premiered by Peter Lawson in 2006. Études 2 and 3 were added to complete the set in 2020. Étude 2 is dedicated to Murray McLachlan, and is a study in textural control, with ?a quiet wistfulness, floating with reflection calmly over gentle quaver figurations?. Étude 3 is dedicated to Jonathan Scott, and has more than a hint of the motoric rhythms and folk melodies of Bartok. It is ?an extremely energised essay that encourages virtuosic bravura and élan? (McLachlan).

Percussion Part (2 Players) for this work for SATB Choir Piano Duet (Organ) and Percussion.

The original version of this setting of the well-known traditional English folk song was completed in 1974 and was commissioned by Rachel McMillan College of Education (where Gregson was a lecturer at the time) for its Music Department choir (female voices). It then had the somewhat unusual instrumentation of spinet flute and string quartet. In 2017 Gregson made a revision for performance and publication in a new version for upper voices and piano

Edward Gregson’s Saxophone Concerto was commissioned by Nobuya Sugawa and first performed on 10th May 2006 as part of the Sonic Skylines Festival Manchester by Nobuya Sugawa (saxophone) and the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Clark Rundell.

This is the full score and parts for Edward Gregson's Flourish For An Occasion scored for three Trumpets and three Trombones. A full performance lasts around 1 minute.

Edward Gregson's Le Jardin À Giverny was composed in 2016 and is scored for Cor Anglais and String Quartet. It has a duration of approximately 6 minutes.

Gregson's Clarinet Concerto was completed in 1994 by commission for the BBC and was first performed by the BBC Philharmonic with Michael Collins in Manchester April 1994 (later recorded on Chandos CHAN 10105). The writing is highly challenging pushing the instrument and its performer to the limits with some formidable glissandi and stark contrasts. This edition features a piano reduction of Gregson's orchestral material.

For Cornet And Piano Reduction POD-Edward Gregson's Cornet Concerto. Reduction for Cornet and Piano. The Cornet Concerto was commissioned by the Black Dyke Band especially for their principal cornet Richard Marshall with funding generously provided by Arts Council England. The first performance was given on 30 April 2016 in Le Nouveau Siècle Concert Hall Lille France by Richard Marshall with Black Dyke Band conducted by Nicholas Childs. The first UK performance was given by the same performers on 10 July 2016 at The Royal Hall Harrogate as part of the 2016 Harrogate International Festival. Duration: 17 minutes.

Serenata Notturna by Edward Gregson was first performed by Helena Smart (violin) and Caroline Jaya-Ratnam (piano) at the String Final of BBC Young Musicians 2000 Royal Northem College of Music Manchester 23 February 2000.'As the title suggests my Serenata Notturna evokes the atmosphere of night music. Following a reflective opening where the pitch development outlines a twelve-note series the music gradually becomes more agitated developing into a kind of danse macabre eventually reaching a powerful climax. The music then subsides into a much more tranquil atmosphere and the previous dissonant material transposes itself into a simple melody(like a lullaby) uttered by the violin the outline of which both melodically and in terms of the accompaniment figuration has already been present in the piece since the beginning. Thus the turmoil of the first part of the work becomes transfigured into something much more peaceful - hence the quotation that prefaces the score: ?out of darkness cometh light?. After I finished the work it became apparent to me that it might become the sketch for the slow movement of a Violin Concerto on which I had just begun working. It did indeed form the basis of that slow movement and the concerto was premiered by Lyn Fletcher and the Halle Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano at Bridgewater Hall Manchester in February 2000 the same month as Serenata Notturna itself was first played in public.'Edward Gregson

A combination of settings from the Latin mass with new English text by Susan Gregson. Written for boys' voices baritone solo and large symphonic wind ensemble. This volume contains all voice parts and a piano accompaniment.Commissioned by the National School Band Association the first performance of this work took place at the Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Suffolk 1988 conducted by the composer.

Dream Song was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the Manchester Mahler Symphony Cycle in 2010. It was commissioned as the opening work in a concert which featured Mahler's 6th Symphony. The première took place at the Bridgewater Hall Manchester and 27 March 2010 and was given by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.