Michael Berkeley Catalogue

Chamber Orchestra
Violin Concerto
Solo violin/electric violin and full orchestra
picc., 2 fl., 2 ob., cor ang., 2 cl., bcl, 2 bn, cbn, 4 hn, 3 tpt,
3 tbn, tba, timp, tabla, tuned perc, untuned perc, celeste,
2 hp, strings, tuned perc: xyl, vib, glock, t bells, crotales,
untuned perc: tom-toms, bongos, BD, SD, tam-tam, claves,
referee’s whistle, whistle, sus. cym.
Violin part 9780193517905
Conductor’s score and parts on hire 9780193406070
‘In 2014 I wrote At A Solemn Wake, which was
commissioned by the Ryedale Festival in memory of my
wife, the literary agent, Deborah Rogers, who had died very
suddenly earlier that year. As I began work on this Concerto
I found that that cello piece was constantly invading my
thoughts and in particular a melodic idea that just would
not go away.
Another influence was hearing Nigel Kennedy play a
quite extraordinary electric violin tribute to Jimi Hendrix
at Ronnie Scott’s. The volatility of this amplified sound
seemed to me to echo the elements of rage that are
so often a part of the grieving process. Listening to the
amazing timbres Nigel was getting from this instrument,
it occurred to me that it would be a vibrant colour to have
on the sound palette I was starting to mix for the concerto.
The third contribution to my emerging soundworld came
from working with Nitin Sawhney and Akram Khan on
programmes for the Radio 3 series, Private Passions, and
then watching Akram’s sculptures in movement with his
dance company. Both Akram and Nitin talked about their
love and use of the Tabla which, as it happens, Deborah
and I had relished in India on one of our last trips together.
Somehow these disparate elements coalesced in my mind
to form a twenty-minute continuous score which began to
write itself.’ - Michael Berkeley
Violin Concerto was premiered by Chloë Hanslip and BBC
National Orchestra of Wales at the 2016 BBC Proms at the
Royal Albert Hall, London.
20 minutes
Concerto for Orchestra
Full orchestra
3 fl. (IandII+picc., III+a.fl.), 2 ob. (II+c.a.), 3 cl. (III+b.cl.), 3 bn
(III+cbn), 4 hn, 3 tpt, 3 tbn, tba, timp., 5 perc. (glock, xylo,
vib, cortales, tbells, SD, 3 TD, BD, sus. cym., 2 Chinese cym.,
tam-tam, roto-tom, mark tree, flex.), pno (+cel), hp, org.
(opt), strings
Conductor’s score and parts on hire 9780193622456
‘The Concerto is in three movements with the outer two
having a fast-slow-fast design which indeed mirrors the
overall structure of the piece. In thinking about the music
I was conscious that the finding of ideas is seldom the
problem; it is how they are developed that matters. So, I
deliberately began with a very simple motif: falling tones
and soon decided that the first two movements would be
based on a downward progression while the third should
invert the whole process and move constantly upwards.’ -
Michael Berkeley.
This is the second piece Berkeley wrote as associate
composer to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and was
premiered in 2005 at the BBC Proms.
20 minutes
Daybreak and a Candle End
Full orchestra
2 fl. (II+picc.), 2 ob. (II+c.a.), 2 cl., 2 bn, 4 hn, 2 tpt, 3 tbn,
timp., perc. (vib, BD, crotales, sus. cym., glock.), hp, strings
Conductor’s score and parts on hire 9780193616721
Based on a theme by the composer’s father, Sir Lennox
Berkeley, and dedicated to him.
7 minutes
Full Orchestra
Flames
Full orchestra
3 fl. (II+a.fl., III+picc.), 3 ob. (III+c.a.), 3 cl. (II+Eb cl., III+b.cl.),
3 bn (III+cbn), 4 hn, 3 tpt, 3 tbn, tba, timp, 3 perc (SD, ant.
cym., vib., BD, sus. cym., TD, tamb., t.bells, tam., w.blk, xylo.,
temp. blks), hp, strings
Conductor’s score and parts on hire 9780193620377
Flames was written for David Atherton and the Royal
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with funds provided by
the Arts Council of Great Britain.
12 minutes
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Full orchestra
3 fl (III+picc), 4 ob. (IV+c.a.), 4 cl. (III+Eb, IV+b.cl.), 3 bn,
cbn, 6 hn, 4 tpt, 3 tbn, 2 tba, timp., 4 perc. (sus. cym., cast.,
crotales, tam., rattle, lion’s roar, sz. cym., 3 tom., 2 w.blk, BD,
c.bell, whip, vib., claves, guiro, SD, marac., cabaca, tuned
gongs, Chinese gong, Javanese or Thai gongs, clash cym.,
tamb., mba, glock., tri., flex.), 2 hp, strings, 3 special players:
vln, s.sx, tbn (all+claves, rattle, tam)
Conductor’s score and parts on hire 9780193616691
‘I have for many years had Hieronymus Boschs visionary
triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights in the back of my
mind as a potential spring board for a piece of music...
I have expressed my own reactions to the piece and
indeed added other dimensions. In the opening tableau,
for instance, the music suggests that innocence and
ignorance are not necessarily bliss, rather there is a sense
of melancholy and wistfulness, a longing for something yet
to be articulated.’ - Michael Berkeley.
21 minutes
Full Orchestra
The Wild Winds
Soprano and chamber orchestra
fl. (+picc.), ob., 2 cl. (II+b.cl.), bn, 2 hn, tpt, pn, perc. (xylo,
sus cym, sus tri, tbells, tam (low and high), SD, BD), strings
or string quartet
Conductor’s score and parts on hire 9780193620315
A poetical sketch for soprano and small orchestra to words
by William Blake.
12 minutes
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