Lunar Orbit

Spotify YouTube CD available 800 Million Heartbeats Ashley Brown ABC Classics score available from Wise Music program note This work for solo cello is in some ways a companion piece to my percussion quartet, Sea of Tranquility (2004) in that they are both concerned with the Moon. While the material is different, both works also … Read more

Moon Saturn Jupiter

YouTube (interview + performance) score available from Wise Music program note This flute solo was commissioned by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra for their Principal Flautist, Teresa Rabe, as part of their Australian Miniseries. On 3 August 2020, the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter all came into alignment in Melbourne’s evening skies. I walked out the back … Read more

Night Drive

score available fromReed Music program noteNight Drive is almost entirely constructed out of a 24–quaver pattern that results from the interlocking of a 4–note motive against a 3–note motive. This technique builds upon a very similar idea found in the music of Steve Reich and in particular his 1967 work Piano Phase, which interlocks a … Read more

Noyz in the’ ‘Hood

score available by enquiry to composerprogram noteNoyz in th’ ‘Hood is in a blues–rock style with a rap shuffle thrown in for good measure. It is a celebration of all the Deep Purple, Led Zepplin, Status Quo, The Who and Jimi Hendrix to which I spent the larger part of my youth headbanging.

Octennial Song

Spotify CD available Mercurial Barry Cockcroft, soprano saxophone Reed Music score available from Reed Music program note Octennial Song was written by the composer to celebrate his union with Marianne Rothschild on October 10, 2003. The day of the wedding was also their 8–year anniversary, which explains the title (‘octennial’ pertaining to a period of … Read more

Reach

score available from Wise Music program note This violin solo was written at the invitation of my long-time colleague Melbourne violinist, Erica Kennedy. Who contacted me in toward the end of March 2020, at a time when the world was in a state of increasing lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis. I myself was in … Read more

Shape of the Human Hand

score available soon from Wise Music program note The human hand is a source of intrigue and wonder. Its shape is defined by a palm and wrist, 4 fingers and a thumb (also considered one of five fingers). The length of finger joints (getting shorter toward the fingertip) has a Fibonacci ratio. It’s hard not … Read more

Sleepless in Overnight City

Spotify Vimeo (excerpt) recording available Electric Confession Stuart Greenbaum Salisbury Records 310721 2021 Barry Cockcroft, soprano saxophone score available from Reed Music program note This piece is in 3 main sections. The first represents the pace of city life and the activity spilling out onto its streets and side–walks. The middle section is set well after … Read more

Variations

YouTube Spotify CD available From Earth to Sky Marianne Rothschild Salisbury Records, SR 171119, 2020 score available from Wise Music program note These variations for violin solo are taken from a larger work, Dance Music for Concert Halls. There is a form of ‘dance music’ in the classical tradition whose purpose does not require any … Read more

Clockwork Lemon

Spotify YouTube CD available One Claire Edwardes Tall Poppies score available from Rhythmscape program note This piece is an exploration of rhythmic ratios. Some of these, like 2:3, are standard syncopations but others, such as 5:8, are quite unusual and even sound somewhat ‘wrong’. This is the ‘lemon’ factor. The irony is that in order … Read more