Birtwistle: Orchestral Works
View all works by Birtwistle in the main appExplore the complete catalog of Orchestral compositions by Birtwistle. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.
| Title | Year | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum, for orchestra |
This is a list of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle (1934–2022), a British composer of contemporary classical music. Birtwistle's music was published by Universal Edition until 1994, and since then by Boosey & Hawkes. |
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| Earth Dances |
Earth Dances is an orchestral work by British composer Harrison Birtwistle. Its title is part of a geological metaphor that is also found in the piece's structure: Birtwistle has divided the orchestra into six 'strata', whose changing relationships reflect those of the earth's geological layers. It was composed in 1986 for the BBC Symphony Orchestra. |
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| Endless Parade, for trumpet, vibraphone, and strings |
The trumpet repertoire consists of solo literature and orchestral or, more commonly, band parts written for the trumpet. Tracings its origins to 1500 BC, the trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Among the repertoire for the trumpet are the following works: |
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| Gawain's Journey, for orchestra |
Gawain is an opera with music by Harrison Birtwistle to a libretto by David Harsent. The story is based on the Middle English romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The opera was a commission from the Royal Opera House, London, where it was first performed on 30 May 1991. Rhian Samuel has published a detailed analysis of the opera. Birtwistle revised it in 1994, and the premiere of the revised version was given at the Royal Opera House on 20 April 1994. |
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| Melancolia 1, for clarinet, harp, 2 string orchestras | ||
| Night's Black Bird, for orchestra |
This is a list of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle (1934–2022), a British composer of contemporary classical music. Birtwistle's music was published by Universal Edition until 1994, and since then by Boosey & Hawkes. |
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| Panic, for saxophone, drum kit, and orchestra |
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube. The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. A person who plays the saxophone is called a saxophonist or saxist. The saxophone is used in a wide range of musical styles including classical music (such as concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, and occasionally orchestras), military bands, marching bands, jazz (such as big bands and jazz combos), and contemporary music. The saxophone is also used as a solo and melody instrument or as a member of a horn section in some styles of rock and roll and popular music. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in the early 1840s and was patented on 28 June 1846. Sax invented two groups of seven instruments each—one group contained instruments in C and F, and the other group contained instruments in B♭ and E♭. The B♭ and E♭ instruments soon became dominant, and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. Instruments from the series pitched in C and F never gained a foothold and constituted only a small fraction of instruments made by Sax. High-pitch (also marked "H" or "HP") saxophones tuned sharper than the (concert) A = 440 Hz standard were produced into the early twentieth century for sonic qualities suited for outdoor use, but are not playable to modern tuning and are considered obsolete. Low-pitch (also marked "L" or "LP") saxophones are equivalent in tuning to modern instruments. C soprano and C melody saxophones were produced for the casual market as parlor instruments during the early twentieth century, and saxophones in F were introduced during the late 1920s but never gained acceptance. The modern saxophone family consists entirely of B♭ and E♭ instruments. The saxophones in widest use are the B♭ soprano, E♭ alto, B♭ tenor, and E♭ baritone. The E♭ sopranino and B♭ bass saxophone are typically used in larger saxophone choir settings, when available. In the table below, consecutive members of each family are pitched an octave apart. |
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| Silbury Air, for chamber orchestra |
Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include The Triumph of Time (1972) and the operas The Mask of Orpheus (1986), Gawain (1991), and The Minotaur (2008). The last of these was ranked by music critics at The Guardian in 2019 as the third-best piece of the 21st century. Even his compositions that were not written for the stage often showed a theatrical approach. A performance of his saxophone concerto Panic during the BBC's Last Night of the Proms caused "national notoriety". He received many international awards and honorary degrees. |
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| The Cry of Anubis, for tuba and orchestra |
James Gourlay (born 1956) is a Scottish conductor and tubist. |
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| The Shadow of Night, for orchestra |
This is a list of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle (1934–2022), a British composer of contemporary classical music. Birtwistle's music was published by Universal Edition until 1994, and since then by Boosey & Hawkes. |
|
| The Triumph of Time |
The Triumph of Time is a composition for orchestra by British composer Harrison Birtwistle written 1971 and 1972. It is one of Birtwistle's best-known compositions, as well as one of the works that earned him international reputation. |