Category: Uncategorized
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Love Songs from the Isles
For a number of years I have wanted to compose a work to celebrate the folksong tradition of the four countries that make up the British Isles – England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. During the closing months of 2022 and the first one of 2023 I finally put pen to paper so to speak, and…
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Wreathed In Clover
On Friday 23rd March 2018 my new work Wreathed in Clover will be performed by Oklahoma City University’s Percussion Ensemble who commissioned the work. The piece is dedicated to the memory, spirit and courage of the 369th US Infantry Unit. I began composing Wreathed in Clover during the Summer of 2017. During recent years I have realised…
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Composing Half Centuries 2: All You Need is Love … haunting … Unlucky for Some
A bit has passed for me since my previous post, but, 1967 was still an important year for Liverpool. Today is Saturday 17th June 2017 and later this evening musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will perform two short settings of McGough’s heartbreaking poetic cycle ‘Unlucky for Some’ that I have composed for the wonderful…
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Composing Half Centuries 1: a McGough Setting; Christ the King and All You Need is Love
1967 was an important year for Liverpool. I have the very exciting prospect of composing a piece for musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for a concert at Edge Hill University as part of the new Resonant Edge festival on Saturday 17th June 2017. So I thought I’d keep a blog about the piece’s journey. The…
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On The Trail of ‘God’s Own’ One Final Time
My pursuit of the Salford Pals has brought me to Whitley Bay, a beautiful slice of North East England. I have travelled again, to make some location recordings for the ever-expanding ‘soundscape’ layer of my work God’s Own Caught in No Man’s Land. I have mixed feelings for this visit, since this will be my…
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IF LOVE OF MINE
Today, I am working on the final stages of my memorial composition to the fallen of the Battle of the Somme for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: ‘God’s Own Caught In No Man’s Land.’ It will close with a setting of a powerfully haunting poem by Winifred M. Letts (1882-1972) IF LOVE OF MINE. Letts was born in…
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My Road to Thiepval – 16th July 2015
I spent most of today in the vicinity of Thiepval, a village in the heart of the beautiful Picardy countryside in the Somme region of France, where on 1st July 1916 the Salford Pals (along with many thousands of other young men) were met with unimaginable violence and death under fire, bayonet or through shards of…
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The Bells at Sacred Trinity Church, Salford
During the evening of 12th December 2014, with the kind permission of Reverend Andy Salmon (the area Dean) and with the patient support of the Manchester Universities Guild of Changeringers, I made my first visit to Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel Street, Salford, the parish church of the ‘Salford Pals’ of the Lancashire Fusiliers. This was…
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Hello
I aim to use this space to give comment and reflection upon my music, sound and text projects as they develop as well as providing links to my finished projects for you to listen to and read. My hope is that you will find this space interesting for repeat visits. Thanks for stopping by –…
Stephen Davismoon 