Welcome to my website. (Of the three composers pictured above, I'm the one on the left.) Here you'll information about my writing on classical music, and also about my composing: lists of works, performances, available recordings, reviews, and ongoing projects.

 

Composing

(1) ***On Monday 23 April the BBC Singers and chief guest conductor Paul Brough gave the first performance of my choral piece May Magnificat, in their concert St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge (32a Wilton Place, London SW1). They performed it wonderfully: no composer could be happier! You can hear the piece, and the whole concert, on BBC iPlayer until Saturday 12 May, through this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01h5zhy.***

(2) In the autumn of 2012, Daniel Grimwood plans to record my complete Scenes from Dante piano cycle. This will be for release on his own CD label, Taranis Records. Also on the CD will be the Piano Sonata No. 2 ('Northern Lights') by Estonian composer Eduard Tubin, and Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 10.

During the next few months, Daniel and I will be looking for sponsorship to help with the budget costs of this enterprising project. So please don't be suprised if you hear from us! (And we would, of course, be very interested to hear from you.)

http://www.danielgrimwood.co.uk

(3) A beautifully sung recording of my Corpus Christi carol setting has been made by the Oxford Schola Cantorum, conducted by Jamie Burton. You can hear it on this YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I9e3bs7ktU

(My thanks to my nephew James Dow in Edinburgh for spotting this!)

- and these are the words:

Corpus Christi words

Corpus Christi is published in the Faber New Choral Works series. The link to my composer page on the Faber Music website is:

http://www.fabermusic.com/Composers-Details.aspx?composerid=784

To hear more music by me, please click on the Listen to Scores menu on the left. Further information is on the Composing menu.

 

Works newly completed:

Byzantium. For orchestra, duration 15 mins. After the poem by W. B. Yeats. Commissioned by Radio 3 for the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

From the Inferno of Dante. Piano solo, duration 13 mins. (With companion sets From the Purgatorio of Dante and From the Paradiso of Dante, this now completes the three-part, 40-minute cycle Scenes from Dante.)  

For details please see the Worklist menu on left.

 

Writing

If you're interested in programme notes, preview features, or promotional material written to order, this is where to start looking. Please click on the Writing menu on the left. 

                   

This year is the 150th anniversary of the two composers pictured above, in the centre and on the right: Claude Debussy (1862-1918), one of the greatest of all French composers; and Frederick Delius (1862-1934), one of England's most poetic and original musical spirits. If your organisation is presenting the music of either of these composers, and you need written material relating to your project, I'd be happy to discuss your requirements with you.

My new biography of Liszt - in the format of a double CD set, plus a handsomely printed booklet containing the full 55,000-word text - appeared during last year's bicentenary of the composer, and is published by Naxos: 

For details and to purchase a copy online, please go to:

http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.558214-15

or:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Naxos/8558214-15#

 

Looking further ahead, the year 2013 commemorates:

• Wagner: 200th anniversary
• Verdi: 200th anniversary
• Britten: 100th anniversary

Again, if you need written material relating to these major musical figures, please don't hesitate to contact me regarding your requirements.

 

Please contact me at malcolmhayes@btinternet.com

 

Blogs

Rather than add my own blogspot to those already out there, this page will instead list the occasional link to someone else's. Below are some fine examples of what can be done. Food for thought.

Christianne Stotijn: El Duende

Steven Osborne: Ravel in Manchester - more on performance anxiety

Stephen Hough on Liszt (bicentenary feature) 

Julian Lloyd Webber on Delius (150th anniversary feature)

 

 

London, UK

May 2012