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 23 April 2012, the BBC Singers will give the first performance of my choral piece May Magnificat, in a London concert and live broadcast on Radio 3. Venue and conductor tbc. Further details to follow!***

(2) ***In the autumn of 2012, Daniel Grimwood plans to record my complete Scenes from Dante piano cycle: this will be the inaugural release on his own CD label (provisionally named Grimreaper Records), with myself as producer.*** 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.

Daniel and I are naturally keen to find sponsorship to help with our budget costs, and over the forthcoming months we will be looking for this. So please don't be suprised if you hear from us! (And we would, of course, be very interested to hear from you.)

(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 in progress:

Byzantium. For orchestra, duration 15-20 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 12-13 mins. Estimated completion date: February/March 2012. (This is a companion set to From the Purgatorio of Dante and From the Paradiso of Dante: all three sets together make up the complete 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) 

 

 

London, UK

February 2012