MY MUSIC      

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I studied orchestration with Iain Hamilton at Morley College in the 1950's and had a few brief composition lessons with Anthony Milner.  Later in the mid 1960's I had a few lessons with Jeremy Dale-Roberts.   I learned a lot from Iain Hamilton, but so far as composition was concerned I believe I was too much of a maverick to gain much. Perhaps I never found the right teacher.  So I am really self taught. A period of about 4 years in the 1960's was very productive when I did an in depth study of 20th century music with one Brian Richardson at (what was then) Chiswick Polytechnic.  Brian was also a flautist and he played my Flute Sonata for the first time.  I learned a lot from him.

I have sung in choirs all my life, starting as a choirboy in 1942 (ish)!   I sang in the Morley College Choir, in a madrigal group at Chiswick under Dr. Walter Bergman, and it was he who arranged for the Kyrie from my mass to have an airing and encouraged me to go on with it.  I did - 16 years later! I sang with the Basildon Choral Society for two years under an excellent ex Ely choral scholar and later with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus for 5 years and also a group called Canzone and another called the 'Academicall Clerkes'.  At present I sing with the Barclay House Choir, and although 75 my voice has not given out yet. . . .  click for Barclay House Choir Website.

The Portsmouth District Composers Alliance PDCA (click for website) I've found to be very valuable and helpful in getting things performed.  I have now had quite a lot of my pieces performed and the  alliance is very helpful to composers in this area and does a splendid job.

I have found Noteworthy Composer to be a simple to use and highly effective means of realising my music on a computer.  For playback you could  use Yamaha Soft Synth S-YXG50 but only on Wndows 95/98, this does not work anymore with Windows XP.   Noteworthy will play up to 16 staves, one of which must be a percussion track.  Although other more sophisticated software composition tools are available, Noteworthy takes a lot of beating price wise - a factor which suits my financial capacity as a pensioner!    Noteworthy have also launched a  programme called Noteworthy Viewer with a completely free download!  By using this it is possible to  view any received  by (email etc:) noteworthy files (in  musical notation) and hear them as they are played.  Contact me at my email address
*geoffrey.dale [a] ntlworld.com to receive any of these files.  See http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/nwc2/viewer.htm
* change [a] to @

A LIST OF MY COMPOSITIONS

Opus 1 - 1949  Suite 'Youthful Follies' (for Pianoforte - orchestral version in preparation)

I made an organ arrangement of the Toccata from this suite and heard an  excellent performance in June 2001 by Nigel Stark in St. Mary's Portsea.  (Oh yes - 52 years after it was written!)

Opus 2 - 1950 A Serenade (for Pianoforte - Chamber orchestral and string quartet arrangements mooted)

Opus 3 - 1956 Toccata and Fugue in Bb (for Pianoforte)

          The fugue won the composition cup in the 1990 Bournemouth Music Festival

Opus 4 - 1962 Wedding March for Organ

Opus 5 - 1962  Sonata for Flute and Pianoforte

     Performed at a PDCA concert by Catherine Nicholson and Karen Kingsley in Feb 2002

Opus 6 -1965/1983 String Quartet - Play 1st Movement as extract (quartet plays continuously)

Opus 7 - 1965/1983 Mass for Chorus and Orchestra - Play the Kyrie    

Opus 8 - 1982 Carol 'Hark how all the Welkin rings' (for Chorus - Piano:)

First performed by the 'College Cantata Singers' and the Wessex Youth Orchestra (in a special arrangement) under Donald Riddell at the Wessex Hall,  December 1982   
This carol is now published by  Canasg Music publishers on the web www.canasg.com  under the Christmas section of the catalogue. Copies of the score can now be purchased direct from them.

Opus 9 - 1983 Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis  for Choir and Organ

          'Commended' Portsmouth Music Festival 2002

Opus 10 - 1984 A Christmas Garland  (Fantasia on Carols for Orchestra),  Play Garland

Opus 11 - 1986 Finnegan's Wake  (A Cantata to end all Cantatas!) for Chorus - Play Finnegan

Opus 12 - 1986/1987  'And Death also Ran' - 3 Dylan Thomas settings for SSAATTBB 

           And death shall have no dominion  (Play 'And death shall . . .')
           A refusal to mourn the death by fire of a child in London  Play A refusal . .
           Do not go gentle into that goodnight  (Play 'Do not go gentle . . .')
I have signed an agreement with the Dylan Thomas Trustees to allow performances of these pieces.

Opus 13 - 2000 Sinfonia Concertante  (from a 1958 sketch) - for Orchestra (Play 1st Movement)

Opus 14 - 2001 'Spellbound' - A Mantra for Violin, 'Cello and Clarinet (Play 'Spellbound')
                      Played at a PDCA concert in Portsmouth in March 2003 by the Monington ensemble

Opus 15 - 2001  Sonatina for Clarinet and Pianoforte  (This was  played to good effect at the All Ears Contemporary Music Festival at St. Cyprian's Church
                            Glentworth St. London NW1 on Sat. 16th September 2006 by the Monnington Duo).  A recording is available.

Opus 16 - 2001/2002  12 ' Zodiac'  Preludes and Fugues for Pianoforte Solo (Moderately easy to difficult!)

No. 4 Cancer was played at a PDCA concert in February 2005 and No 5 Leo at a concert in Shoreditch in September of that year, both by Karen Kingsley

Opus 17 - 2002 'When . . . . .'  3 Shakespeare Sonnets for SATB

Sonnet 43 'When Most I Wink, Then Do Mine Eyes Best See' Play Sonnet

Sonnet 12 'When I do count the clocks that tell the time' Play Sonnet

Sonnet 30 'When to the sessions of sweet silent thought'  Play Sonnet 

Opus 18 - a song for Tenor and Piano 'Sleep' by John Fletcher. This was  to good effect by Nicholas Watts at the PDCA concert in February 2006

Opus 19 - She moved through the fair - a setting for SATB of the Irish  melody with words by Padraic Colum  This is now published by Canasg Music publishers on the web www.canasg.com  and may be obtained direct from them.

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