List Of Compositions By Harrison Birtwistle

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.

Opera and other dramatised works

*''The Mark of the Goat'', children's dramatic cantata for actors, singers, 2 choirs, 3 melody instruments, piano (6 hands), large and small percussion ensembles (1965)
*'' Punch and Judy'', A tragical comedy or comical tragedy in 1 act (1966–67)
*''Down by the Greenwood Side'', A Dramatic Pastoral (1968–69)
*''Pulse Field: Frames, Pulse and Interruptions'', ballet, for 6 dancers and 9 musicians (1977)
*''Bow Down'', music theatre, for 5 actors and 4 musicians (1977)
*''The Mask of Orpheus'', Lyric Tragedy in 3 acts (1973–83)
*'' Yan Tan Tethera, A Mechanical Pastoral'' (1983-84)
*''Gawain'', Opera in 2 acts, (1990–91, revised 1994 & 1999)
*''The Second Mrs Kong'', Opera in 2 acts (1993–94)
*''The Last Supper'', Opera in 1 act (1998–1999)
*'' The Io Passion'', Chamber Opera (2003)
*''The Minotaur'', Opera (2005–07)
*'' The Corridor'', Scena for two voices and ensemble (2008–09)
*''The Cure'', for two singers and ensemble (2014–15)

Orchestra

*''Chorales'', for orchestra (1960–63)
*''Nomos'', for 4 amplified instruments and orchestra (1967–68)
*'' The Triumph of Time'', for orchestra (1971–72)
*''Melencolia I'', for clarinet, harp and 2 string orchestras (1976)
*''Earth Dances'', for orchestra (1985–86)
*''Endless Parade'', for trumpet, strings and vibraphone (1986–87)
*''Machaut à ma manière'', for orchestra (1988)
*''Gawain's Journey'', for orchestra (1991)
*''Antiphonies'', for piano and orchestra (1992)
*''The Cry of Anubis'', for tuba and orchestra (1994)
*''Panic'', for alto saxophone, jazz drummer, wind, brass and percussion (1995)
*''Exody, for orchestra (1997)
*''Sonance Severance 2000'', for orchestra (1999)
*''The Shadow of Night'', for orchestra (2001)
*''Night’s Black Bird'', for orchestra (2004)
*Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2009–10)
* ''Responses'', for piano and orchestra (2013-14)
*''Deep Time'', for orchestra (2016)
*Variation IX in ''Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B.'', for orchestra (2019)

Chamber ensemble without voices

*''The World is Discovered, 6 Instrumental Movements after Heinrich Isaac'', for chamber ensemble (1961)
*''3 Movements with Fanfares'', for chamber orchestra (1964)
*''Tragoedia'', for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, harp and string quartet (1965)
*''Chorale from a Toy Shop'', open scoring (1967, later versions 2016-17)
*''Three lessons in a frame'', for piano solo, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion. (1967: withdrawn)
*''Medusa'', for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion and electronics (1969: withdrawn)
*''Verses for Ensembles'', for 3 instrumental ensembles (1968–69)
*''Some Petals from my Twickenham Herbarium'', for piccolo, clarinet in Bb, glockenspiel, piano, violin and violoncello (1969)
*''An Imaginary Landscape'', for brass, percussion and double basses (1971)
*''Tombeau in memoriam Igor Stravinsky'', for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet (1971)
*''Grimethorpe Aria'', for brass band (1973)
*''For O, for O, the Hobby-Horse is Forgot'', Ceremony, for 6 percussionists (1976)
*'' Silbury Air'', for chamber ensemble (1977)
*''Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum'', for chamber ensemble or orchestra (1977–1978)
*''Mercure: Poses Plastiques'' (after Erik Satie), arranged for 14 players (1980)
*''Still Movement'', for 13 solo strings (1984)
*'' Secret Theatre'', for chamber ensemble (1984)
*''Fanfare for Will'', for brass ensemble (1987: unpublished)
*''Salford Toccata'', for brass band (1989)
*''Ritual Fragment'', for chamber orchestra (1990)
*''Fanfare for Glyndebourne'', for brass ensemble and timpani (1994)
*''Bach Measures'', for chamber ensemble (1996)
*''Slow Frieze'', for piano and ensemble (1996)
*''Placid Mobile'', for 36 trumpets (1998)
*''The Silk House Tattoo'', for two trumpets and side drums (1998)
*''Sonance 2000'', for brass ensemble (1999)
*''17 Tate Riffs'', for ensemble (2000)
*Fanfare, for brass and percussion (2001)
*''Tenebrae David'', for brass ensemble (2001)
*''Theseus Game'', for large ensemble with two conductors (2002)
*''Cantus Iambeus'', for thirteen instruments (2004)
*''The Io Passion: Nocturnes'', for clarinet and string quartet (2004)
*''Cortege'', for 14 musicians (2007: a reworking of ''Ritual Fragment'')
*''Virelai (Sus une fontayne)'' (after Johannes Ciconia), for 12 players (2008)
*''Crescent Moon over the Irrational'', for flute doubling piccolo, clarinet, harp and string quartet (2010)
*''Fantasia upon all the notes'' for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet, (2011)
*''In Broken Images'', for woodwind, brass and percussion (2011-12)
*''Five Lessons in a Frame'', for ensemble (2015: the 5 ''Duets'', framed by a new chorale)
*''Sonance for a New Space'', for 3 trumpets, 4 trombones and bells (2018)
* ''Donum Simoni MMXVIII'' (2018) for woodwind, brass and percussion

Instrumental groups of 5 or fewer performers, without voices

*''Refrains and Choruses'', for wind quintet (1957)
*''Précis'', for piano (1960)
*''Verses'', for clarinet and piano (1965)
*''Linoi'', for basset clarinet in A and piano, or clarinet, piano, tape and dancer; or clarinet, piano and cello (1968)
*''Four Interludes for a Tragedy'', for basset clarinet and tape (1968)
*''Ut Heremita Solus'' (after Ockeghem), for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and glockenspiel (1969)
*''Hoquetus David'' (after Machaut), for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and glockenspiel (1969)
*''8 Lessons for Keyboards'' (1969: unpublished)
*''Signals'', for clarinet and tape (1970: unpublished)
*''Dinah and Nick's Love Song'', for 3 melody instruments and harp (1970)
*''Sad Song'', for piano (1971)
*''Chanson de Geste'', for amplified sustaining instrument and tape (1973: withdrawn)
*Clarinet Quintet, for clarinet and string quartet (1980)
*''Pulse Sampler'', for oboe and claves (1981)
*''Duets for Storab'', for 2 flutes (1983)
*''Berceuse de Jeanne'', for piano (1984)
*''Antiphonies from the Moonkeeper'', for trumpet (1985)
*''Hector's Dawn'', for piano (1987)
*''An Interrupted Endless Melody'', for oboe and piano (1991)
*''5 Distances for 5 Instruments'', for flute, oboe, clarinet in B flat, bassoon and horn in F (1992)
*''Hoquetus Petrus'', for two flutes and piccolo trumpet (1995)
*9 Movements, for string quartet (1991–1996)
*''Harrison’s Clocks'', for piano (1997–98)
*''The Silk House Tattoo'', for two trumpets and 3 side drums (1998)
*''Betty Freeman: Her Tango'', for piano (2000)
*''Ostinato with Melody'', for piano (2000)
*''The Axe Manual'', for piano and percussion (2000)
*''Saraband: The King's Farewell'', for piano (2001)
*''Crowd'', for solo harp (2005)
*''The Io Passion - Aubades and Nocturnes'', for basset clarinet and string quartet (2006)
*''Dance of the metro-gnome'', for piano (2006)
*''Five Little Antiphonies for Amelia'', for two trumpets (2006)
*''Double Hocket'', for piano trio (2007)
*''The Tree of Strings'', for string quartet (2007)
*''3 Fugues from The Art of Fugue'' (after Bach), for string quartet (2008)
*''The Message (Duet 1)'', for E flat clarinet, trumpet in C and military drum (2008)
*''Bourdon (Duet 2)'', for violin and viola (2009)
*''Roddy's Reel'', for bass clarinet with audience participation (2009)
*''Oboe Quartet'' (2009–10)
*''Duet 3'', for cor anglais and bassoon (2010)
*''Trio'', for violin, cello and piano (2010)
*''Gigue Machine'', for piano (2011)
*''Beyond the White Hand'', for guitar (2013)
*''Variations from the Golden Mountain'', for piano (2014)
*''Duet 4'', for violin and flute (2014)
*''Duet 5'', for horn and trombone (2014)
*''Hoquetus Irvineus'', for string quartet (2014)
*''The Silk House Sequences'', for string quartet (2015)
*''Intrada'', for piano and percussion (2017)
*''Keyboard Engine'', for two pianos (2017-18)
*''Duet for Eight Strings'', for viola and cello (2018)

Vocal music (with and without instruments)

*''Monody for Corpus Christi'', for soprano, flute, violin and horn (1959)
*''Narration: A Description of the Passing of a Year'', for a cappella chorus (1963)
*''Music for Sleep'', for children's voices, piano and percussion (1963)
*''Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments'', for soprano and instruments (1964)
*''Ring a Dumb Carillon'', for soprano (+ suspended cymbals), clarinet in B flat and percussion (1964–65)
*''Carmen Paschale'', motet for choir and organ (1965)
*''The Visions of Francesco Petrarca'' (1965-66: withdrawn)
*''Monodrama'' (1967)
*''Cantata'', for soprano and instruments (1969)
*''Nenia: The Death of Orpheus'', for soprano, 3 bass clarinets, crotales and piano (1970)
*''Meridian'', for mezzosoprano, 2 three-part women's choirs and instruments (1970–71)
*''Prologue'', for tenor and 7 instruments (1971)
*''The Fields of Sorrow'', for 2 sopranos, 8-part choir and instruments (1972)
*''Epilogue, "Full fathom five"'', for baritone, horn, 4 trombones and 6 tam-tams (1972)
*''La Plage: 8 Arias of Remembrance'', for soprano and 5 instruments (1972)
*''Five Chorale Preludes'' (after J.S. Bach), for soprano, clarinet, basset horn and bass clarinet (1975)
*''… agm …'', for 16 voices and 3 instrumental ensembles (1978–1979)
*''On the Sheer Threshold of the Night'', Madrigal, for 4 soloists and 12-voice choir (1980)
*''Deowa'', for soprano and clarinet in B flat (1983)
*''Songs by Myself'', for soprano and chamber ensemble (1984)
*''Words Overheard'', for soprano and chamber orchestra (1985)
*''4 Songs of Autumn'', for soprano and string quartet (1988)
*''An die Musik'', for soprano and chamber ensemble (1988)
*''The Wine Merchant Robin of Mere'', for male voice and piano (1989)
*''4 Poems'' by Jaan Kaplinski, for soprano and 13 instruments (1991)
*''9 Settings of Celan'' (may be performed as a set or individually) for soprano, 2 clarinets, viola, cello and double bass (1989–96)
*''Pulse Shadows'' (the ''9 Movements'' for string quartet interleaved with the ''9 Settings of Celan'') (1989–96)
*''The Woman and the Hare'', for soprano, reciter and ensemble (1998)
*''Love Cries'', from the opera ''The Second Mrs. Kong'', for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and orchestra (1999)
*''Three Latin Motets'', from ''The Last Supper'', for unaccompanied choir (1999)
*''9 Settings of Lorine Niedecker'', for soprano and cello (1998–2000)
*''The Sadness of Komachi'', for tenor and prepared piano (2000)
*''The Ring Dance of the Nazarene'', for baritone, tombak, choir and ensemble (2003)
*''The Gleam'', for unaccompanied choir (2003)
*''3 Brendel Settings'', for baritone and orchestra (2000–04)
*''3 Arias by Bach'', for soprano, countertenor and chamber ensemble (2003–04)
*''26 Orpheus Elegies'', for oboe, harp and countertenor (2003–04)
*''Today Too'', for tenor, flute and guitar (2004)
*''Neruda Madrigales'', for chorus and ensemble with live electronics (2004–05)
*''The Mouse Felt…'', for baritone and piano (2005)
*''Lullaby'', for two sopranos, unaccompanied (2006)
*''Song of Myself'', for baritone, double bass and percussion (2006)
*''Bogenstrich'' for baritone, cello and piano (2006-09)
*''Angel Fighter'', for chamber chorus, tenor, countertenor and ensemble (2009)
*''From Vanitas'', for tenor and piano (2009)
*''Semper Dowland, semper dolens'' (after Dowland), for tenor and ensemble (2009)
*''3 Settings of Lorine Niedecker'', for soprano and cello (2011)
*''The Moth Requiem'', for twelve female voices, three harps and alto flute (2012)
*''Songs from the Same Earth'', for tenor and piano (2012-13)
*''Chorale-Prelude'', for SATB chorus a capella (2014)
*''Three Songs from The Holy Forest'', for soprano and ensemble (2016-17)
*''...when falling asleep'', for soprano, speaker and ensemble (2019)

Electronic music

*''Chronometer'', for 2 asynchronous 4-track tapes (1971–72)

Incidental music for theatre

National Theatre productions

*Hamlet (1975)
*Tamburlaine the Great (1976)
*Julius Caesar (1977)
* Volpone (1977)
*The Country Wife (1977)
*The Cherry Orchard (1978: with Dominic Muldowney)
*Brand (1978)
*The Double Dealer (1978)
*''Herod'' (1978: with Dominic Muldowney)
*As You Like It (1979)
* The Oresteia (1981)
* The Trojan War Will Not Take Place (1983)
* Coriolanus (1984)
* The Tempest (1988)
*The Winter's Tale (1988)
* Cymbeline (1988)
* Bacchai (2002)

Other

*'' The Innocents'' (play by William Archibald) (1976)

Film scores

* ''The Offence'' (1972)

References

Sir Harrison Birtwistle
biography and works on the UE website (publisher of his music until 1994)
Harrison Birtwistle
biography and works on the Boosey & Hawkes website (publisher of his music since 1994)
* Cross, J.: ''Harrison Birtwistle: Man, Mind, Music.'' (Faber & Faber, 2000.) Has a comprehensive work list up to 1998

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Lists of compositions by composer