Gifts from the Pavement (2013)
32 miniatures for a keyboard instrument (with optional ensemble)
The 32 miniatures of Gifts from the Pavement were composed to accompany artist Alice Fox’s collection of photographs and prints exhibited as part of Saltaire Arts Trail 2013.
These miniatures are intended to provide frameworks for improvised extensions. Selected miniatures were performed by Matt Robinson as part of a virtual EP produced for and embedded in a smartphone app developed for as part of the Arts Trail.
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Sounding the Deep (2011-12)
Bass voice and Orchestra
A collaboration with Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, composed to open Hull’s Cultural Olympiad. Performed by Hull Philharmonic Orchestra and James Gower (bass voice).Sounding the Deep follows the daring descents of naturalist and explorer William Beebe: the first man to descend more than a half-mile beneath the waves in a bathysphere of his own construction.
Shoals (2011-12)
Six companion pieces to Sounding the Deep:
Deep Sea Diver – Voices (SS) and Piano
To the Dark Unseen – String Dectet
Blaze – Percussion Ensemble
Never Day and Under Night – Cello Ensemble
Weird Water Land – Wind Quintet
Into the Green Inverted Dawn – String Quartet
Treeness (2007)
Viola and Chamber Organ
Treeness is a single-movement work in four sections for the unusual combination of viola and chamber organ. It was commissioned in 2007 by the publishers A-R Editions for their book on computer music entitled ‘A-Life for Music: Music and Computer Models of Living Systems’.
Objects of Curiostiy I (2007) String Orchestra
Objects of Curiosity is an expanding collection of single movement works for strings. Each of the three works planned to date focus on the vision of architects, their buildings and the way these structures animate the landscape. Objects of Curiosity I draws on the work of British architect and urban planner extraordinaire Will Alsop whose visionary ideas came together in 2004 in a book and exhibition titled SuperCity.
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Continuum with Blues (2007)
Guitar and Active Notation System
Continuum with Blues was written for the American guitarist Alan Thomas as part of the composer’s research activities at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR) at the Future Music Lab of the University of Plymouth. The piece is supported by an Active Notation System, which reorders and transforms the work musically and sonically.
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Contrapuntal Forms, from Rhythm of the Stones (2003)
Diverse instrumentation
To coincide with its major Barbara Hepworth Centenary Exhibition in 2003, Yorkshire Sculpture Park appointed Nigel Morgan as Composer in Residence. This project encompassed two public events and a month long cross-art education project. Three new compositions were commissioned and performed during 2003 in collaborations that included the singer Philippa Reeves, members of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Choir of Wakefield Cathedral. Here is an extract from one of the commissioned works: Contrapuntal Forms, performed by a quartet from BBC NOW.
Stone and Flower (2003)
Voice and keyboard
This is a song-cycle setting the words of the poet Kathleen Raine. The selections were taken from her first book of poems Stone and Flower, which was originally published with drawings by Barbara Hepworth. Stone and Flower was written for the mezzo soprano Philippa Reeves and keyboard player Robert Court. The music was commissioned by Yorkshire Sculpture Park with funds from the Britten Pears Foundation for the Barbara Hepworth Centenary Exhibition and received its first performance on Kathleen Raine’s birthday 14 June 2003.
Sense of Place (2010)
Four Seasons for Guitar
This 35-minute work was commissioned for an installation at High Cross House on the famous Dartington Estate in South Devon. The installation was of contemporary artworks by tapestery weaver Jilly Edwards and ran from May to October 2010.