Nimbus and Lyrita have published a series of shorter orchestral works by Augusta Read Thomas, Richard Blackford, George Lloyd and Gavin Higgins which are ideal for including into any programme. These Short Pieces for Orchestra (SPO) are sold with a three-year, unlimited performance licence offering much better value for money than typical hire arrangements. Some pieces have been extracted from larger symphonic works and each is published with a descriptive name to support thematic programming and engage with the new “streaming” audience. This series supports orchestras the desire to perform, programme and introduce audiences to new repertoire for less initial cost, and allows multiple performances for no additional cost. Each kit will contain a full conductors score and one “master part” per instrument along with a licence for the ensemble to copy and perform as often as they like for the next three years. Between three and fifteen minutes SPO are perfect for opening your concert or inserting just before the interval to create a talking point.
AUGUSTA READ THOMAS (cover)
"Music for me is an embrace of the world – a way to open myself up to being alive in the world in my body, in my sounds, and in my mind."
Augusta Read Thomas
“The music of Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964 in New York) is nuanced, majestic, elegant, capricious, lyrical, and colorful — it is boldly considered music that celebrates the sound of the instruments and reaffirms the vitality of orchestral music" Philadelphia Inquirer
Thomas’ impressive body of works “embodies unbridled passion and fierce poetry” American Academy of Arts and Letters
The New Yorker magazine called her "a true virtuoso composer."
Championed by such luminaries as Barenboim, Rostropovich, Boulez, Eschenbach, Salonen, Maazel, Ozawa, and Knussen, she rose early to the top of her profession. The American Academy of Arts and Letters described Thomas as “one of the most recognizable and widely loved figures in American Music." She is a University Professor of Composition in Music and the College at The University of Chicago and was the longestserving Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for conductors Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez (1997-2006). In 2016, Augusta Read Thomas founded the University of Chicago’s Center for Contemporary Composition, which is a dynamic, collaborative, and
interdisciplinary environment for the creation, performance and study of new music and for the advancement of the careers of emerging and established composers, performers, and scholars. Thomas has the distinction of having her work performed more frequently in 2013-2014 than any other living ASCAP composer, according to statistics from the performing rights organization (New York Times). Her discography includes 90 commercially recorded CDs.
"One central metaphor of my life’s creative work is that of light refracting. My work is to build, sculpt, and compose clean, clear, transparent, translucent, luminous, radiant, shining, resounding, and resonant musical materials."
Augusta Read Thomas, the New York Philharmonic.
NMP1133 Fanfare of Hope and Solidarity, Augusta Read Thomas (4:00)
Majestic, optimistic, blazing, and passionate, yet, in the centre of the piece, a robust expressive an eloquent lyrical passage unfolds a range of emotions. The composition ends as if reaching skyward - affirming and hopeful – as bells’ resonance hangs in the air like sunlight ripples. £50.00
NMP1026 Plea for Peace, for Soprano and String Orchestra, Augusta
Read Thomas (7:00) The soloist’s elegant, wordless vocalise weaves in and out of the sustained harmonies in graceful counterpoint, drawing us closer to our common humanity. Simple harmonies slowly transform, becoming rich and complex at the insistent, dramatic climax: a wordless scream from the soul then a sonic space of meditation, reflecting on an absolute plea for lasting peace. £50.00
NMP1171 Sunburst, a fanfare for Orchestra, Augusta Read Thomas (7:00)
Celebratory and Optimistic. A flash of sunlight through a break in clouds. Rays diverging from a central point like the sun. Ideal for a youth, community or college orchestra requiring very small percussion. £50.00
NMP1266 Plea for Peace, for Soprano and Wind Ensemble, Augusta
Read Thomas (6:00) The soloist’s elegant, wordless vocalise weaves in and out of the sustained harmonies in graceful counterpoint, drawing us closer to our common humanity. Simple harmonies slowly transform, becoming rich and complex at the insistent, dramatic climax: a wordless scream from the soul then a sonic space of meditation, reflecting on an absolute plea for lasting peace. £50.00
RICHARD BLACKFORD
One of the foremost concert and media composers in Europe. His much-acclaimed Pietà won the Ivor Novello Composer Award in 2020 for the Choral Category and Tenor Jonas Kaufmann wrote "Richard Blackford has created an outstanding choral work: a passionate and personal tribute in memory of all who suffer from violence, suppression and political persecution, which has deeply impressed me. Finally a modern composer who is not afraid of writing beautiful and touching music!"
In 2024 his Songs Of Nadia Anjuman (for soprano and string orchestra received five-star reviews from The Times and The Guardian and was nominated for a Sky Arts Award and an Ivor Novello Award. Also in 2024 he was Composer-in-Residence at the Presteigne Festival, where his commission Spirit of Delight was premiered along with four other major performances of his works. On February 5th his Cello Concerto will be premiered by Alisa Weilerstein with the Czech Philharmonic under Tomáš Netopil, and May 8th his La Sagrada Symphony receives its premiere in the Royal Festival Hall by the Philharmonia Orchestra under David Hill. July 27th his 40-minute cantata The Black Lake, a Three Choirs Festival commission, receives its premiere with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Three Choirs Festival Chorus and soprano Elizabeth Watts.
NMP1077 Canticle of Winter for soprano saxophone & string orchestra, Richard Blackford (7:00) The sense of restlessness, of something unresolved, despite the beauty of the winter landscape, permeates the music. Soft, sustained and melancholic, is contrasted with rhythmic string writing against exuberant flurries and plangent sound of the soprano saxophone that evokes a traveler’s journey through the winter night. Inspired by Robert Frost’s poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening: The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep. £50.00
NMP1006 The Better Angels of Our Nature, for oboe and String orchestra, Richard Blackford (14:00) Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address on March 4th 1861 is theme for this short concerto for oboe and strings. Divided into two continuous movements, separated by Taps, the bugle call played for funerals or at sunset. “We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” £50.00
NMP1267 Glory - Movement III La Sagrada Família Symphony, Richard Blackford (8:00) The Glory Façade is the temple’s most important and exudes an aura of mystery, awe, and majesty. The Lord’s Prayer appears in fifty languages on the Eucharist door, with Catalan shining out in polished bronze. The opening horn solo quotes the Gregorian Credo plainsong (No.6), the music appears suspended in time, without pulse, giving a sense of music in different tempi. The coda re-affirms the Credo motifs over a sustained pedal note, now in sharp focus, before resolving finally in a blaze of sound. £50.00
NMP1255 Clarissa’s Tango for violin and String orchestra, Richard Blackford (4:00) The violin and orchestra capture the sound and essence of Tango creating an evocative dance between the instruments. The violin has leads with a short, cadenza-like introduction while the orchestra guides their interplay with exciting riffs. An ebullient duet making virtuoso demands on the violin with high tessitura passages and multi-stops to fast passages of the tango melody. £50.00
NMP1008 Spirited, an inspirational overture, Richard Blackford (6:00) A sense of hushed anticipation and excitement, a trumpet presents a heroic theme, punctuated by ricochet timpani. A solo horn plays the main theme of aspiration which is taken up by violins before bringing us back to the heroic trumpet and bright, dancing violin. £50.00
NMP1268 Aquarium - Movement 7, Carnival of the Animals orchestrated by Richard Blackford (3:00) Orchestrating Carnival of the Animals for symphony orchestra provided an opportunity to re-interpret Saint-Saens magical score with new colours and no pianos! The sensuous, full textures of soft muted brass, cascading harp, gurgling woodwind, made each movement a delight to animate. £50.00
GEORGE LLOYD
(1913-1998) George’s first opera, Iernin, based on a Cornish legend premiered in Penzance, November 1934, conducted by the composer aged just 21. An endorsement by Frank Howes, The Times, led to sell out performances by the New English Opera Company at London’s Lyceum Theatre in June 1935. Lloyd’s second opera, The Serf, was premiered by the English Opera Company at Covent Garden in London in October 1938 with The Stage newspaper describing it ‘full of promise for the future’ however this prospect was about to be shattered. When war broke out Lloyd joined the Royal Marines serving as a radio signaller on Arctic convoys aboard HMS Trinidad.
During one convoy the ship was torpedoed and the transmitting station which Lloyd was operating filled with oil. There were heavy casualties but George survived, was mentally and physically traumatised and doctors believed he would never recover. His wife refused to accept this verdict and over many years nursed him back to health. Whilst convalescing Lloyd began to compose again and the resulting Fourth and Fifth Symphonies (1946, 1948) are among his finest works. The Arts Council commissioned George to write an opera for the 1951 Festival of Britain and the ensuing work, John Socman, told of a Wiltshire solider returning from Agincourt. Conductor Edward Downes tirelessly promoted Lloyd’s music and premiered the Eighth Symphony with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra in July 1977 and included a performance of the Sixth Symphony at the Proms in 1981. In 1986 George conducted the premiere of his Eleventh Symphony with the Albany Symphony Orchestra which was to begin a recording partnership that produced all twelve symphonies, the concertos and his major choral works all with the composer conducting. His last work, the Requiem, written in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, was completed shortly before his death and premiered at the 2000 Oxford Contemporary Music Festival.
SRMP0138
An Arctic Stillness from Symphony No. 4 ‘The Arctic’ II Lento tranquillo, George Lloyd (13:00) A glacial coldness from the strings punctuated by warmer solos from oboe and clarinet. The strings expand the texture but without breaking the sombre mood. A brighter character with rustling strings supporting woodwind solos leads to a soulful melody where the role of strings and woodwind is reversed, arriving at a climactic cadence from the timpani. The opening mood of stillness returns. £100.00
SRMP0144 Merry-Go-Round Concert Piece No. 1, George Lloyd (8:00) Very light and bright. A sparkling piece, beautifully orchestrated with lots of opportunity to highlight individual sections. The title is the composer’s own. For some audiences the themes may reawaken memories of film music from the 1950s. Third movement from Symphony No. 9 III Allegro con brio. £150.00
SRMP0139 Day and Night in the City from Symphony No. 4 ‘The Arctic’ III Allegro scherzando George Lloyd (14:00) Elements of Berlioz and a straightforward ABA structure. After the opening bustle there is an adagio contrast where the string and woodwind groups gently duet with each other. Waking to life again, the opening material returns and is interrupted by a short chorale before closing with a tutti restatement of the opening themes. £100.00
SRMP0140 Hall of Mirrors from Charade ‘Scenes from the 60s’ II LSD, George Lloyd (7:00) Echoes of Debussy and Delius. A haunting, or perhaps haunted trip; the composer’s original title for the piece, written in the swinging 1960s, was simply LSD. It is a short energising overture, orchestrated with great skill, an appetiser. £75.00
SRMP0141 Comedy of Manners from Charade ‘Scenes from the 60s’ III March-In, George Lloyd (4:00) First class light music, where a circus atmosphere meets farce. A nonchalant, brisk march. £50.00
SRMP0142 Flying Saucers from Charade ‘Scenes from the 60s’ IV Flying Saucers, George Lloyd (6:00) A light scherzo, poking gentle fun at the sky-watchers of the mid-twentieth century who saw aliens behind every cloud. The dramatic, dissonant passage near the end conjures up images of an extra-terrestrial encounter, yet the whimsical closing bars suggest there is no cause for alarm. £75.00
SRMP0143 Politics and Pomp from Charade ‘Scenes from the 60s’ VI Party Politics, George Lloyd (4:00) Two political parties are talking at us in a light moto-perpetuo scherzo. Self- important ideas are introduced on the lower strings and woodwind while the mock-heroic and cartoonish thoughts are ushered in by flutes and clarinets. Both themes are inflated, truncated, and gleefully distorted, inspiring colourful and inventive orchestration. In the closing section both parties gang up on us as the two tunes merge harmoniously together’. Gently satirical, cheerfully irreverent. £50.00
GAVIN HIGGINS
Described as ‘boldly imaginative’ [the Times], ‘a talent to watch’ [New York Times] and ‘one of the most interesting voices of his generation‘ [Limelight], Gavin Higgins is one of Britain’s most exciting and gifted compositional talents. Born in Gloucestershire (1983) and studied French horn and composition at Chetham’s School of Music, The Royal Northern College of Music, and the Royal College of Music. In 2010 Higgins became the inaugural composer in residence for the Rambert Dance Company for whom he wrote a number of daring ballet Scores includingWhatWildEcstasy(2012)and theground-breakingDarkArteries(2015) which were shortlisted for Royal Philharmonic Society and British Composer Awards. In 2019 his first opera, The Monstrous Child, commissioned by the Royal Opera House, opened to critical acclaim, being described as ‘a triumph’ [the Guardian ★★★★] and ‘a spectacular new opera’ [Culture Whisper ★★★★] and in 2020 Higgins was appointed Composer-in-Association with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. His collaborations with soloists have resulted in daring and substantial additions to the concerto repertoire. This includes the wild and wacky Percussion Concerto (Beano Concerto) for Colin Currie; the Horn Concerto for Ben Goldscheider, Winner of the 2025 Ivor Novello orchestral award an described as ‘an immediate hit’ by the Times. His Trombone Concerto (The Book of Miracles), commissioned by BBC Symphony Orchestra, won an Ivor Novello Award in 2019. Gavin has received four commissions for the BBC Proms: his most recent and substantial piece, the ‘ingenious’ [Observer ★★★★★] Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra (2022) won a Royal Philharmonic Society Award and a South Bank Sky Arts Award.
NMP1355 Sarabande, for orchestra, Gavin Higgins (6:00) I have attempted to capture the stately nature of the baroque version of a Sarabande, but also – perhaps – some of the passion and sensuality of the Saraband’s original dance form. £100.00
NMP1354 Velocity, for full orchestra, Gavin Higgins (6:00) Last Night of the Proms is the celebratory climax of the greatest classical music festival in the world and I was asked by the BBC to write a ‘crash-bang-wallop’ fanfare that would open the evening with suitable clout and a soaring string melody. £150.00
