An addiction to playing the piano and a compulsion to comprehend how music works (an impossible task) are the driving forces behind the music of Richard Whalley. Informed as much by a relationship with the music of the past (particularly that of Bach, Beethoven and Schubert) as with the music of more recent composers (Ligeti, Nancarrow, Nono, Birtwistle…) his work continually applies new or unexpected approaches to familiar musical concepts. For example Interlocking Melodies, composed for the Quatuor Danel in 2007, engages with the concepts of melody and the whole-tone scale by exploiting relationships between complementary whole-tone melodies a quarter-tone apart. 

Navigating a pathway between seemingly contradictory qualities of intimacy (where every nuance counts) and of playfulness or quirkiness, recent compositions have drawn on diverse sources of inspiration, driven by a preoccupation with the sensuous and/or physical impact of music. For example Intoxicating Orchids (2006), composed for the New Professionals was inspired by the scent of orchids. Circling (2006), composed for Psappha, took its starting point from the elegance and contrapuntal complexities of steam engines in Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. Perhaps most eclectic of all, his solo cello sonata Tachophobia (2008) is a response to Tarantino’s film Deathproof (2007) and Bach. On a more technical level Whalley’s music engages with processes of variation and disruption, chromatic inflections of stacked chords, and contrapuntal relationships between sharply differentiated material.

Selected Works

Categories:
Solo/Duo
Small Chamber Ensemble
Chamber Enesmble
Large Ensemble
Chamber Orchestra

The scores and recordings here are (pretty full) samples only. If you would like to see or hear more, please don't hesitate to get in touch at mail@richardwhalley.com.

SOLO / DUO

Five Preludes	(May 2009)	12'00"
pno solo
Two Lines Transcended ; A Butterfly Flaps its Wings ; Still Waters ; Humpty Dumpty ; Masquing the Medusa First performance to be given by Richard Whalley in a lunchtime piano recital scheduled for 12 Nov 2009 (1.10pm) at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, University of Manchester, M13 9PL. view score (pdf)   programme note
Three Worlds	(Jan 2009)	4'00"
pno solo
Named after M.C. Escher’s print lithograph of the same name, this is intended as the first a cycle of piano pieces inspired by Escher’s art. Performed by Richard Whalley at Emmanuel Church, Didsbury on 13 June 2009 and Hitchin Boys’ School, Hitchin, Hertfordshire on 17 July 2009. To be performed again by Richard Whalley in a lunchtime piano recital scheduled for 12 Nov 2009 (1.10pm) at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, University of Manchester. programme note
Tachophobia	(August 2008)	20'00"
vcl solo
Inspired by Bach and Tarantino, this solo sonata is to be performed by Oliver Coates on 22 Feb 2010 (1.10pm) at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, University of Manchester. To be recorded for a CD which is currently being planned. view score (pdf)   programme note
Masquing the Medusa	(August 2007)	3'00"
pno solo
Later incorporated into Five Preludes, this piece was performed by Richard Casey in a concert dedicated to John Casken, to whom the work is dedicated. This concert was at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, University of Manchester on 25 Jan 2008. programme note
Six Songs of Old Japanese Wisdom	(July 2004)	9'00"
voice + pno
Version for baritone and piano commissioned by York Late Music Festival, and performed by Michael Solomon Williams and Melanie Jones in Early Music Centre, York during the festival on 4 June 2007. view score (pdf)   programme note
Prestissimo con violenza, ma molto espressivo con intimissimo sentimento	(Oct 2001)	2'30"
various keyboard instruments listen (mp3) - performed by Rodney Lister on toy piano listen (mp3) - performed by Richard Whalley on harpsichord view score (pdf)   programme note
Performed by Isabel Ettenauer on toy piano in BMIC Cutting Edge concert at the Warehouse, London on 5 December 2002. Performed by Richard Whalley on harpsichord and fortepiano in Harvard Group for New Music (HGNM) concert on 16 March 2002. Performed by Rodney Lister on toy piano at Boston University, USA on 11 April 2007
Ad Infinitum	(Sep 2000)	9'00"
solo violin
Performed by Stephen Provine in HGNM concert on 15 Mar 2001, and in Memorial Church, Harvard on 25 May 2002.. Performed by Caroline Balding at University of Manchester on 10 June 05. To be recorded by her on a CD that is currently being planned. Performed by Jo Atherton at University of Manchester on 24 May 06. Arranged for solo double bass by Norwegian bassist, Dan Styffe, and performed on 31 Oct 2008 at the Paris International Bass Symposium. listen (mp3)   view score (pdf)   programme note
Missing Jen	(Dec 1998)	12'30"
solo piano listen (mp3)   view score (pdf)   programme note
Performed by Karen Evans at St. Ives Parish Church, Cornwall on 5 Sep 2001. Performed by Richard Whalley at HGNM concert at Harvard on 5 Mar 1998, at Aspen Music Festival on 8 Sep 1999 and at Hitchin Town Hall, Hertfordshire on 10 Sep 2001. Performed by Anthony Cheung on 16 May 2005 at Harvard Club of New York, NYC

SMALL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE ( 3-5 players)

Interlocking Melodies	(Jan 2007)	7'00"
String Quartet listen (mp3)   view score (pdf)   programme note
A tribute to Ligeti, inspired by a painting by De Kooning, this was composed for the Quatuor Danel – performed by them at University of Manchester on 27 Apr 2007 and on 15 Feb 2008. Workshopped by Brian Ferneyhough and the Arditti String Quartet at Kingston University on 14 Feb 2008
Circling	(July 2006)	12'00"
pno, cl, vc listen (mp3)   view score (pdf)   programme note
Inspired by the steam trains that used to drive the cotton mills around Manchester, this work was composed for Psappha and performed by them at University of Manchester on 1 Feb 2007.
Sad Fountains	(June 2004)	5'00"
3 viols + lute
Written for SPNM "Remembering Dowland" project and performed by Marésienne Consort at Cheltenham Festival on 17 July 2004. programme note
...between fragmented silence...	(Mar 2001)	8'00"
4 male voices + pitch pipes
Performed by the Hilliard Ensemble at Harvard on 26 May 2001. view score (pdf)   programme note
Twisted Variations	(Aug 2000, rev. Dec 2001)	9'00"
vn (or va), vc, pno, perc, accordion listen (mp3)   view score (pdf)   programme note
Original version performed by Brandeis University, USA, by local performers on 21 April 2001. Revised version featured in Ensemble Aleph's 2nd Forum for composers, and performed at Moulin d'Andé, France on 20 July 2002, in Alicante, Spain on 6 Oct 2002, in MANCA festival in Nice, on 7 Nov 2002, at Théâtre Dunois, Paris on 30 Nov 2002 and 1 Dec 2002, in Darmstadt, Germany on 10 March 2003 and in Chalon-sur-Saône, France on 18 Mar 2003. Also recorded by Ensemble Aleph, and included in their logbook of the forum. Performed by Dinosaur Annex in Boston, USA on 4 Feb, 2007 Performed by Ensemble Actem on 20 Nov 2007 in Why Note Festival, Salle Jacques Fornier, Dijon, France, and on 14 Mar 2008 at the Amphithéâtre de l'Opéra de Lyon as part of the Biennale Musiques en Scène Festival in Lyon, France. To be performed by Vaganza on 24 Nov 09 at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Manchester.
Five Bagatelles	(Nov 1997)	10'00"
wind quintet listen (mp3)   view score (pdf)   programme note
Performed by Arcadian Winds in HGNM concert at Harvard on 12 Dec 1997.
Three Bagatelles	(Apr 1995)	8'00"
string quartet listen (mp3)
Performed by fellows of Tanglewood Music Center at Tanglewood in August 1998. Workshopped and partly performed by Bingham Quartet at Go West Festival, Haverfordwest, Wales, August 1997.

CHAMBER ENSEMBLE ( 6-10 players)

Sextet	(Mar 2000)	11'00"
2tp, hn, tb, tuba + percussion.
Performed by Atlantic Brass with percussionist Bob Schultz in HGNM concert on 19 May 2000. programme note
Elegy	(May 1999)	7'30"
fl, cl, pno, perc, vn, vc, db
Nominated for finals of Gaudeamus Prize 2001. Performed by Studio New Music at Paradiso, Amsterdam during Gaudeamus Music Week on 4 Sep 2001. Performed by Auros in HGNM concert at Harvard on 10 Dec 1999. Performed by Aspen Contemporary Ensemble at Aspen Music Festival on 15 July 1999. programme note   view score (pdf)
Gesualdo Revisited	(Apr 1999)	8'00"
cor ang, hn, gtr, hrp, perc, va, vc, db
Performed by Fromm Players at Harvard on 7 May 1999
The Joy of Melody	(Aug 1996)	9'00"
fl, cl, tp, pno, perc, vn, vc
This was composed for my MA thesis at University of York. Selected for finals of Ensemble Eleven Young Composers Competition in 2001. Performed and recorded by Ensemble Eleven on 29 Sep 2001. Performed by Fromm Players in HGNM concert at Harvard on 1 May 1998. Performed by the Soundpool Ensemble in the Late Music Festival, York on 18 Nov 1997. Performed by Bristol University New Music Ensemble on 14 Dec 2005 listen (mp3)   view score (pdf)   programme note
Phoenix	(May 1991)	7'00"
2cl, hn, perc, pno, mez-sop, 2vn, va, vc.
Finalist in 1992 BBC Young Musician of the Year Composers' Award, earning a "special commendation". Performed by Nash Ensemble in the Barbican on 16 Mar 1992.

LARGE ENSEMBLE

Intoxicating Orchids	(Feb 2006)	25'00"
sax + ensemble (fl, 2cl, harpsichord, perc, 7 strings)
Stanhopea ; Acineta ; Encyclia ; Gongora ; Ceologyne ; Stanhopea Composed for John Barker and the New Professionals Orchestra. Performed by them at Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (24 May 2007) and Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, University of Leeds (25 May 2007). To be performed by Vaganza at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Manchester on 23 Apr 2010, and recorded for a CD that is currently being planned. view score (pdf)   programme note
A wisp of spring cloud	(Jan 2004)	25'00"
fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, tp, tb, pno, 2perc, 2vn, va, vc, db
Doctoral thesis for Harvard University. Performed by RNCM New Ensemble at the RNCM, Manchester on 9 May 2006 as part of their Sonic Skylines Festival. view score (pdf)   programme note
When...?	(Jan 2004)	4'00"
picc, fl, cl, 2sx, tp, hn, 2trb, tuba, 5 voices (2sop, m-s, ten, bar), pno, perc, e.gtr, b.gtr
Performed by De Ereprijs at the Gigant Centre, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands on 28 Feb 2004, and again during Gaudeamus week in Amsterdam on 12 Sep 2004. view score (pdf)   programme note

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA