Works

Fieldwork Pieces

  • storm-SATB
    Unstartled Bird
    Unaccompanied SATB. Written during Storm Darragh
  • Carrownagappul
    A commission from the Harry Woolhouse Charitable Trust to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Imperial College Sinfonietta. Inspired by one of Europe’s major raised bogs, Carrownagappul, Co. Galway.
  • Mountain Hare
    Finzi Scholarship piece inspired by Mountain Hares in the Cairngorms. Classical orchestra version (2,2,2,2; 4,2,0,0; timp; strings) and potential chamber version (violin, cello, piano, clarinet). Bill also wrote a travel essay.
  • The Singing Glacier
    For baroque ensemble. Collaborative response to glaciers, commissioned by The Little Baroque Company. In 2016 Bill and the poet Helen Mort climbed in East Greenland.
  • Icicle
    Part of the project, ‘The Singing Glacier’. For violin, viola and glockenspiel.
  • Circus
    SATB, solo piano, solo sop. Commissioned by King’s School, Worcester. On Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Bill watched white-necked ravens duetting.

Chamber Music

  • Particles 1, 2 & 3
    Cl, vln, vc, pno. Also in version for solo vln and orchestral sections (dbs, vlas, second vlns). Inspired by the viscosity of air. It sparkles and dances around us, pushes up against the objects we see, or swathes the night with light.
  • London Life
    A suite of five movements for clarinet, violin, guitar, double bass, harpsichord and timpani. Written as sound-tracks for short films produced by Sands Films. Now available as a concert suite.

Choral

  • Unstartled Bird. See above in Fieldwork Projects. Unaccompanied SATB with some division. Challenging.
  • As Dewe: Deus Factus Est. A setting of the 15th century Medieval English lyric, I syng of a mayden. For organ and SATB choir. Medium challenging. Published by Shorterhouse: purchase it here.

Functional Music

My hero, Lutosławski, wrote a lot of what he called ‘Functional Music’: works that serve a practical function. I am proud to offer functional work under my name and under my pseudonym, Thomas Hearne:

  • You’ll Never Walk Alone, arranged for SATB with chords for optional accompaniment. Purchase it here at SheetMusicPlus.
  • Wellerman, arranged for symphony orchestra and voice: 2,2,2,2; 4,2,3,1; perc (drum); voice; strgs. The orchestra sing in some places. Tried and tested – it works a treat for family concerts. Perusal PDF score €10. PDF set of score and parts for hire, by arrangement.
  • Rejoice! A Hymn to the Virgin – A setting of a new poem by Revd Dr Peter Packer for keyboard and tuned percussion (e.g., handbells). Easy. Published by Shorterhouse: purchase it here.
  • Del Encina, Triste España – set in Fm for SATB, with a selection of the (many) verses and a suggested repetition of the first. Perusal PDF free. Permission to print a set of up to 50 copies €10.

Music for Screen & Stage

The interplay between music and image or movement has always interested Bill, ever since he organised a concert with the artist Claire Stringer in Glasgow in 2001. He collaborated with Olivia Ray for Nashashibi/Skaer’s film, ‘Lamb’. For Sands Films, London he wrote the music for five short films featuring Tweedy The Clown. These scores became the instrumental chamber suite, London Life.    

  • ‘Grumpy Trio’ for Mishmash Productions
    Commissioned by Mishmash Productions for their touring show, Strange Creatures. ‘Grumpy Trio’ is performed using just vocal sounds and body percussion.
  • Lamb (Nashashibi/Skaer)
    Short film by Nashashibi/Skaer with sound-track by Bill, mezzo-soprano Olivia Ray and Rosalind Nashashibi. Footage of a lambing shed from the Island of Lewis and Harris shot by Lucy Skaer.