John Casken

This work's title comes from DM Thomas's dramatic poem on an imagined episode in the life of Cleopatra. Cleopatra offers any three men from her royal court a night of unbridled passion, in return for...

The Greek word 'amarantos' means 'everlasting' or 'unfading', and the title was suggested by the amaranthine flowers in E.E.Cummings' sonnet 'this is the garden', where the flowers stand 'enraptured'...

John Casken, who celebrates his 60th birthday in 2009, set Christina Rossetti's In the bleak mid-winter - a poem popularised by Gustav Holts' setting of the same name - for Alwinton and Holystone Chur...

There is a sense of unease in the imagined landscape of John Casken’s Misted Land, as familiar shapes take on a new and sometimes grotesque and frightening appearance. Fragments of folk-like melodies...

Written for the superb Domus ensemble, Casken's vivid addition to the small number of modern piano quartets exploits the very different sonorities, weight and attack which strings and piano possess. C...

Written for the superb Domus ensemble, Casken's vivid addition to the small number of modern piano quartets exploits the very different sonorities, weight and attack which strings and piano possess. C...

A string quartet written in the late twentieth century which acknowledges the classical four movement model may seem a quaintly old-fashioned approach, but I wanted to see if my own concerns for colou...

John Casken, who celebrates his 60th birthday in 2009, set Christina Rossetti's In the bleak mid-winter - a poem popularised by Gustav Holts' setting of the same name - for Alwinton and Holystone Chur...

This short string quartet is the third that Casken has written for the renowned Lindsays. It is an ideal introduction to the contemporary string quartet, well within the capabilities of student quarte...

Après un silence was originally written as a work for violin and piano. The piano part was subsequently orchestrated in such a way that the work may be performed with a chamber orchestra or with an en...

This edition includes two vocal works by John Casken for four male voices. Both Sharp Thorne (7 mins) and To the Lovers' Well (10 mins) interweave ancient and modern texts, ideal choices for vocal ens...

Madonna of Silence is far from the quiet piece implied by the title. Indeed, it reflects the inner turbulence of Michelangelo's extraordinary drawing Madonna del Silenzio on which the work is based. M...

Madonna of Silence is far from the quiet piece implied by the title. Indeed, it reflects the inner turbulence of Michelangelo's extraordinary drawing Madonna del Silenzio on which the work is based. M...

Casken's inspired double concerto for violin and viola makes reference to John Donne poem depicting two lovers on the bank of a river with their hands entwined. The dialogue between soloists is organi...

Casken's inspired double concerto for violin and viola makes reference to John Donne poem depicting two lovers on the bank of a river with their hands entwined. The dialogue between soloists is organi...