John Woolrich

... a skirling, reedy accompaniment to a patter-song collected in Turkey by Bartok, beautifully proportioned and realised. Andrew Clements, Financial Times, 21 November 1989

John Woolrich's The Unlit Suburbs for tenor voice with piano accompaniment.

Instrumentation: 2(I=picc.II=afl).2.2(II=bcl).2(II=cbsn) - 2200 -perc(2): 12 thai gong/2 tam-t/BD/spring coil - harp - strings

A cleverly devised, texturally fresh and engaging short essay... with its percussive tick-tocks, extended melodies for a woodwind section including saxophone... Paul Driver, Financial Times, June 1986...

Duration: 4 minutes Instrumentation: scrt.rcrt.4 solo crt.2 crt.flhn.3 hn.2 bar.2 euph.3trbn. 2 Eb tuba.2 BBb tuba - timp - perc(2): 2 BD/tam-t/hi-hat

John Woolrich’s Locus Solus is a 12-minute scherzando, mostly fast music placed around a still centre. Its title comes from Raymond Roussel’s 1914 novel of the same name, in which an inventor has invi...

Instrumentation: afl.bcl - perc(1): mar/log drums/BD - pno -vln.vla.vlc

My oboe quintet is about 20 minutes long. Structurally it's a bit like a book of short poems (27 in all), which form a network of laments, chorales, nocturnes, fragments and echos. It is music of tick...

Instrumentation: picc(=hand bell).1.Ebcl(=ssax+cl).bcl.cbsn -1(=whistle).1(=whistle).1.1 - perc(2): BD/crot/10 or so tin cans/2 tpl.bl/whistle/gongs/tam-t/susp.cym/ped BD/guero/log drum/claves/whip/ha...

Instrumentation: afl.ssax - hn.tpt - perc(2): boobams/BD - pno - vln.vla.vlc

Instrumentation: 1.1.1.1(=cbsn) - 1110 - perc(2): 2 tam-t/12 tpl.bl/12 c.bells/2 hi-hat/2 log drum/2 BD+foot ped - harp - pno - 2 vln.vla.vlc.db

Instrumentation: fl(=picc).ob.cl(=bcl).bsn - hn.tpt.trbn - db

Instrumentation: fl(=picc+afl).cl(=Ebcl+bcl).ssax - hn.tpt - pno -perc(1): 12 or more tin cans/4 car wheels/2 brakedrums/anvil/hi-hat/8 scaffold bars/3 scaffold feet - vln.vla.vlc.db

A Leap in the Dark is a mosaic of short pieces, most of which are long unison lines, or short chorales. A Leap in the Dark was commissioned by the Guildhall String Ensemble with funds provided by the...

I wrote this piece for the BBC’s celebration of Henry Purcell, ‘Music for a While’. Purcell wrote A Staircase Overture so I decided to write Another Staircase Overture, starting, like Purcell’s, with...

'Quicksteps' is a short, rhythmic presto for pairs of oboes, clarinets (one the small, edgy Eb), bassoons and horns. The Swiss painter Paul Klee started with 'an active line on a walk, moving freely,...

"… moodily evocative … featuring solo viola and stunning effects from the rest of the strings." The Citizen, 19 July 1993

I originally planned this piece as a companion to Quick Steps, a wind octet I wrote in 1990, but as I composed it the music turned in a different, more sombre direction. There are twelve short panels:...

Instrumentation: picc.1.2(II=ca).2(II=bcl).2 - 2200 - timp - strings One of the glories of London musical life is the number, range and quality of its chamber orchestras including period bands, contem...

Instrumentation: 2(=picc).2.2.2 - 2000 - timp - (BD) - strings 1. A Curtain Tune - 2. Cantilena - 3. Speed the Going