Music
Explore a diverse portfolio of my music compositions, ranging from soulful ballads to energetic pop tunes. Each piece is crafted with passion and creativity to evoke emotions and inspire listeners.
Collaborations
Discover unique collaborations with talented artists across various genres. From heartfelt duets to upbeat ensemble performances, these projects showcase the versatility and harmonious blend of musical styles.
Live Performances
Experience the magic of live performances where my music comes to life on stage. With captivating vocals and engaging instrumentals, each show promises an unforgettable musical journey filled with energy and emotion.
Custom Compositions
Elevate your projects with custom music compositions tailored to your specific needs. Whether it's a film score, commercial jingle, or special event theme, I bring a unique touch to every composition, enhancing the overall experience.
SELECTED COMPOSITIONS
Listen to some of Andy's works.
[Sheet music for unpublished works are available either through download links below or on request, please see contact page]
Recorded Works:
FANFARE & THREE POEMS
Trombone Quartet with Drum Kit - 2020
Bones Apart Music Publishing
‘Fanfare & Three Poems’ was winning entry in the British Trombone Society Composers’ Competition 2020. The work is written for trombone quartet with a drum kit accompaniment.
When composing the work, my aim was to write music that would contrast in a standard concert programme for the regular audience member but could also introduce a modern listener, who may not regularly attend live art music performances, to western art music. To do this, the suite borrows much of its rhythmic impetus from electronic dance music and other modern music styles.
The work is set out as a suite containing three separate character studies preceded by a fanfare. Each movement develops the material found in the original fanfare in an alternative fashion. Following the short, energetic fanfare are three movements. Each borrows its structure from three forms of poetry: Blank Verse, Villanelle and Tanka.
The opening Fanfare acts as our first movement. Set out in ternary form, the opening fanfare serves as a ‘tongue in cheek’ introduction to the work as a whole.
The second movement, Blank Verse, is set out in five ‘verses’. The movement follows traditional iambic pentameter throughout.
The third movement, Villanelle, is a slow movement that follows the traditional structure of the poem of the same name. Five tercets are followed by a quatrain.
The final movement: ‘Tanka collection', is a fast paced finale showcasing the technical ability of both the trombones and the drum kit structured in the form of a series of tankas. A tanka poem consists of five units with the following pattern of onji (phonetic units): 5-7-5-7-7. The first part of the pattern, 5-7-5, is called the kami-no-ku ("upper phrase”) and is the origin of the haiku. The second part of the pattern, the 7-7, is called the shimo-no-ku ("lower phrase”). The movement simply takes the pattern of onji and reduces the syllables to beats in a bar, with a first phrase with a bar of 5/4, 7/4, 5/4, followed by a second phrase consisting of two 7/4 bars, creating a collection of tanka poems.
Hymn Setting:
'Mid All The Traffic
Single Brass Octet - 2020
This arrangement of "'Mid all the traffic" (Shenandoah), was composed during the COVID-19 pandemic in tribute to the Key Workers and NHS Staff working during the crisis.
The original tune is a traditional North American folk song, dating back to the early 19th Century. The music is now commonly sung as a hymn tune, set to William Dunkerley's text: 'Mid All The Traffic of the Ways". The hymn is particularly popular within the Salvation Army.
This arrangement was written for a single brass octet of any B flat or E flat brass instrument. It was composed with multitrack performance in mind due to the the pandemic preventing live rehearsals.
The arrangement proved incredibly popular, with video performances being created around the world.
The full set of this arrangement available for free download here:
MINIBEASTS
Saxhorn Quartet and Piano Accompaniment - 2019
'Minibeasts' is a three movement work for saxhorn quartet commissioned by Katrina Marzella for Saxhorn Fest 2019. The work is written for a quartet of two tenor horns and two baritones with a piano accompaniment.
The music is based on the bestiary; an early compendium of various common, exotic and mythological animals. Bestiaries date as far back as the second century and became popular in England and France during the middle ages, particularly in the Christian Churches. Often the images would be accompanied by a moral lesson
'Minibeasts' takes the concept of a bestiary in the form of musical work. The piece is inspired by three miniature creates and aims to capture their behaviours and characteristics in three moments:
1) Spider: The Webspinner
2) Mantis: The Prophet
3) Dragonfly: The Pond Dasher
The first movement features the tenor horns with the second featuring the baritones. All four soloist combine as a full quartet in the final movement.
'Minibeasts' received its premiere at Saxhorn Fest 2019
2nd February, St. Mary's Church, Richmond.
Photograph: The premiere of 'MINIBEASTS' at Saxhorn Fest 2019
Hazel Whittal Photography
Tarot! Tortuous Tarot!
Brass Band - 2017
Wright & Round Music Publishers
The winning entry for the 2017 Cory Band Composition Competition, 'Tarot! Tortuous Tarot! is a musical work based on the reading of the infamous occult cards.
Iwan Fox, chief editor of popular Brass Band website 4barsrest.com, described the piece as a ‘mini gob-stopper of darkly hued fears and anxieties based on the reading of the infamous occult cards’. It's CD recording was also reviewed in Brass Band World Magazine as 'a dark and mysterious piece of music guaranteed to stick in the mind for its well orchestrated and cleverly developed material - a hidden gem in the repertoire'.
The music opens with a haunting music box, which sets the thematic material for the rest of the piece. The power of the cards suddenly erupts as the spell is cast and, from this, the music follows the twists and turns of the prediction as each card is turned. We then finish with the inevitable as the music box returns one final time and, along with a faint heartbeat, solemnly slows to a stop.
The work features on The Cory Band's acclaimed 2018 CD: 'The Art of Brass':
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/tarot-tortuous-tarot/1377161597?i=1377162288
Sheet music is available from Wright & Round Music Publishers here:
http://wrightandround.com/products/brass-band/concert-works/tarot-tortuous-tarot
Video: Cory Band Livestream 2/10/17 [Music Begins: 5:40]
Cover design courtesy of Mango Graphic Design
Video: Cory Band Livestream 2/10/17
[Music Begins: 5:40]
Commissioned by the Cardiff University Brass Band to open their sea-themed set at UniBrass 2016, 'The Deep' won the best student composition award at the competition.
The music draws upon material from three maritime hymns : 'Nearer my God to thee', 'Melita' and 'Will your anchor hold?' and features a solo quartet and narrator.
The recording was taken live from UniBrass 2016.
Sheet music available from Pennine Music Publishing:
www.penninemusic.com/seachresult.php?cn=T6
King?
Windband - 2016
'King' is a one minute hip-hop infused fanfare, which was commissioned by the Cardiff University Wind Orchestra to open their platinum-award winning set at the National Concert Band Festival 2016.
The music is based upon Notorious B.I.G's 1997 single 'Hypnotise', which was released a week prior to his untimely death.
Mr. Hart
Big Band - 2012
A piece written for the Southampton Jazz Workshop dedicated to one of my former trumpet teachers, Paul.
A light number with funk and latin musical influences, all based around the same bass-line groove.
Solos by Nick Willsher, Jo Downs and Myself.
Recorded at the University of Surrey, February 2013.
'Fade Away' is a cornet feature composed for cornet soloist Lauren Chinn.
The original performance was in 2011 and the piece was performed by Lauren, accompanied by a massed band featuring members from all across the Southampton Music Community.
Sheet music is available from Pennine Music Publishing:
http://www.penninemusic.com/seachresult.php?cn=W14
Other Works:
The Wolf That Shall Break It
Brass Band - 2019
‘The Wolf that Shall Break it’ was commissioned by Ocean Brass Band for their jungle-themed entertainment set at the Wychavon Festival of Brass 2019.
The work takes its name from Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘The Law of the Jungle’. The poem’s form is a set of nineteen edicts depicting the laws of the animal kingdom from the perspective of the wolf.
The ‘Law of the Jungle’ is a common expression used for describing the mechanism of natural selection: the Darwinian principle that those beings who are strong and apply ruthless self-interest will be most successful. Although this evolution process can seem brutal and unforgiving through a human lens, the harsh reality of the natural order produces stronger, more adapted generations of life.
This constant struggle for survival is the basis for this work. The music aims to capture the beauty of the animal kingdom along with its contrasting brutal and violent nature.
The opening features slow, lyrical brass underpinned by a driving, primal percussion section. A middle section showcases the band’s soloists before we return to the original musical material. The final section gradually builds in tension to our climax before the piece finishes as it began with the drum kit.
The music itself takes inspiration from a number of sources but most notably draws upon the music of avant-garde jazz group ‘Mammal Hands’.
The music is suitable for both lower and upper section bands and is designed as a modern work to fit and contrast into concert programmes.
A full set of 'The Wolf That Shall Break It' is available for free download.
Please click here:
‘The Rising Tide’ is a short work for traditional Male Voice Choir (TTBB) and Piano accompaniment.
The work details the overcoming of personal struggles against a 'rising tide' with the help of friends, family and loved ones. The music is written in dedication to my parents, Alan & Eleanor.
A free PDF download of the sheet music is available by clicking the button below:
The Final Hours of Tom Horn
Brass Band - 2018
A concert work depicting the execution of wild west outlaw and hired gun: Thomas Horn. In 1902, Horn was convicted of the murder of 14-year-old and, based solely on a drunken confession, was sentenced to execution by hanging in Cheyenne, Wyoming
The music imagines the stoic figure of Horn, as he slowly walks into view of the gallows with a constantly building, trudging bass line; his time slowly running out. The music transitions into a middle chorale-like section, taking a moment to remember and reflect on his chequered and tragic past, before culminating with an even more intense and sinister building to his final few moments, ending with an horrific, bone-cracking snap!
Commissioned by the Markham and District Brass Band for their set at the Welsh Open Entertainment Contest, 2018
‘In This Moment’ is a short concert work for chamber orchestra, expressing the contrasting feelings of being completely alone and the joy that the company of friends, family and companions brings.
The piece features numerous quotes throughout the music from the popular hymn ‘All people who on earth do dwell’. The hymn tune is attributed to the sixteenth century French renaissance composer Loys ‘Louis’ Bourgeois and was brought to prominence by Ralph Vaughan Williams’ arrangement for the 1953 coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Cover design courtesy of Mango Graphic Design.
A fanfare based on the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff.
Written in 3 distinct sections the music begins with a slow but powerful opening before transitioning into an intense 7/8 pattern. The opening theme then returns in an even more grand setting.
Instrumentation:
- Trumpet 1 (Parts provided in both B♭ & E♭)
- Trumpet 2
- French Horn (or E♭ Horn)
- Trombone (or Euphonium)
- Tuba
Shortlisted for the Sir Norman Lloyd Edwards Award for Young Composers.
I Shall Not Live in Vain
SSAATTBB Choir - 2012
A large scale work for choir commissioned by the Southampton Choral Society.
The music is based on and features text from the short poem 'If I can stop one heart from breaking' by American poet Emily Dickinson.
Instrumentation:
- Soprano 1
- Soprano 2
- Alto 1
- Alto 2
- Tenor 1
- Tenor 2
- Bass 1
- Bass 2
- Piano Accompaniment (optional)
