The Outlandish Knight is a very old folk song whose origins lie deep in pre-medieval Britain and Europe. It exists in many versions, both lyrics and melody, although in all of them it is a woman who is lured from the safety of her home by a powerful and handsome stranger who intends to harm her. In contrast to most of the stories, in this one the heroine avenges the deaths of several of her predecessors and rescues herself, instead of being saved by her brothers or other kin, by killing their seducer/murderer. I borrowed the lyrics from The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, but the tune and arrangement are my own.

The Outlandish Knight

A duet for alto recorder and bass viol inspired by a short D.H. Lawrence poem: Seaweed sways and sways and swirls as if swaying were its form of stillness; and if it flushes against fierce rock it slips over it, as shadows do, without hurting itself. Photo courtesy of Wendy Hamlet.

Swirl

A duet for alto & tenor recorders inspired by a short D.H. Lawrence poem: "Seaweed sways and sways and swirls as if swaying were its form of stillness; and if it flushes against fierce rock it slips over it, as shadows do, without hurting itself."  Photo courtesy of Wendy Hamlet.

Swirl (recorders)

Inspired by the very short D.H. Lawrence poem: The tiny fish enjoy themselves in the sea. Quick little splinters of life, their little lives are fun to them in the sea. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Wermeille.

Tiny Fishes (recorders)

Short duet for alto recorder and bass viol

Fantasia

Fantasia (recorders)

What The Wild Birds Say

A song about experiencing erotic feelings in old age.

To Eros In Winter

Setting Sail

An Hour Is A Sea

One of seven pieces which together are called "Afresh, seven times", a choral setting of a series of short, haiku-like poems by Donald Atkinson, which describe moments in the natural world.

Joking apart..., extract

Transcription for recorder quartet of an original arrangement of a folk song

Hares On The Mountains Recorder

A setting of a poem by Angela Cairns about a boat trip to remote Scottish islands

Enchanted

Setting of a poem about Nan Shepherd by Donald Atkinson

Watergreen Her Eyes

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Such Spirals!

Small Birds And Their Shadows

In The Orchard

A Simple Rain

A setting of a poem about the Brontë sisters by Amanda Dalton

And The Table Dances

Shiver

The Outlandish Knight, recorders

If I Were A Blackbird, recorders

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A setting of an anonymous medieval poem about a forester living alone in the woods contentedly.

I Have Been A Foster

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To Make A Prairie

A duet for alto recorder and bass viol, inspired by the following poem:
The tiny fish enjoy themselves 
in the sea. 
Quick little splinters of life, 
their little lives are fun to them 
in the sea. (D.H. Lawrence)

Alison West composer

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