Extracts from the world premiere of 'The Temptations of Christ' by Barnaby Martin performed in Holy Trinity, Sloane Square on 4 March 2017.

Preview/purchase score: https://www.barnabymartin.com/the-temptations-of-christ

This 45-minute cantata follows the temptations of Christ in the wilderness by the Devil. It takes words from Matthew 4: 1-11, John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained as well as poems by Wilfred Owen (1893-1918), Sean O'Brien (1952-present) and Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967).

Performers featured in these extracts:

Illuminare choir 
Recital choir of St Paul’s Juniors, directed by Philip Berg

Christopher Stark | Conductor
Jeremy Cole | Organ
George Barton | Tubular bells
Laurence Williams | Jesus
Hiroshi Amako | Satan
Hilary Cronin | Soprano
Helen Charlston | Mezzo-soprano
Alexander Gebhard | Tenor
Michael Craddock | Baritone

The Temptations Of Christ

Barnaby Martin | Rings of light

Ligeti Quartet (https://ligetiquartet.com)

Preview/purchase score: https://www.barnabymartin.com/rings-of-light

Recorded live in Chapel Arts, Cheltenham as part of the Cheltenham Composers' Academy 2017 by Vox Pop Record Engineers.

Rings Of Light

Live recording by Illuminare choir, conducted by Jeremy Cole. Performed in Holy Trinity, Sloane Square Friday 16 December 2016

Preview/purchase score: https://www.barnabymartin.com/the-truth-from-above

The Truth From Above

Ascendit Deus

Hypercubus for solo clarinet

Preview/purchase score: www.barnabymartin.com/hypercubus

Commissioned and performed by John Slack as part of the Berkeley Ensemble's Spring Chamber music series in St. Saviour's Church, Warwick Avenue.

Hypercubus

Jeremy Cole, organ 

Recorded in Wells Cathedral

Preview/purchase score: https://www.barnabymartin.com/o-herre-gott-dein-gottlich-wort

'O Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort' was commissioned by Choir & Organ magazine for first performance in St Paul's Cathedral - the premiere was given by Simon Johnson in the Cathedral in December 2016. The piece formed part of William Whitehead's ongoing Orgelbüchlein Project which is a is a major international composition project to complete J S Bach’s Orgelbüchlein.

O Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort

Find out more: www.barnabymartin.com/partials

This is the accompanying tape for a new commission for organ and electronics to be first performed by Jeremy Cole in new music wells 78-18. The track builds up the harmonics series on C, starting with the lowest possible note on the organ and gradually adding all of the harmonics/partials. The notes of the series have been raised or lowered in pitch to match the exact sounding pitch of all of the partials in the series. For example, the seventh partial, which is a B flat, is lowered by 31 cents.

The tape uses a sample library created using the organ in Leeds Town Hall: https://www.samplephonics.com/products/free/sampler-instruments/the-leeds-town-hall-organ.

'Partials' for Organ - Tape (Harmonic series)

Winner of 2018 Toru Takemitsu Composition award.

Recorded live on 27 May 2018 in the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yoichi Sugiyama.

Preview/purchase score: www.barnabymartin.com/quanta
Find out more: www.operacity.jp/en/concert/award/result/result2018/index.php

Quanta

First performed and recorded in Wells Cathedral, 18 October 2018
Jeremy Cole | organ

Preview/purchase score: www.barnabymartin.com/partials

Partials was written for organist Jeremy Cole for first performance as part of new music wells 78-18. The piece is based on the harmonic series on C and uses an accompanying tape which gradually builds up the harmonics series, starting with the lowest possible note on the organ and slowly adding all of the harmonics/partials. 

Listen to the tape part: https://soundcloud.com/barnaby-martin/partials-tape
Download the tape part: www.barnabymartin.com/partials

Partials

Extracts from the live recording of the world premiere of 'I saw eternity' by Barnaby Martin performed in St James's, Sussex Gardens, on 2 February 2019.

Andrew Griffiths | Conductor
Londinium chamber choir

Preview/purchase score: www.barnabymartin.com/i-saw-eternity

I saw eternity

Barnaby Martin is an award-winning composer of contemporary classical music based in England. His compositions have been performed widely in the UK and internationally by groups including the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of Opera North, the Berkeley Ensemble, the Ligeti Quartet, the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, Wells Cathedral Choir and Illuminare choir. In 2018, his work for large orchestra, Quanta, was selected as the winner of the Toru Takemitsu Composition award. The piece, which was one of four to be selected by Unsuk Chin out of 143 entries from 40 countries, was performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in the final of the competition in May 2018. Barnaby is the only composer from the UK to have received first prize in the history of the competition. Barnaby’s work has achieved acclaim and recognition in several other competitions and prizes including the DARE New Composer’s Forum Competition (Stillness), the Berkeley Ensemble’s New Cobbett Prize (Lazarus) as well as the New Music for St Paul’s Cathedral Competition (Videntes Stellam). Barnaby also received his first nomination for a BASCA British Composer Award in 2017 for his contemporary cantata, The Temptations of Christ.

Barnaby enjoys frequent collaborations with musicians and has been commissioned to write music for a variety of different ensembles and instrumentalists. He has written pieces for the Psappha Ensemble’s Benedict Holand as part of the group’s Composing for Violin scheme (Leda Atomica) as well as new pieces for oboist James Turnbull (Christ of Saint John of the Cross), the clarinettist John Slack (Hypercubus), the pianist Joseph Houston (Submerging) and organist Simon Johnson (O Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort). The piece for Simon Johnson was commissioned by Choir & Organ Magazine and contributed to William Whitehead’s ongoing Orgelbüchlein Project. Barnaby has worked extensively with singers as well as instrumentalists and enjoys regular work with choirs in the UK. Most recently, he was commissioned by Illuminare choir to write a new 45-minute cantata for two choirs, soloists and percussion (The Temptations of Christ) which was premiered by the group in March 2017, directed by RPS award-winning conductor Christopher Stark.

Barnaby has studied composition with Kenneth Hesketh and from October 2018, he will begin working towards a PhD in composition at the University of Birmingham under the supervision of Michael Zev Gordon.

Tracks by Barnaby Martin