I wrote this piece at the end of my first term as an undergraduate in 2004, partly influenced by strange dreams of dragons and caves. I revised the piece in early 2014 and it was recorded for the first time almost exactly 10 years later by Marie Schreer, John Garner, Julian Fish and Ariana Kashefi at St Giles in the Fields church in London. Considering that three building sites were all battering away at the time of recording, I think we got a pretty decent result!

String Quartet 4 - 1st Movement (2004)

I wrote this piece at the end of my first term as an undergraduate in 2004, partly influenced by strange dreams of dragons and caves. It was recorded for the first time almost exactly 10 years later by Marie Schreer, John Garner, Julian Fish and Ariana Kashefi at St Giles in the Fields church in London. Considering that three building sites were all battering away at the time of recording, I think we got a pretty decent result!


String Quartet 4 - 2nd Movement (2004)

I wrote this piece at the end of my first term as an undergraduate at Oxford in 2004, partly influenced by strange dreams of dragons and caves. It was recorded for the first time almost exactly 10 years later by Marie Schreer, John Garner, Julian Fish and Ariana Kashefi at St Giles in the Fields church in London. Considering that three building sites were all battering away at the time of recording, I think we got a pretty decent result!

String Quartet 4 - 3rd Movement (2004)

I wrote 'Saman' (Icelandic for 'Together') for the marriage of two very dear friends and derived the musical material for the harp part and the simple tonal structure of the piece from their names: A-E-E-A comes from Alex and Emma and the deeper harmony ranges from A to E and back to A again. The violin is beautifully played by Marie Schreer and all other parts I played myself.

Saman for Violin, Piano and Harp (2014)

At 2:24:27am on 15th March 2015 (beginning at the first second of my birth-minute and accounting for leap-seconds) I celebrated my one billionth birth-second with my wonderful dodgeball team ('Who Let The Dodge Out') ushering me into the Atlantic Ocean off the Irish coast. This naturally gave me the idea of writing a piece with one billion notes. A 10-note chromatic theme based on the digits of my billionth birth-second (1531522427) is iterated 100,000,000 times with 1,000 distinct modulations of the theme on 10 different instruments over 5 minutes. 10 tracks of 100,000,000 notes are played at 10 distinct tempi, beginning with around 333,333 notes per second and gradually increasing to several million notes per second by the end of the piece.

ONE BILLION NOTES! (2015)

My sister and her husband asked me to write a vivid piece for string quartet for their wedding in 2015, to be called 'Battle of the Miniature Horses'. They requested a number of sound effects to be incorporated into the piece, so on first performance there was some loud neighing and coconut shell hooves. However, this recording of the concert version of the piece is performed without the extra sounds and is played marvellously by Antonin Burda, Matej Vlk, Petr Suslik and David Havelik, recorded at Smecky Studios in Prague by Vitek Kral on the 19th September 2015

Battle Of The Miniature Horses (2015)

Commissioned by the Prague Symphonic Ensemble, 'Upon Saint Catherine's Hill' is scored for two flutes, harp and strings. It was recorded by the Prague Symphonic Ensemble in 2015 and is scheduled for release in 2016.

Upon Saint Catherine's Hill (2015) excerpt

Scheduled for release in 2016, I originally wrote 'A Vow' for organ and male voice for my brother's wedding in 2011 and rearranged it for string orchestra with solo violin for a recording with the Prague Symphonic Ensemble in 2015. The soloist is Antonin Burda and the PSE is conducted by Jerome Kuhn.

A Vow (2015) Excerpt

String Nonet composed by Charles Mauleverer, recorded at the Royal College of Music, London, November 2011 by nine wonderful RCM string students, generously conducted by John Wilson and mixed by Dan Elms at the Babelsberg Film School Studios, Germany. Huge thanks to Marie Schreer, Katy Smith, Julia Loucks, Elaine Ambridge (violins), Natasha Silver, Lizzie Boyce (viola), Lily Thornton, Sonia Taylor (cello), David McIlfatrick (double bass). This piece was originally written in response to a feeling, when working with some British children, that technology and contact with mature concepts too early is increasingly depriving many of them of their precious childhood. The piece was later used to accompany images of USAAF Nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll.

String Nonet (2011)

I wrote this piece for performance at the National Portrait Gallery in 2010. It was conceived as a response to a beautiful but a little disturbing portrait photograph of a young Irish girl in her bedroom, playboy imagery permeating the image. Performed by Hannah Grayson on the flute, electronics by Charles Mauleverer.

Sona for Flute and Electronics (2010)

Third piece for String Quartet in a set of three written in 2001. The musical inspiration for this piece came whilst on a trip to the island of Sark

iii (2001)

Second piece for String Quartet in a set of three written in 2001. Though it unconsciously shares an affinity with Walton, the inspiration for this piece came during a walk around the Millennium Dome in London in 2000. Its orchestral companion 'Ascension' was named after the programmatic notion I felt at one time to be inherent in this piece of approaching the gates of heaven.

ii (2001)

This first in a set of three pieces for String Quartet was written in 2001. This recording was played by Felix Tham, Dominic Moore, Adrian Adlam and Richard Birchall, and recorded by David Upton at Winchester College.

Three Pieces for String Quartet - i (2001)

I wrote this piece in the year 2000 for a composition prize adjudicated by Roxanna Panufnik. Its title formed the name of my first collaborative album with Vistamusicale. It is played here by Felix Tham, Dominic Moore, Adrian Adlam, Richard Birchall and Robert Bottone

From Innocence To Age for Piano Quintet Excerpt (2000)

This piece arrived fully formed during a long and tranquil bicycle trip around the English countryside in 2002. It is played brilliantly here by Adrian Brendel (cello) and Robert Bottone (piano)

Such Sights for Cello and Piano (2003)

Written as a student exercise at the RCM London to accompany a biblical scene in a tv series entitled 'The Passion', performed here by several fantastic RCM student players

Theme from 'The Passion' (2011)

Whilst studying at the Babelsberg Film School in 2012, I had the opportunity to record a short piece with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra. I would not be able to sell the music for profit but the orchestra kindly agreed to allow me to use the recording for charitable purposes. So I wrote this piece with the intention of giving it broad accessibility and appeal in promoting the cause of preserving my favourite animal: the highly endangered Snow Leopard. Please feel free to download and transfer the music, and where possible, please consider making a donation (however small) to the Snow Leopard Trust here:

http://www.snowleopard.org/give

Huge thanks to Steve Harrington at RCM Studios for mixing the track

The Snow Leopard (2012)

Written for a great friend's wedding in 2019, a friend with a remarkable number of world class singer friends and an opportunity not to pass up! He asked me to set the text 'This Marriage' by Rumi

This Marriage excerpt c. Charles Mauleverer 2019

Commissioned by the Moore Stephens choir in Jersey for the Jersey International Choir Competition 2011, this is a home recording sung by some wonderful friends in Greenwich in May 2013. Very many thanks to all involved

Tantum Ergo (2011)

Born in Jersey in 1983, Charles Mauleverer studied composition at Winchester College and Oxford University before winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London where his teachers included Jo Horovitz, Alison Kay and Ken Hesketh amongst others. His music has been performed and recorded by several of today's classical music luminaries including John Wilson, the BBC Singers, Adrian Brendel, members of EXAUDI, Craig Ogden, the Babelsberg Film Orchestra and the Prague Symphonic Ensemble, in studios and venues ranging from the National Portrait Gallery and Winchester Cathedral to Maida Vale, King's Place and the legendary Abbey Road in London, and Smecky Studios in Prague. Films, documentaries and adverts featuring his music have been shown at festivals from Jersey Shore to Cannes and his work has been broadcast on Classic FM and the BBC.

CharlesMauleverer

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