'The Woodland Dance' is for woodwind quartet (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon). It was written as a composition assignment for my undergraduate degree and is constructed from a small amount of melodic material engaging with symmetrical scales. This is a sibelius recording.

The Woodland Dance

The Woodland Dance for Woodwind Quartet

'My Bride Approaches' was composed for my now wife to walk down the aisle to on our wedding day (8th September 2018). One of my most wonderful friends from my time at the University of Liverpool, Mr Joe Watson, played the organ at St Austin's Roman Catholic Church, Wakefield. This is the live recording from the day itself.

My Bride Approaches

My Bride Approaches (Live)

If You Love Me was written for the occasion of my wedding and was sung by St. Austin's Choir for its world premiere. This is a recording from that day: 8/9/18.

If You Love Me

If You Love Me (Live)

Dies Irae for Cor Anglais / Oboe, 2 Trumpets, Percussion, Double SATB Choir with soloists & String Quartet.

Submitted to The University of Manchester as one of three pieces for my final Portfolio of Compositions (alongside Flarillo and Unearthly Music) to conclude my Master's degree.


A huge thank you to all the wonderful performers from the University of Manchester who brought my vision to life: Emily Camburn (CA/Oboe); Jacob Griffiths & Phoebe Lynch (Trumpets); Daniel Nolan (Percussion); Grace Gammell & Katie Emanuel (Soprano); Florence Price (Alto); Jonny Reynolds & Harry Dichmont (Tenor); Alex Hopkins & Jonny Hill (Bass); Daniel Phillips & Kristen Nielsen (Violins); Eleanor Hall (Viola); Naomi Moylan-Torke (Cello); Reuben Rowlands (Conductor) and Max Bilbe (rehearsal accompanist).

Performance note:
Whilst this is a concert piece and is not appropriate for use within the liturgy, the full nineteen verse text of the Dies Irae has its liturgical place as a sequence within the Requiem Mass. Having its setting within the Mass gives the mind something to focus upon when composing the music and sets the mood for the musical material. It is not known who wrote the words of the Dies Irae, but it is a poetic response to the Book of Revelation, about the Day of Judgement or the Apocalypse. My setting of the Dies Irae weaves together some text from that sequence with some texts from elsewhere within the Roman Catholic tradition and is displayed across six movements. The piece draws inspiration from a range of different sources, such as Gregorian chant, Claudio Monteverdi (in particular his Pur Ti Miro duet), Giuseppe Verdi (particularly The Chorus of The Hebrew Slaves from his opera Nabucco), Krzysztof Penderecki (in particular his Passio), Elisabeth Lutyens (in particular her Lament of Isis on the Death of Osiris), Igor Stravinsky (in particular his Requiem Canticles) and a range of works by Sir James MacMillan and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

Dies Irae - VI Pie Iesu (Live)

Dies Irae - V Lacrimosa (Live)

Dies Irae - IV Iudica Me (Live)

Dies Irae - III Tuba Mirum (Live)

Dies Irae - II Custodiat Animas Nostras (Live)

Dies Irae - I Dies Irae (Live)

(Sibelius Realisation)

Star Clusters is so called because it is inspired by the work of the musicologist Richard Cohn, and particularly his article ‘As Wonderful as Star Clusters’ (1999) – which is itself a quotation from Sir Donald Francis Tovey (1928) – in which he explains Neo-Riemannian Theory. This theoretical approach to music reorganises the twenty-four major and minor chords into four groups of six – North, South, East and West – according to their voice leading efficiency. Star Clusters makes use of the Western zone of Cohn’s diagram (G, B and Eb majors and minors).

The second dedication of this piece is to musicologist Rita Steblin who translated (1983) Christian Schubart’s ‘Ideen zu Einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst’ (1806), describing the characteristics of the keys. I have followed the definitions of these keys throughout the piece, to ensure the key progression, as prescribed by Cohn, is conveyed to its fullest.

The piece is in ternary form, with the return of the ‘rustic, idyllic’ (Steblin, 1983) G major melody we met at the beginning, at the end of the rotation to complete Cohn’s ‘Western’ hexatonic cycle.

Star Clusters

My piece, 'Memories of Freedom' performed by Lucy Fazakerley on her Sop Sax (piano is Sibelius realisation).

Memories of Freedom for Soprano Saxophone (or Clarinet) in Bb and Piano

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Programme Note:
'Memories of Freedom' was composed during the Government-imposed
Lockdown in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020. It invokes memories of happier times when we were able to get out and about: go to churches and places of worship; go to concerts and recitals; watch sports fixtures, or just go to the supermarket without having to queue up for entry!

Throughout isolation, I have been thinking about the time before, and how I had not made enough time to get to concerts and hear live music. The most recent concert I went to was supposed to be a catalyst to getting back into going to recitals and other live music events, but that will have to wait until the restrictions are lifted. This piece is particularly inspired by, and evokes particular 'Memories of' that one concert at The University of York which I went to on Friday 13th March, just before Lockdown began.

The recital was given by Jess Gillam and James Ballieu. She was playing some pieces on soprano and some on alto saxophone. I was inspired by her phenomenal ability, stage presence and musicality and decided to compose a piece for the soprano saxophone and piano. Some of these 'Memories' are depicted through my drawing of inspiration from pieces she played that evening, particularly 'Pequena Czarda' by Iturralde, but also 'If' by Michael Nyman and 'RANT!' by John Harle.

Other influences have been drawn from other 'Memories of' musical events before Lockdown, particularly drawing inspiration from pieces I played on my flute: pieces by J.S. Bach, Ian Clarke, Arthur Honegger and Astor Piazzolla, as well as a fond memory of visiting Edvard Grieg's house in Norway in 2003 and hearing his works played on his piano.

I look forward to being able to return to concerts and recitals when Lockdown is eased, a return to that Freedom we knew before.

Memories of Freedom

Memories Of Freedom

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Thomas was awarded a first class BA(hons) Music from The University of Liverpool in 2017 and a Merit in his MusM Composition (Instrumental & Vocal) Master's degree from The University of Manchester in 2019. During his three years in Liverpool, he studied composition with Dr Ben Hackbarth whilst being supervised more generally by Dr Kenneth Smith. At Manchester, he studied composition with Dr Kevin Malone and Orchestration with Dr Camden Reeves, as well as meeting many well-regarded composers.

Thomas Crow

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