Illustrating quotes from Ecclesiastes and Khalil Gibran (The Prophet) it narrates a progression of construction and destruction, and at the conclusion a question of whether it is real or imagined.

ChangingTimes Master1 210508

Twelve-tone with rule bending. I chose a tone row that has strong tonal implications and used them to land between tonality and non-tonality. The quartet was recorded at the Surrey University Studios.

String Quartet 2

Revision of 'The Rapidity of Sleep'; shorter and with more density of background

The Rapidity of Sleep (revised)

Three compositions, originally songs but here set for piano and viola (1 and 2) and piano and clarinet (3). The poems are translated from the original Welsh (Medieval dates)- the first, called 'The Choice' describes a king choosing his wife - but is he sure of the choice? The second, 'Sadness in Spring' is spoken by the poet who has lost his kin in fighting and contemplates Spring with sadness - it ends with (in translation) 'from blest Christ there's no escaping'. In the final setting the poet tells how bold and brilliant he was when young, especially with the girls, but is now old and tired - yet it ends with '...but should a girl ask?'

Songs from Welsh Poets

Duncan is the first of four pieces that form 'Stone of Silence'. Each piece is associated with a place, one that has a Standing Stone (hence the title) and each is associated with a idea. Duncton's subtitle is 'Courage'. The others to follow are Eryri (Sadness, Anger), Whern (Conviction) and Uffington (Inner Light).

Duncton

Eryri is the second upload of four - Duncton, Eryri, Whern and Uffington. The association is with 'Sadness/Anger'. The picture is one I took at Sachsenhausen, north of Berlin, which was a concentration camp. These compositions form a tetrahedron - Duncan, Eryri and Where are the base and Uffington the apex. They are formed to be played in any order and there are echoes of Duncan within Eryri.

Eryri

Whern is the third of the four pieces that form Stone of `Silence. The subtitle is 'Conviction', unhurried, implacable and unyielding. 'Duncan', 'Eryri' and 'When' cane played in different order, depending on how you sense them. The fourth, 'Uffington' (to come) is the Apex of the tetrahedron.

Whern

I wrote this for the group of amateur players who played on this recording (2016). It is meant for occasional use and, though the playing standard is pretty good, it is not 'top professional'. We all had fun though. The picture was taken during the recording session.

GSO Quartet

String Quartet 1-2

String Quartet 1-1

This was recorded (sort of) in 2016/17. I could not find an orchestra to do it in the time, so we improvised by getting whoever was available, then filling in the missing parts with samples. My thanks to Tom Kilworth who did all the hard work in assembling it. The piece brings together three connected events from Spanish history - the battle of Codovonga (approx 740), the expulsion of the Moors from Granada (1492) and the bombing at Atocha Station, Madrid (2007). The picture is a minor cheat, having been taken at Seville rather then Granada.

The Moor's Sigh (final)

I'm in the final stages of completing a PhD in composition - update - PhD completed March 2022, hooray!. I started composing at the age of 12 and kept on since, despite having a career in IT and Consulting. Most of the early stuff is forgettable but in recent times I have gradually got some technical things straight and found a lot of help.

Jeff Morgan