Robert has been composing since childhood, and has accepted commissions from ensembles, orchestras and choirs - amateur, semi-professional and professional. His pieces, now totalling over 150, have enjoyed over 450 performances across the UK and as far afield as Denmark, Germany, Colombia, USA, Africa and Australia. Published via Sheet Music Plus.
News – including new Piano Trio, ‘Arcs’
This Second Piano Trio (for violin, cello & piano) is the fourth in a series of extended, multi-movement chamber works composed in 2023 and 2024. The piece is three movements and is subtitled ‘Arcs’. This concept is explored on a wide variety of levels throughout: the arc shape of many melodic phrases; the long-term build and subsiding of dynamics; the increase and decrease of textural density; the arc of harmonic development and resolution; the arch-form structure of each movement; and the sense of overall arc to the whole, 25 minute piece.
Harmonically, the work is concerned with exploring a range of extended chords (7ths, 9ths, 11ths, & 13ths), usually based on the common triad. Texturally, the piece gives the three instruments a wide variety of roles, exchanging turns to deliver melodies, and particularly features themes in canon. There is much use of percussive pizzicato doubling by the strings of accompanimental piano material.
The first movement is in a loose symmetrical sonata form, whose first subject group features a bell-like accompaniment, followed by a sentimental song-like second theme. The development uses the work’s introductory material, which surrounds an unsettled, modulatory third theme, before a varied and reversed recapitulation. The second movement is a long ternary form arch. The first section features a nostalgic line of appoggiaturas which gradually morphs into a more scherzo-like middle section, via a chain of changes in time signature, before a reversed return of the opening. The finale, in the home tonal centre of F, simply alternates two main ideas. The first is a memorable 10-bar rondo-like theme, returning in textural variation (and later in canon), based on harmonies with an added 4th (or 11th). The second idea is a 16-bar section that uses the main theme in rhythmic augmentation, as well as with rhythmic phasing. To conclude, the first theme asserts its dominance by repetition, in a final crescendo and flourish.
The work is dedicated to Stephen Birch in Advent 2024, with admiration, in anticipation of his 60th birthday in February 2025.
As with all of Rob’s pieces, the Piano Trio No. 2 (‘Arcs’) is published via Sheet Music Plus.
Other recent updates:
Rob led the organisation of the 2024 Prescot Parish Musicians’ Concert, raising over £500 for Prescot Parish Church, on Friday 20 September 2024. The event featured a myriad of varied musical performances, including Rob playing bassoon, violin, and piano, as well as five of Rob’s compositions. Here, Rebecca Peers performs the solo voice versions of Rob’s anthems Glory, Love, and Praise, and Honour (2019), and the Ave Verum Corpus (2016), with the composer at the piano:
As Assistant Head of Music Faculty at St. Edward’s College, Liverpool (Choir School to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral), Rob has conducted highly successful orchestral performances at the Cathedral’s Founders’ Evening (and a massed choral performance of his 2016 anthem ‘Jubilate Deo’; also performed by the choir of All Hallows’, Allerton, in their church), and at the College’s December Christmas Concert, as well as compèring the College’s November St. Cecilia’s Concert Choral Extravaganza.
A particular highlight of the autumn term came in November 2024, when the world-famous film and TV music composer Danny Elfman visited St. Edward’s College from the USA, and gave a fascinating extended talk to KS3, GCSE, and A Level Music students on his most famous film scores, his compositional techniques, and his musical influences, followed by an intriguing question and answer session.’
Rob gave two very successful, sell-out performances as Conductor of both the Phoenix Concert Orchestra (in November 2024 at St. Anne’s Church, Aigburth, Liverpool) and as Conductor of South Liverpool Orchestra (in December in their Christmas Concert at All Hallows’ Church, Allerton, Liverpool).
The latter included Rob in repeat performances of his piano miniatures ‘Sketch I, Fragment III, & Sonnet I’, as previously given in the September Parish Musicians’ Concert at Prescot.
Rob has continued to perform in a wide variety of successful performances as Principal Bassoonist of Liverpool Mozart Orchestra, Liverpool Bach Collective, and as bass singer and Associate Director of Prescot Parish Church Choir. The latter have continued to regularly perform Rob’s compositions in this period, including ‘For Mary, Mother of our Lord’ (2018) at the September Patronal Festival, ‘God So Loved the World’ (2019) at the November All Souls’ Service, and ‘A Babe is Born’ (2016) at the December Mayor of Prescot’s Charity Christmas Concert (organised by the Prescot Festival), raising over £300, and with nearly 400 in attendance. The Festival also helped to organise a new initiative, a highly successful Candlelit Christmas Concert fundraiser at Prescot Parish Church, featuring Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols performed by the Girl Choristers of Liverpool Cathedral and RLPO harpist Elizabeth McNulty, and Schubert’s song cycle Die Winterreise, performed by Baritone Damian O’Keeffe and accompanist Stephen Mannings.
New Composition: Violin Sonata No. 1 (‘Circling’)
This new piece is an extended, three-movement violin sonata for violin and piano. The work explores the subtitle concept of ‘circling’. This is pursued through a wide variety of musical elements. These include: circling melodies, repetitive chains of (modulating) chord sequences, motoric cross-rhythms and syncopation, heterophonic canonic textures, and large-scale concentric structures.
The fast, first movement is in a loose symmetrical sonata form in D (modal) minor. The resolute and scalic first subject, based on the opening core motif, is followed by a transition to a more lyrical and repetitive, cantabile second theme. The ensuing development section passes through various keys, with a new, modal third theme at its centre, featuring parallel motion, syncopation, and an ostinato in the accompaniment. The varied recapitulation presents the opening two themes in reverse order (thus giving overall structural symmetry to the movement).
The heart of the work as a whole is the slow, romanza-like second movement, centred on G. In ternary form, the outer sections present a highly memorable lyrical theme in a series of modulating and canonic textural variations. The contrasting middle section is much more unsettled in its three varied statements of a new theme accompanied by uncertain minor sevenths chords.
The rondo-like finale in D is the most minimalist in style and rhythm. A circling, motivic and scalic main theme appears between highly contrasting episodes. The first of these is a folk-like rustic theme, while the second is a sentimental melody, played over an arpeggio and descending bass line accompaniment. Heard three times, in three different keys and registers, this idea leads to an recap of the main rondo theme, signalling the end of the work.
2023/4: Highlights from the last academic year…
Since September 2023, the last academic year has seen further developments, and some significant landmarks, in Rob’s musical activities.
Rob has composed several new works in 2024, most significantly in fulfilling a long-held ambition by setting Christina Rossetti’s classic poem ‘Love Came Down at Christmas’, in 3 unaccompanied choral versions: for SATB choir; SA choir; and for unison voices (or solo voice). Then followed the witty piano miniature ‘Minute Bagatelle’, designed to be performable within one minute, and the more extended and hypnotic ‘Vigil’ for solo organ.
Meanwhile, Rob continues his long-term project of revising (and typesetting) his early compositions. In the last year these have included a range of important student pieces from 1996/7; ‘May You Always be Joyful’ for mezzo-soprano, in 2 versions with either piano, or piano plus wind quintet, as well as chamber works ‘Mirage Sextet’, ‘Dances of the Dead’, ‘In Memoriam’ for chamber orchestra, and ‘New Notes from an Old Castle’ for wind ensemble, piano and percussion. Note that scores, including the aforementioned new pieces and revisions, all continue to be available for download and purchase at Sheet Music Plus.
Rob’s sacred choral repertoire remains popular and in regular use in worship, with Prescot Parish Church Choir (where he has been Acting Director of Music for the year 2023/4), among many others, singing Bread of the World, God So Loved the World (in its solo version with soprano Laura Hudson), I Gave You Love (The Good Friday Reproaches) and Glory, Love, and Praise, and Honour (twice). Tenor soloist David Kernick gave a remarkable solo performance of Rob’s 2022 anthem Praise the Lord at the Mayor of Prescot’s Charity Christmas Concert in December 2023, to an audience of over 400. Into 2024, a special first SATB & organ performance of Rob’s 2022 setting of the Ave Maria was given by the 100-strong Prescot Festival Chorus on the second night of the 20th Prescot Festival in June.
Meanwhile, Rob’s 2016 anthem Jubilate Deo continues to be his most-performed choral piece. A stunning massed choral performance was given by students of St. Edward’s College (Choir School to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) in October 2023 at the University of Liverpool’s Tung Auditorium. College students, alongside the Choir of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, had already performed the work at the Cathedral as part of Mass for the Feast of St. Edward in September 2023.
In 2024, Rob’s Jubilate Deo has already received performances twice each by the Choirs of both of Liverpool’s Cathedrals. These were as part of worship and in concert, with over 150 students from St. Edward’s College performing it in the Crypt of Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral in their House Choir Competition in February.
Liverpool Cathedral Choir gave a further performance of the Jubilate Deo, accompanied by Prof. Ian Tracey on organ, at June’s Prescot Festival.
Nevertheless, Rob’s instrumental music continues to receive various outings. In December 2023 the composer gave the first public performance of Lauda (2022) at All Hallows’ Church, Allerton. Then, into 2024, the composer performed his two 2006 piano pieces ‘Rocking (Sketch)’ and the extended version of ‘Rocking’ twice; first at All Hallows’ Church, Allerton, Liverpool, in May, and then on the opening night of the Prescot Festival, in June.
20th Prescot Festival Breaks Records
In its 20th anniversary year, the 2024 Prescot Festival of Music & the Arts in June (of which Rob has been Artistic Director since its inception) showcased a wide range of remarkable artistic performances, and broke previous audience records, with over 2000 people in attendance. As well as seeing performances of his own works on the 20th annual programme, Rob conducted his South Liverpool Orchestra in a stunning opening night of orchestral favourites.
The 10-day schedule was the occasion for festival debut performances from operatic soprano Laura Hudson, and from actor/playwright Emily Parr, at Shakespeare North Playhouse. Other highlights included Liverpool Cathedral Choir, Prescot Festival Chorus, Liverpool Bach Collective, Wingates Brass Band, local historian Ken Pye, musical theatre group BOST, and Phil Shotton’s Maghull Wind Orchestra, as well as a community barn dance, a film night, and schools’ performances. Other significant concerts at Prescot Parish Church included the Mayor of Prescot’s Charity Christmas Concert in December 2023 (raising over £400) and Trinity Girls’ Brass Band in March 2024 (raising over £130 for the festival, after costs).
At St. Edward’s College
In his post as Assistant Head of Music Faculty at St Edward’s College, Liverpool, Rob continues to successfully vary, develop and expand music provision. As conductor of the College’s Junior, Senior and Chamber orchestras, Rob has wielded the baton for an extraordinary full-house College performance alongside Liverpool Mozart Orchestra at the University of Liverpool’s Tung Auditorium in November 2023, as well as packed performances at the College’s Founders Evening, Christmas Concert, Cathedral House Choir Competition, two nights of the Spring Concerts ‘In My Dreams’, a Leavers’ Concert, and a Summer Concert in July. In November 2023, Rob handed over the baton of the College Senior Orchestra to Domingo Hindoyan, Principal Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, in a remarkable workshop on orchestral technique.
Most notably, the St. Edward’s College Tour Choir gave 3 excellent performances in Italy in July 2024, singing at Mass in St. Mark’s Basilica Venice, in concert at San Giorgio Maggiore Venice, and at Mass in St. Anthony’s at Padua.
Performing and Conducting
Despite College commitments, Rob had still found time for regular performances as Principal Bassoonist of Liverpool Mozart Orchestra and Liverpool Bach Collective, ongoing conducting engagements with Prescot Parish Church Choir, and high-standard, sell-out performances conducting Phoenix Concert Orchestra in British and US Light Music in concert at St Ann’s Church Aigburth, and South Liverpool Orchestra at All Hallows’ Allerton, and at the Prescot Festival in June.
A particularly unforgettable career highlight came in February 2024, when Rob performed as Principal Bassoonist, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 at Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, with the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth (MYO) Reunion Orchestra.
