Piano Solo

Quartets and Larger Ensembles

1997 Seventh Heaven clarinet x 2, trumpet, trombone, piano, string quartet, bass guitar, percussion x 2

A commission from the Charlie Barber Ensemble, with funds made available by the Welsh Arts Council, for a concert entitled From Bali to New York. The piece is built around a dominant seventh chord, imitating the rhythms and figurations of the giant bamboo instruments heard in the Balinese music jegog.

2001 Recompositions for violin, guitar, alto sax, trombone, piano, bass and drums

I was invited by the IKON Gallery director to collaborate with the conceptual artist Graham Gussin on a project about the famous Midlands' road intersection known locally as "spaghetti junction" (officially the Gravelly Hill Interchange) My contribution was to arrange themes from road movies for the ensemble but writing the scores from right to left so in effect they're played backwards.

Reversedmainthemeparistexax
Reversedlavilleinhumainealphaville
Reversedmainthemebullit
Reversedcarcrashnorthbynorthwest
Reversedthefinalchasemadmax
Reversedroadcrossingtheswimmer
Reversedflightnorthbynorthwest
Reversedeuropeendlesskraftwerk
Reversedopeningsequence- vanishingpoint
Reversedforebodinginthevast- landscapemadmax
Reversedthecrashnorthbynorthwest
Reversedshiftinggearsbullit
Reversedlavilledétraquéealphaville
Reversednothingoutthereparistexas

2004 Holding Together for orchestra, electric guitars, steel pans and choir

This work was written for the Aston Performing Arts Academy and is dedicated to all the young musicians and their tutors. When starting work on this project and feeling somewhat daunted about how to write for this unconventional and unique orchestra I decided to consult the I Ching. The book came back with the answer “Holding Together” and these words seemed so appropriate I’ve borrowed them as a title. For me they say something about the fundamental importance of music for everyone, about how music educates people and binds them together socially, and particularly about the sense of purpose and solidarity behind the Aston Performing Arts Academy, a bold initiative to put music at the core of the curriculum, in a project devised to cater for young people who had been expelled from school.

The “I Ching” or “Book of Changes” is an ancient Chinese oracle in 64 sections whose central theme is the continuous change and transformation underlying all existence. The text of hexagram No. 8 (Pi or Holding Together) talks about holding on to one’s inner independence in the face of all challenges, going straight ahead, keeping ourselves alert, steady, and serene as a shining lake.

2008 From Stardust to Life for violin solo, string quartet, keyboards, sitar, kanjira, mrdangam and choir (40')

Co-composed with Praveen D Rao and recorded in Bangalore for the Chitraleka Dance Company's production by the same name.

2012 Quirbajou for piano duet, 2 flutes and string orchestra (8')

Composed for a residential summer course in the Aude, the piece takes as a starting point a composition by 17th century audois composer Etienne Moulinié "Enfin la beauté que j'adore"

2013 Escouloubre for 2 or more pianos, marimba and xylophone (8')

A companion piece to Quirbajou, also named after an audois village, based on a fragment from another 17th century audois composer Guillaume Bouzignac and his song "Heu ! Unus ex vobis me tradet hodie"

2015 Shukosho for orchestra (15')

Written for a French junior conservatoire orchestra, as part of a course intended as an introduction to Asian music. This piece recreates the sound-world of a 9th century gagaku orchestra with its 3 categories of instruments, winds, plucked strings, and percussion (small rototom, anvil and bass drum). Possibly the slowest music ever created.

Piano Quartet

Piano Quartet score here

Mark Lockett