EARLY KEYBOARD MUSIC, by composer: suitability for PIANO
Austrian Czech German Italian Spanish & Iberian

BRITISH PIANO COMPOSERS
WILLIAM BAINES .... BENJAMIN BURROWS.... FRANK BURY.... THOMAS JOHNSON.... HERBERT OPPENHEIMER.... MERVYN ROBERTS ....

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As well as information about early keyboard music and some British piano composers, this site contains information about the composers Ray Clarke (based in Castle Douglas), Nigel Deacon (from the Midlands), and Andrew Lowe-Watson (from Norfolk). There are also some mp3s for you to hear.

Ray Clarke is a teacher, orchestrator and composer with a special interest in folktune.

Nigel Deacon writes exclusively for piano and has published over a hundred miniatures, about half of which are folktune-based.

SUTTON ELMS PUBLICATIONS If you are a pianist and would like some paper copies of scores, please email. There is no charge, though I won't mind if you help with the postage. You can download the underlined pieces below as pdf files: Some of the tunes: Greensleeves, Danny Boy, Linden Lea, Brigg Fair, Searching for Lambs, The Barley Mow, The Three Ravens, My love's an arbutus, Gossip Joan. There's a CD of my folktune piano arrangements and seven other piano CDs including a lot of late baroque. Details further down.

Nigel also does digital audio cleanup.

Nigel and Ray were represented by Portland Wallis Direct until recently. We can now be contacted directly via this site.

Andrew Lowe-Watson is a well-known composer and pianist who has written large- scale works, the latest one being "Trafalgar", performed by the Moscow International Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Konstantin Krimetz.

RAY CLARKE, NIGEL DEACON and ANDREW LOWE-WATSON

mp3 samples from..............

Nigel Deacon:
May Song The Lowlands of Holland Cosby Fugue G minor prelude

Ray Clarke:
May Song (orch) What shall we do with a drunken sailor? (orch)

I have compressed the files so people on dialup can hear them; this gives them an echoey quality. The alternative is big files which are a nuisance to download.

Nigel Deacon, piano collections:

cd 1 ......Albero, Albrechtsberger,Draghi, Espona, Freixanet, Kozeluch, Nebra
cd 2 ......ND folktune settings, Ben Burrows, Georg Benda sonatas
cd 3 ......Georg Benda, William Boyce, Wagenseil, ND folktune pieces
cd 4 ......Christophe Wagenseil, ND folktune settings and original pieces, Jose Lidon
cd 5 ......Scarlatti, Wagenseil, Rodrigues, Galles, Czerny variations
cd 6 ......Nichelmann, Pasquini, Ben Burrows, Geminiani, Kindermann, Pescetti, Kammell
cd 7 ......Belgian harpsichodists: mainly Loeillet, also Fiocco, Benda, Schultheiss, F.Derry
cd 8 ......Techelmann, Turini, Gottlieb Muffat, Johann Mattheson, Pinto, Pleyel, Monn, T.A.Johnson
cd 9 ......Kuhlau, Martinez, T.A.Johnson,J.C.Smith, J.C.F.Bach,Lederer, Pasquini,Camidge, Techelmann,Grainger, Villeblanche
folktunes......ND piano settings

Ray and Nigel would like to hear from anyone interested in current British music with a view to performance: concert organisers, promoters, pianists, chamber groups and small orchestras - amateur or professional - who would like to try out our music.

I have spent many years playing early music on the piano. Often this is not the instrument for which it was written.

Music for the harpsichord, clavichord or organ often sounds poor on the piano. The reasons don't matter; you don't want a lesson on acoustics in any case. It's obvious.

I have written some notes to point out which of the pieces work on the piano, and which don't. They are a personal view but I hope they stimulate a few people to try some music which they would otherwise have ignored. For this information see the link at the top of the page....composers by country.

N.D.

Musical articles....

Making piano recordings of Scarlatti
Ornaments in early music
Piano duets: their use and abuse
20th century British music
What is a piano duet?
19th century piano music

Nigel is a pianist and composer. At the moment he is making CDs - details above....

Printed scores of Nigel's piano music are produced by Sutton Elms Publications; email address suttonelms@ukonline.co.uk
List of pieces:......pdf .....html

Inquiries about Andrew Lowe-Watson's music (fees, licensing, royalties, etc) - please contact BRENDAN DAVIS, FILM RIGHTS LTD, 80-82 REGENT ST, LONDON W1B 5A, TEL: +44 (0)20 7734 9911

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