In July 1990 I was staying at the conductor Norman Del Mar's house in Millook on the north coast of Cornwall, finishing my large orchestral piece The Music of Dawn. Each evening there were spectacular sunsets, and I used to go up on the cliff to paint them in watercolours.

The Music of Dawn is concerned with the sun in all its aspects, and I am sure that these paintings assisted the compositional process: the one above was painted on 15th July, and next morning I wrote the music you can see and hear, in its final orchestral form, on the website introduction page.

Recent and Forthcoming Performances

12-20/11/2011  --  Eight Duos for two violins

November 12th: Dalian Development Area Grand Theatre
November 13th: Beijing National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA)
November 14th-17th: University Masterclasses
November 18th: Guangzhou Tianhe Cultural Center
November 19th: Concert at Dongguan Donghu Theatre
November 20th: Shanghai Oriental Art Center (SHOAC)

Retorica: Harriet Mackenzie and Philippa Mo

Work details: Op.79 - Eight Duos

13/11/2011, 3pm  --  String Quartet No. 12

Kreutzer Quartet | Palladium, Malmö, Sweden (Swedish website)

Work details: Op.114 - String Quartet No.12

27/11/2011, 6pm  --  String Quartet No. 12

Kreutzer Quartet | Wilton's Music Hall

Work details: Op.114 - String Quartet No.12

09/01/2012, 7.45pm  --  Duet Variations

Part of the PLG Young Artists New Year Series.

Rosanna Ter-Berg flute | Leo Nicholson piano | Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London

Work details: Op.30 - Duet Variations

Other news

12/09/2011  --  Winter Passions CD shortlisted for a Gramophone Magazine award

David's Winter Passions recording (NMC, 2010) is among the top three shortlisted in the contemporary discs category of this year's Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The winners will be unveiled on October 6 at London's Dorchester Hotel – you can follow all the announcements as they are made on the Gramophone website.

Recording details | Gramophone rewiew

21/09/2011  --  Interview for the International Festival of Chamber Music in Kempten

Full news item details

As composer-in-residence, David was interviewed by Christine Tröger for the Kreisbote KE.

08/10/2011  --  Looking back on a busy summer at festivals

Full news item details

David's thoughts on a busy summer in which several of his works were performed at different festivals, in particular at the International Festival of Chamber Music in Kempten, Germany.

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