HOME :: COMPOSERS
:: MORGAN HAYES
Morgan
Hayes
[Works] ~ [Performances]
~ [STRIP: PRESS REVIEWS]
Photograph © Malcolm Crowthers,
not to be further reproduced without prior permission
Born in 1973, Morgan Hayes reflects the cultural pluralism of his
generation in his open and relaxed attitude to many kinds of musical
expression. At the same time, he has pursued a single-minded artistic
vision that has won him admirers from among the ranks of enthusiasts
for modernism as well as those of the broader musical community,
and an impressive list of performances to date, in Bulgaria, Denmark,
Germany, Holland, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and the USA, as well
as in the United Kingdom.
A composer since the age of ten, he had already confidently laid
the foundations of his own musical style by the time he won the
Guildhall School of Music & Drama's coveted Lutoslawski Prize
in 1995, following studies with Michael Finnissy, Simon Bainbridge
and Robert Saxton. From each of these teachers he had acquired distinctive
skills. Yet it is arguable that the essential decorum of his music
- its innate sense of rhythmic poise and melodic profile - is already
present in youthful essays such as Only Jesting for piano
(1991) or Snapshots (1994). Intensified through refinement
of detail and of structure, it blossomed in his first widely acknowledged
scores for ensemble, Mirage (1995) and Viscid (1996),
the former evoking through an idiosyncratic blending of microtonality
and exuberant rhythmical prose the harshly bright landscape of Israel,
the latter a condition of matter graphically portrayed in musical
terms likewise uniquely the composer's own.
Since then, in a series of ambitious pieces composed for many of
Britain's leading new-music ensembles, Hayes has shaped and extended
his musical vision to encompass a diversity of forms and expressive
modes within a highly original musical language. For the glutinous
aspect of Viscid, Shellac (1997) for piano and orchestra,
substituted brightness and verve, echoes of which may be heard in
the raw vibrations of Slippage, one of four remarkable pieces
composed and premiered in 1999. Though separately conceived, together
they amount to a summative statement of Hayes's still-developing
language: languidly floating in Alluvial, with dominant timbres
of piccolo and E flat clarinet; unstable and explosive in Divided
Nettings; and light and luminous with a streak of obsessive
insistency in Buoy. Add to these the blend of unusual colours
in Trio (2000) for piano, violin and bass clarinet, and the
intriguing mixed double of contrabassoon and mandolin with strings
in Balustrades (2001), plus the exuberant textual exchanges
of two works for flexible orchestration premiered in 2000, Boaz
and Dislocated Chorales, and the picture emerges of a
composer whose breadth of imagination is a continuing source of
fascination and musical discovery.
An accomplished pianist, Hayes has also composed an impressive
oeuvre of solo music that brilliantly exploits the instrument's
potential as catalyst and confessional in both intimate and virtuoso
manner. Outstanding contemporary soloists including Andrew Ball,
Stephen Gutman, Rolf Hind, Sarah Nicolls, Ian Pace and Jonathan
Powell have each identified with facets of its wit, humour, nostalgia
and playful energy, qualities also richly present in the piano parts
of two vocal works, No Glints in It (2000) written for soprano
Loré Lixenberg, and My Compass (2001), for soprano
Sarah Leonard. An admirer of the quixotic artistry of Glenn Gould,
not least his recording of the Goldberg Variations, Hayes
in several keyboard works has turned to the music of Bach and that
of other baroque masters including Rameau (in Le Lardon)
and Purcell (in Weaving) as source-material for creative
fission. This impulse for exchange and interchange with a strongly
contrasting musical presence relates, in turn, to Hayes's fascination
with the art of keyboard improvisation, and its extension to the
applied musics of stage, dance and film.
As 2001-2002 Leverhulme Composer-in-Residence at the Purcell School,
Hayes's major achievement was the 'Tatewalks' project, based on
Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and involving young
composers in collaboration with the distinguished photographer Malcolm
Crowthers and with the London Sinfonietta, who featured the work
in the 2002 'State of the Nation' festival. In a continuing engagement
with the visual arts, Hayes also provided music for the exhibition
Jacqueline Morreau: Reflections on Water Music at the Morley
Gallery in summer 2003 and further extended his range of reference
with an iridescent transcription of Squarepusher's Port Rhombus
for the South Bank Centre's 'Ether Festival' in March of that year.
Meanwhile, the successful premieres and recordings of the clarinet
concerto Dark Room by Mark van de Wiel and the London Sinfonietta
at the 2003 Bath Festival, and the violin-and-piano duo Opera,
inspired by Italian director Dario Argento's giallo classic
Macbeth and written for Darragh Morgan (http://www.darraghmorgan.com/main.html)
and Mary Dullea, signalled a new phase in the composer's creative
development. Lute Stop for solo piano was premiered by Sarah
Nicolls in December 2003 as part of the BMIC's 'Cutting Edge' season,
and in August 2005, at the BBC Promenade Concerts, the composer's
debut orchestral work Strip, played by the BBC Symphony
Orchestra, conductor Jeseph Swensen, was heard for the first time.
More recently, Japanese soloist Keisuke Okazaki and the Birmingham
Contemporary Music Group gave the first performance of Hayes's Violin
Concerto in May 2006, and Senedd Sound, specially written
for outdoor performance at Richard Rogers' new Welsh Assembly building
in Cardiff, was premiered last September as the focus of the 2006
'Urban Legacies' conference.
This year has seen the successful premiere of the composer's debut
work for string orchestra, Futurist Manifesto, commissioned by the
Munich Chamber Orchestra and premiered in June 2007. The same month
also saw the first performance of a Spitalfields Festival commission,
Original Version, making bold use of the unique performance space
of Christ Church, Spitalfields, with the Endymion Ensemble conducted
by Richard Baker.
© 2007 Stainer & Bell Ltd
|
Works
These titles can be ordered in our online
shop, or, in the case of rental works, through our Hire
Library. The items with [PDF] after them are links to free sample
pages in the Adobe Actobat format.
Solo Piano
Birthday Capriccio 2001 [1'30''] (Ref. AC191) [PDF]
Conway Hall 1998 [1'30''] (Ref. AC165) [PDF]
Five Distressed Surfaces 1998 [15'30''] (Ref. H407)
Chipped Marble [4'], Flaking Yellow Stucco [2'], Corrugated [2'],
Weaving [5'], Only Jesting [2'30'']
Le Lardon (Variations on a theme by Rameau) 1999 [2'] (Ref.
AC173) [PDF]
Lute Stop 2003 [6'] (Ref. Y215) [PDF]
| This
is a big and difficult recital work, inspired by the playing
of Gould and Weissenberg and commissioned by the outstanding
Sarah Nicolls (for whom these challenges seem to be nothing!).
It's clever, brittle, avant-garde and user-friendly... |
|
John York, Piano,
November/December 2004 |
Puppet Theatre 1999 [6'] (Ref. AC174) [PDF]
Strides Book 1. Three pieces for solo piano. 2006 (Ref. Y229)
[PDF]
Strides Book 2. Four pieces for solo piano. 2007 [5'] (Ref.
Y236) In preparation
Wigmore Hall 2001 [1'30''] (Ref. Y190) [PDF]
Vocal
Citizen Vain 2000 [3'] (Ref. AC178) [PDF]
male voices and piano duet
Handbag 2000, rev. 2001 [3'] (Ref. Y186) [PDF]
for soprano, clarinet, bass clarinet, viola, cello and double bass
My Compass 2001 [3'30''] (Ref. Y188) [PDF]
soprano and piano
No Glints in It 2000 [9'] (Ref. AC185) [PDF]
Song Cycle for voice and piano
Choral Works
Japanese Sweet 2006 (Traditional Japanese) [2'] (Ref. Y235) [PDF]
unison voices, hand-held percussion and piano
Solo Instrument
Lucky's Speech 2006 [3'] (Ref. Y237) [PDF]
solo violin
Totem 1991 [1'30''] (Ref. Y214) [PDF]
solo clarinet
Chamber Works
Alluvial 1999 [6'] (Rental Ref. HL341)
alto flute (doubling piccolo), E flat clarinet (doubling
bass clarinet), percussion, piano, violin, 'cello & bass
Balustrades 2001 [7'] (Rental Ref. HL351)
contrabassoon, mandolin and string quintet
Boaz 2000 (Ref. Y187) [PDF] [MP3 Clip]
for flexible instrumental ensemble
Buoy 1999 [5'] (Rental Ref. HL334)
flute (doubling piccolo & alto flute), clarinet (doubling
bass clarinet), piano, viola & 'cello
Dark Room 2003 [13'] (Rental Ref. HL356) [MP3 Clip]
solo clarinet and large ensemble
| The
sensuality … was supplied by music by other composers, most
notably Morgan Hayes's Dark Room - a sexy, very operatic
clarinet concerto. |
| Tim Ashley, The
Guardian, 16 February 2004 |
| …
Morgan Hayes's teeming but also convincingly evolving Dark
Room for clarinet and ensemble. |
| Keith Potter,
The Independent, 20 February 2004 |
| Morgan
Hayes's Dark Room, formally a short clarinet concerto,
was a luscious wash of decaying and emerging patterns, inspired
by the crumbling mansions of Tangier and the hardening images
of developing photographs. |
| H. E. Elsom,
ConcertoNet.com, February 2004 |
Dislocated Chorales 2000 [11'] (Ref. Y180) [PDF]
for 8 groups of instruments
Divided Nettings 1999 [6'] (Rental Ref. HL336)
flute, oboe, B flat clarinet (doubling bass clarinet),
bassoon, horn, harp, 2 violins, viola & 'cello
| Of
the four short pieces heard at the start of the mainly British
programme, I especially admired Morgan Hayes' very intense Divided
Nettings. |
| Keith Potter,
The Independent, 5/7/1999 |
Mirage 1995 [10'] (Rental Ref. HL316)
oboe (doubling cor anglais), soprano B flat saxophone,
2 tenor trombones, percussion (2), piano, violin, viola, 'cello
& bass
Opera 2003 [7'] (Ref. H448) [PDF] [MP3 Clip]
violin and piano
Recorded by Darragh Morgan and Mary Dullea on NMC
Original Version 2007 [12'] (Rental Ref. HL383)
[PDF Vn Duo] [PDF
Ens 1] [PDF
Ens 2]
Two ensembles and violin duo
Ensemble 1: oboe, bass clarinet, trumpet in C, viola
Ensemble 2: flute, alto flute, bass trombone, percussion, piano,
cello
Port Rhombus 2003 [4'] (Rental Ref. HL371)
piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet, conta bassoon, horn, trumpet,
trombone, percussion (1), piano/celeste, 2 violins, viola, 'cello
& bass
| Morgan
Hayes captured an elegiac melancholy in his transformation of
Squarepusher's Port Rhombus. |
| Tom Service,
The Guardian, 10 March 2003 |
| I
very much enjoyed Morgan Hayes's iridescent transcription of
Squarepusher's Port Rhombus. |
| Paul Driver,
The Sunday Times, 16 March 2003 |
Senedd Sound 2006 [12'] (Rental Ref. HL384) [PDF]
piccolo, clarinet in E flat, bass clarinet, horn, trumpet in C,
trombone, percussion (2)
Shellac 1997 [13'] (Rental Ref. HL319) [PDF]
solo piano, flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling cor
anglais), B flat clarinet (doubling A, E flat & bass clarinets),
bassoon (doubling contra bassoon), 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, percussion
(2), harp, celeste, 2 violins, viola, 'cello & bass
| The
densely packed textures of Shellac, a 13-minute movement
for piano and large ensemble by 24-year-old Morgan Hayes - it
was premiered by the Athelas Sinfonietta, Copenhagen under Giordano
Bellincampi in the booming Church of Our most Holy Redeemer,
EC1, as part of the European Discoveries festival - must be
just as tricky, though the burden of notes certainly falls on
the soloist. He - the ultra-deft Ian
Pace standing in for Rolf Hind - has big solos to open and
close the piece and near the end, each of a complexity bringing
Hayes's teacher Michael Finnissy to mind yet in a "languid"
stretch of two-part writing also suggesting the rubato ease
of a Chopin or Fauré. An engagingly classical use of
repeat marks further qualifies the impression of modernist toughness
and tautness made by this highly promising score. |
|
Paul Driver, The
Sunday Times, 23/11/97 |
Slippage 1999 [7'] (Rental Ref. HL333) [PDF]
flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, & Str(s) violin, viola, 'cello
& bass
| There is much more
[than deft scoring] to a piece such as Slippage by Morgan
Hayes - a microtonal, complexly rhythmic octet in which an eruptive
piano solo slips out of the 'geological' layers in which it
had been embedded... His idiom with its skewed interplay of
lines evokes that of his teacher Michael Finnissy but only as
a background against which a new harmonic sweetness and approach
to form define themselves. |
| Paul Driver,
The Sunday Times, 18/4/1999 |
Snapshots 1994 [5'] (Ref. Y141) [PDF]
flute, clarinet, violin, cello & piano
Three Buoys 2002 [7'] (Ref. Y198) [PDF]
violin, viola & piano
Trio 2000 [8'] (Ref. AC177) [PDF]
piano, violin & bass clarinet
Viscid 1996, rev. 1997 [10'] (Rental Ref. HL318) [PDF]
flute (doubling piccolo & alto flute), oboe (doubling cor anglais),
A clarinet (doubling E flat & bass clarinets), bassoon (doubling
contra bassoon), horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion (2), piano
(doubling celesta), 2 violins, viola, 'cello & bass
| ... the music had
been powerfully imagined, with glamorous sounds, big gestures,
and a suggestion of Birtwistle reheard through a glass darkly.
For me this was the evening's real discovery, not so much for
what it was as for what it promised. |
| Michael White,
The Independent on Sunday, 12/1/1997 |
| Hayes is still just
23, but in his Viscid he already exhibits a remarkably
accomplished grasp of technique and an original ear for content.
Played with full commitment by the Brunel players, this sinuous
work created a fascinating musical representation of its title,
full of note-bending and microtones of youthful vitality. |
Matthew Rye, The
Daily Telegraph, 11/1/1997
|
| The single movement
... is a poetic flow of often quarter-tonal melodic ideas, thickening
and thinning, underpinned by more solid harmony, inflected by
prepared piano and tuned percussion, and coming to a sudden,
but satisfying, halt. |
| Paul Driver,
The Sunday Times, 12/1/1997 |
| The new work was Viscid
... a great title and a promising piece, unfolding tangled skeins
of melody over dark block chords. |
Andrew Clements,
The Guardian, 7/1/1997
|
String Orchestra
Futurist Manifesto 2007 [10'] (Rental Ref. HL382) [PDF]
String orchestra (minimum 6.5.4.3.1. players)
| Morgan Hayes employs monumental accents
in his "Futurist Manifesto," creating muffled, bizarre
sounds, which transport the listener into a hall filled with
machines. |
Dorothea Husslein,
Münchener Merkur, 14 June, 2007
|
Orchestral Works
Strip 2005 [c.12'] (Rental Ref. HL374) [PDF] [PRESS
REVIEWS]
2 flutes (both doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A (both
doubling clarinet in E flat), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns
in F, 2 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion (3), Harp,
Piano, Cimbalom, Harmonium, Str(s) 14.12.10.8.6 minimum
Violin Concerto 2006 [16'] (Rental Ref. HL378) [PDF]
flute (doubling piccolo), cor anglais, clarinet (doubling E flat
clarinet and bass clarinet), bassoon (doubling double bassoon),
horn in F, trumpet in C, trombone, percussion (1), harp, piano &
strings |
Discography
Dark Room
London Sinfonietta. Martyn Brabbins (cond)
"The Jerwood Series 2"
Label: London Sinfonietta Label. Catalogue Reference SINF CD2-2006
http://www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk/recordings/shop/shop_saleslist.cfm
[MP3 Clip]
Buoy
Composers Ensemble Peter Wiegold (cond)
"The Hoxton 13"
Label: NMC. Catalogue Reference NMC D076
[MP3 Clip]
Opera
Darragh Morgan (http://www.darraghmorgan.com/main.html)
(violin), Mary Dullea (piano)
"Opera"
Label: NMC. Catalogue Reference NMC D108
[MP3 Clip]
| '....and a sinister-comic
fascination in Morgan Hayes' Opera,which is much the best piece
on the CD ' |
|
Ivan Hewitt. BBC Music
Magazine, August 2006
|
| '.....violin and piano dart
in and out of each other 's patterns like children on speed playing
hopscotch.it makes an exhilirating conclusion to the disc' |
|
Peter Quantrill. The Strad,
July 2006
|
| Perhaps the other two most
impressive pieces [besides the Powell and Harrison] are Joseph Phibbs's
early Fantasia and the Morgan Hayes composition, Opera, from
which the anthology takes its title. That title comes in turn from
a film by Dario Argento, and much that Hayes has to say about the
movie'sophisticated melodrama...stylised violence...prowling
camerawork...heightened awareness'applies to his music. The
piece has its own vein of melody, moving through unisons in which
the instruments shadow one another ('prowling camerawork') and more
fully lit passages. |
|
Paul Griffiths. Words
and Music (April 2006)
|
Recent and Forthcoming Performances
Opera
13 November 2007. 9pm. Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Germany
Strides 1
Renée Reznek
27 November 2007. 1.15pm. Oxford University Church (Oriel Music Society)
Strides 2
Jonathan Powell
28 November 2007. Fountain House, Akhmatova Museum, St. Petersburg
Strides 1
Le Lardon
Stephen Gutman
7 December 2007. Belgrade City Hall, Serbia
Opera
Pippa Jarvis (violin), Corey Silberstein (piano)
3 February 2008. Brown Hall, New England Conservatory,USA
Snapshots
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. (BCMG Snapshots Tour)
16 February 2008. 8.00pm. Turner Sims Concert Hall - Southampton
17 February 2008. 7.30pm. The Great Hall - Dartington
20 February 2008. 7.30pm. Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall - York
22 February 2008. 8.00pm. The Sage Gateshead
23 February 2008. 7.30pm. Concord College, Acton Burnell - Shrewsbury
Strides 1
Le Lardon
Stephen Gutman
14 March 2008. Artrix, Bromsgrove
Lucky's Speech
New Work
Keisuke Okazaki (violin)
22 April 2008. Tokyo Opera City Hall, Japan
For further information
about Morgan Hayes and his works,
please e-mail Caroline Holloway caroline@stainer.co.uk |
|