Siegfried Scores

Opening of Richard Strauss’ Til Eulenspiegel, arranged for ensemble.

One of the many joys of being a musician is meeting, playing to and talking with music-lovers in some of the most beautiful and far-flung corners of the country – places not well served with regular performances of live music. The audiences are knowledgeable and very attentive, and it is not uncommon for the after-concert festivities to roll on into the small hours of the morning with fascinating conversations, much laughter and bonhomie.

One recurring theme heard at these events is the desire to hear a wider range of music by composers such as Gustav Mahler, Ravel, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky performed live in these places and this has led me to create a project which I have called the Siegfried Scores. These are ensemble reductions of major orchestral works which I have made specifically to be performed without conductor. The name derives from the scoring that Richard Wagner employed for Siegfried Idyll (flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, two horns, trumpet, two violins, viola, ‘cello and bass), which is the scoring I have used for these arrangements – with the occasional addition of harp, piano or percussion.

“Wonderful, the first and only ever performance of a Bruckner Symphony in the Yorkshire Dales.” Bruckner Symphony No. 7

“It was an overwhelming symphonic experience despite there being only 15 musicians, and no conductor.” “This was really special, I attend lots of concerts but I rarely hear anything as powerful as this.” Mahler’s Tenth Symphony

Mahler’s Tenth Symphony, at Swaledale Festival, UK May 2019, with Esbjerg Ensemble

The current list of scores available:                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

  • Brahms                            Serenade in D
  • Bruckner                          Symphony No. 4
  • Bruckner                          Symphony No. 7  
  • Canteloube                      Chants D’Auvergne 
  • Copland                           Appalacian Spring 
  • Debussy                           Prelude à L’après-midi d’un faune 
  • Debussy                           La Mer  
  • Debussy                           Nocturnes 
  • Debussy                           Rondes de Printemps 
  • Dukas                               Sourcerer’s Apprentice
  • Mahler                             Symphony No. 4    
  • Mahler                             Symphony No. 9  
  • Mahler                             Das Lied von der Erde        
  • Mahler                             Kindertotenlieder       
  • Mahler                             Symphony No. 10  
  • Arnold Mendelssohn    Suite Op.76 (after trio for 2vlns and piano)
  • Mussorgsky                     Pictures at an Exhibition     
  • Nielsen                             Saga Drøm   
  • Prokofiev                         Andante (2nd. Movement from Vln concerto II)      
  • Prokofiev                         Peter and the Wolf
  • Prokofiev                         Romeo & Juliet (Selection)
  • Rachmaninov                  Symphonic Dances
  • Rachmaninov                  Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini 
  • Ravel                                Pavane pour en enfant defunte
  • Strauss                             Second Horn Concerto
  • Strauss                             Til Eulenspiegel
  • Stravinsky                        Firebird Suite
  • Wagner                            Siegfried Idyll