Our music

Commissions and arrangements

There is only a very limited off-the-shelf repertoire available for the two ensembles of the Bloomsbury Music Group, as a result we now play pieces that have been arranged for us, or which we have commissioned. 

Our Music Directors collaborate with imaginative artists across the genres on a wide-ranging programme from arrangements of light music, core repertoire and works by contemporary composers. 

The Group has commissioned about twenty original works and over two hundred arrangements.

Working with 'our composer' Chris Hussey (pictured), as part of the Making Music adopt-a-composer scheme, in 2008, encouraged us to be more ambitious in commissioning arrangements and new works. In addition to his composition, he came up with an imaginative interpretation of musical themes by Bernard Herrman which he called Herrmania.

 

Original works

The Bloomsbury Music Group has commissioned and then performed the original works listed below. You can listen to to our performances of selected works - the highlighted titles have links to recordings on You Tube or SoundCloud.

• Ruth Young, The Zookeeper  (2006)
• Christopher Hussey, Twisted Skyscape (2008), Dreamtide (2013) and Child of the Wandering Sea (2018)
• Alan Bullard,  Journey Through Time (2010)
• David Morris, Frozen Toes Blues and First Flight (2011), Chromatic Abberration (2019), Latent Potential (2020), IoW Suite (2024)
• Jeffery Wilson, Postcards (2012)
• Roger Cawkwell, It's about Time (2013), Songs of the Sea (2017), Phantasmagoria (2018), Mirror Maze (2020)
• Alan Taylor, Symphony for Winds (2013)
• Shea Lolin, Lux Aeterna (2014), The Infernal Train (2020), The Chairman Dances (2022)
• Martin Ellerby, Sinfonia Aqua (2015)
• Carl Upsall, Nursery Crimes (2015)
• Keiron Anderson, woodwind orchestra version of Alice in Wonderland (2017)
• Patrick Miles, Two Polish Dances (2017)
• Philip Sparke, Slavonica! (2017)
• Kamran Ince, woodwind orchestra version of Domes (2019)
• Jenni Pinnock, Ecoutez (2020)
• Charlie Pearch, Creation Myth (2020)
• Alison Henning, Retune (2020)
• Judith Bingham Mozart's Pets (2020)

Arrangements

The Bloomsbury Music Group has commissioned arrangements from these musicians. You can listen to recordings of the Bloomsbury Band playing two arrangements in rehearsal (The Sky Boat Song and Hullabaloo) and one at a concert (Overture - William Tell).

• Daniel Basford
• Jeremy Bridle
• Adrian Budgen
• Roger Cawkwell
• Caroline Franklyn
• Ian Harrold
• Richard Hatton
• John Holland
• Gaspar Hunt
• Christopher Hussey
• Mathilde de Kerangal
• Phil Lawrence
• Andy Lightfoot
• Shea Lolin
• Graham Lyons
• Michael McGowan
• David Morris
• Mel Orris
• Stephanie Reeve
• Martin Seymour
• Phil Shotton
• Melanie Thorne  (Sempre Music)
• Carl Upsall.