More about the award-winning scores and their composers
First prize: Van Assendelft’s Vermeer by Gary Carpenter, who prefaced his score with a quotation from Essential Vermeer - The life and work of the 17th c. Dutch master Johannes Vermeer by Jonathan Janson (http://www.essentialvermeer.20m.com/index.html):
In the 1711 inventory of Nicholas van Assendelft’s widow’s property, A damsel playing on the Clavichord by Vermeer was appraised at forty guilders. The description of the painting in Van Assendelft‘s collection could fit either Woman Seated at a Spinet or Woman Standing at a Spinet, both in the National Gallery, London. It cannot be determined if Van Assendelft acquired the painting from Vermeer himself. On the other hand, Vermeer may also have painted yet another ... which no longer exists.
The composer’s notes for the performer indicate two levels of accent showing which notes/phrases should be played in relief, although dynamics are generally left to the player’s discretion. Gary Carpenter adds that ‘The written duration of some of the sustained notes may seem over-optimistic, but their "disappearing-into-nothingness" is an important part of the piece's fabric.’ The piece is timed at approximately 4 minutes, and there are four movements: (I) Allegretto; (II) Con amore; (III) Lento ma scherzando (strict tempo); (IV) Vivace.
To buy a signed copy of the winning score, click here.
Biography: Gary Carpenter studied composition under John Lambert at the Royal College of Music, London. He has lived in Holland and Germany and has written three operas (with Ian Barnett), five musicals, and a radio music drama - The One Alone - with Dame Iris Murdoch, one 10-minute opera buffa - Doggone - with Simon Nicholson [Tête À Tête Opera Company ‘Shorts’: UK tour 2001], animated and live action film scores, several ballets and a large amount of concert music for, amongst others, Nederlands Dans Theater, Vera Neubauer, the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Concert and Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestras, Gerald MacChrystal, Joanna MacGregor, Ensemble 10:10 and the Haffner Ensemble. He is active as a lecturer (Royal Northern College of Music [Manchester], and Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts), as musical director and as a pianist. He was musical director and arranger on the film The Wicker Man. He arranged much of the orchestral music for Schlöndorff’s film Voyager (Homo Faber) with Sam Shephard, orchestrated the title track from Lesley Garrett’s CD I Will Wait For You, Damon Albarn’s music for the films Ravenous and Ordinary Decent Criminal and the lion’s share of Simon Callow’s West End/Toronto production of The Pajama Game. His discography includes:
as conductor: The Orchestral Music of Billy Mayerl
as arranger and keyboard player: John Harle’s Silencium
as producer: Havergal Brian’s 17th and 32nd Symphonies
as pianist: Crossing The Border with the Steve Martland Band
as arranger: 3 Cole Porter Songs for Joanna MacGregor; Ravenous - soundtrack album
as composer: Saxophone Sonata (Simon Haram - On Fire); Une Semaine De Bonté (Quartz Saxophone Quartet - Faces); The Lamplighter (Vacation Chamber Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir, etc. - Xenophon Kelsey); Secret Love Songs (Bones Apart Trombone Quartet - Summit CDs, release 2005).
His Proms commission Scry - Preludes, Interludes, Finale was premiered in July 2000. Dr Garfield Snixon’s Flea Circus for Liverpool Phil Youth Choir and Ensemble 10/10 was premiered at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, in December 2000. His Horn Concerto (BBC Philharmonic/Steven Stirling) receives its first performance in April 2005 in Manchester. His most recent theatre work, Greyzone - a dance piece with Christina Comtesse (choreographer) for Graz Opera, Austria - was premiered in March 2002. His recent trombone quartet, Secret Love Songs, has been performed all over the world by its commissioners, Bones Apart. He has received awards and prizes in Vienna, London, Monaco and Manchester.
More details of Gary Carpenter and his other compositions are available on his website.
Second prize: The Little Suite for Clavichord by Philippe Emmanuel Forget, which has four movements: (I) Orlando’s Fury, marked ‘Barbaro’; (II) Phoebe’s Tango; (III) Frog’s Intermezzo; (IV) Waltzing M....
Biography: Philippe Forget was born in 1970 in the Paris area but has lived in Burgundy since his adolescence. He studied bassoon and choral and orchestral conducting, and began his career as teacher and conductor. The Studio of the Opéra-Bastille performed his first set of pieces for voice and piano, De Lumière et d’Eau, in 1998; for this self-taught composer, this marked the start of an intense period of creative activity. In 2000 he won second prize in the Composer of the Year Competition at the Ramsgate Spring Festival. At the invitation of the Association Pour Que l’Esprit Vive, he was composer in residence from 2001 to 2002 at the Abbaye de La Prée, where he made a number of significant artistic contacts, cooperating in particular on several projects with the painter Etienne Yver. His fondness for vocal writing, and for the world of poetry has led him to compose a large number of works for voice. These include Rime - sonnets and verses by Michelangelo (2000), Le Livre Ouvert, a cantata after Paul Eluard (2000), a Magnificat for triple choir and orchestra, based on extracts from Dante (2001), and Les Erreurs Amoureuses, on poems by Pontus de Tyard (2002). His instrumental works include several chamber music compositions for the cello, whose dynamic and expressive capacity particularly attracts him. These include the Suite No. 1 (2000), the Vents d’Yver (2003) for two cellos, and the Suite No. 2 for cello and speaker (2004). In collaboration with the Belgian poet Henry Bauchau and the choreographer Viktor Pêche, Philippe is composing his first opera, Diotime et les Lions, due for completion in 2005. The music of Philippe Forget is performed both in France (Festival Cathédrale en Mai, Rencontres Musicales de l’Abbaye de La Prée, Saison musicale de Cantus Formus, Radio-France etc.) and abroad (New York, the UK, Lebanon etc.) thanks to such artists as G. Le Roi, B. Marcus, V. Chevillard, D. Carvalho, A. Vestermann, M. Hadjimarkos, Ch. P. Lamarca, G. Toutain, I. Lequien, C. Forin, and the Ensemble Cybèle.
Philippe Forget can be contacted via the BCS: please write to or e-mail Paula Woods (BCS), 137 White Friars Lane, St Judes, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 9RA.
Third prize: Admiring Yoro Waterfall by Graham Lynch is prefaced by this note from the composer: ‘Admiring Yoro Waterfall (dur. 4 minutes) takes its title from a woodblock print by Hokusai. The music begins by sketching in aspects of the surrounding landscape within the print - rocks, bushes, and a small bridge. As the piece progresses, the sounds and textures of the waterfall gradually break through into perception, until they dominate the music, before fading away again, into silence, at the end.’
To buy a signed copy of the score, click here.
Biography: Graham Lynch was born in London and studied at Bath Spa University College and King’s College London. His teachers have included David Lumsdaine and Oliver Knussen.
Graham has had pieces played and broadcast throughout Europe, America, and the Far East, including performances at many festivals. Performers of his music include the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Hilliard Ensemble, Opera North, the Bingham String Quartet, the Chamber Group of Scotland, and Onyx Brass. His harpsichord music has been performed by players such as Sophie Yates, Jane Chapman, and Jory Vinikour. Alongside his classical composing Graham also writes for tango groups in Europe and the States.
Graham Lynch can be contacted via the BCS: please write to or e-mail Paula Woods (BCS), 137 White Friars Lane, St Judes, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 9RA.
Fourth prize: Clavicle by Julia Usher, who writes: ‘This is a touch-piece for clavichord. I was particularly intrigued by the possibilities and effects of shared fretting; and to get the full effect of the piece, the Clavichord should have shared strings for at least some of the notes. It is possible however to perform the piece on a modern clavichord with single courses; using echo effects, and varying the attack on the ‘colouring’ notes. I have included a performance glossary to explain these and other effects. I have also enjoyed exploring various tactile ornaments, including rapid tremoli on one note, flickering chords and quasi-glissandi.
‘The title of the piece, Clavicle, comes from a love-ditty invented by a character in a novel by Ian McEwan: "I’ll play upon your clavicle". The phrase seemed to me to capture the intense and direct physical sensations which are such a key part of playing the Clavichord. I think of the resonating feel in the fingers that you experience if you "drum" your fingers on your collarbone, or clavicle; there is something of the same resonant exploration required in the playing of this piece.’
The special effects are: (A) ‘Double fret effect: lower note of fretted pair is held longer than the upper. Effect is like a non-fingered appogiatura. Sometimes you have to adapt your fingering to achieve the effect.’ (B) Harmonic: because the upper note of a fretted pair is held, the lower note sounds the same pitch, but as a harmonic. (C) Retake chord: Immediately retake the chord as an echo. You could combine this effect by starting with a gliss or fingered run, and pick up the notes sounded on the way, as a chosen chord. (D) Tremolo. Turn hand sideways and use 2 fingers sideways on single key for rapidity. (E) Keyed harmonic. Upper note of fretted pair held: lower note pressed. (F) Flickering Iterations of chords, or intervals (i.e. 6ths): not a tremolo or trill but a light random rhythm repetition.’
Biography: Julia Usher is a professional composer, project animateur and music therapist. She has extensive experience in contemporary composition and performance projects. She enjoys working in collaboration with other artists, organizing natural sounds into music, and combining music with other media: painting, poetry, and drama. She has written a number of music theatre pieces; and worked closely with a painter in a live painting/music installation. She is currently working to provide music for the George F. Watts Centenary Exhibition at the Watts Gallery, Compton, to celebrate the anniversary of the Symbolist painter’s death.
While a student in Cambridge she came upon a clavichord, and wrote a short Touch-Piece to explore its sonorities. In 1978 she continued to experiment with using early instruments in a contemporary setting by including a harpsichord and crumhorn in the extended solo theatre piece Sacred Physic, based on Shakespeare’s Pericles. This work was recorded by Lesley Jane Rogers and John Turner on a CD retrospective of Julia Usher’s works, released by Metier Records in 2003, with five of her other major compositions.
The present clavichord work, Clavicle, came about through a friendship with the harpsichordist and clavichord player Ruby Reid Thompson, whom Julia met when she moved to Colchester in 1999. Through Ruby, Julia was asked to provide a fanfare for the Senate House celebration of 50 years of degrees for Cambridge women in 1998. Subsequently, Ruby commissioned Julia to compose an extended work for clavichord, and lent Julia a portable instrument with double frets. ‘It was very fascinating to explore this instrument on my own desktop, and to try and devise sounds, themes and structures which would accentuate the unique characteristics of this subtle and delicate instrument - while making the piece sufficiently sonorous to carry in performance. Ruby is currently working in Chile, the country of her birth, and is unable to play the work, which I am nevertheless delighted to have brought to life for the Society.’
More details of Julia Usher’s work are available on her website.
Fifth prize: Pages from Homer by Geoffrey Allan Taylor is prefaced by this note: ‘The inspiring tales of Homer were the starting point for the music: the backdrop of the Trojan wars having their resonances with our own violent times, the conflicts of mortals with the forces of destiny. The music doesn’t directly seek to illustrate any particular incidents, although the return to Ithaca and the adventurous digressions and frustrations of the wandering Odysseus gave rise to the form of the piece, variations in search of a theme. The performer is encouraged imaginative freedom, so a choice from the pages 2 to 9 may be played as written and presented, or in a different order. Without pages 8 and 9, which were later additions, it lasts about 8 minutes. The first and last pages, exposition and resolution, should remain put. As in the works of the Early English Elizabethan composers with their cumulative repeatable variations, each page may be repeated if desired, so the duration is determined by which pages are read or repeated. It was the practice of the ancient poets to build up their structures by additions, repetitions, accumulations and new juxtapositions from known references. Ideas and sketches for a work with such a title go back over twenty years before their realization in this clavichord piece, which was written for a five-octave clavichord during January and February 2004.’
Biography: Geoffrey Allan Taylor was born in Stony Stratford and is well known in North Buckinghamshire as composer, pianist and teacher. He first trained as an artist in Northampton and Portsmouth, and then as a musician at the Guildhall School of Music in London after qualifying as a teacher (Birmingham University). Much of his time now is spent in composing. He has written and conducted works for local school music festivals, orchestras, vocal and chamber music groups and much for the keyboard: Belfry for two keyboards and Dreamscape for piano duet, which was premiered at the Buckingham Summer Festival in 1998. In December 1999 the Buckingham Choral Society gave the first performance of A Vision: look well to this day, which was their special Millennium commission. In summer 2004 they performed the follow-up work, Psalm 121. Geoffrey has been their pianist since May 1994 and is in regular demand for concerts and festivals, recently performing Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor at one of their concerts. In March 2000 members of the Britten Sinfonia performed Ground in Chelmsford, and in May 2002 his orchestral work Atoll was performed by the Orchestra of Opera North in York.
He enjoys the fruitful interaction of the arts and is a keen gardener. His interest in the clavichord goes back to the year 1981, when he purchased a five-octave Dolmetsch clavichord to explore the works of Byrd and Bach and many other composers each morning before breakfast. Since then it has become a habit and an abiding joy.
Geoffrey Allan Taylor can be contacted via the BCS: please write to or e-mail Paula Woods (BCS), 137 White Friars Lane, St Judes, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 9RA.
[Return to BCS Awards for Clavichord Composition]
[Return to BCS home page]