Dorset composer - Rick Birley
  • HOME [and contact form]
    • Rick Birley biography
  • Compositions [Orchestral works]
    • Symphony ["little bird"]
    • Bishops & Clerks
    • Latin Primer
    • Maverick
    • Christmas Exultation
    • Chamber Symphony in Five Movements
    • Variations on a Plainsong
    • Movement for String Orchestra "magnas inter opes inops"
    • A Little English Folksong Suite/ The Ploughboy
    • English Folksong Suite No.2
    • Chansons de France
    • Marat/Sade Suite >
      • Marat/Sade notes
    • Hebrew Songs of Love, Faith & Survival
    • Call to Remembrance - a meditation on The Last Post
    • Sar-planina - a Macedonian folksong
    • Nursery Rhymes Kaleidoscope
    • Spanish Folksongs
    • Olympian Glories
    • Piano Concerto
    • the Cuckoo - 'cello & chamber orchestra
    • A Dorset Rhapsody
    • Eight Orchestral Studies
    • Romney Facets
    • Lord of the Dance
    • Sea Song
    • Greensleeves
    • Blaydon Races
  • Compositions [Choral]
    • Compositions [choral/orch] - SACRED >
      • Advent Carol Succession >
        • Advent Carol Succession notes
      • Songs of Time
    • Compositions [Choral/Orch] - SECULAR >
      • Fern Hill
      • Universal Truth
      • The Jackdaw of Rheims
      • Nine Welsh Folksong Arrangements
    • Compositions [Choral a capella SACRED] >
      • Three Motets
      • Carol: I Sing of a Maiden
      • Gaudete, gaudete!
    • Compositions [Choral a capella SECULAR] >
      • Three Hardy Settings for unaccompanied choir
      • The Cuckoo
      • Dance to your Daddy
      • Drill, Ye Terriers, Drill
      • The Willow Song
      • In Vernali Tempore
      • My Love in her Attire
  • Compositions [Vocal]
    • Compositions [Vocal] SECULAR >
      • Edges
      • Seven Folksong Ballads
      • Hardy Songs
    • Compositions [vocal] SACRED >
      • The Virgin's Song
  • Compositions [chamber/instrumental]
    • Austerity
    • Your Presence [piano/violin]
    • Quintet "magnas inter opes inops"
    • Five Folksong Arrangements (for the Crucible)
    • Latin Primer [Septet]
    • Latin Primer [violin/piano]
    • Past Tense
    • in memoriam G B
    • Variations on a Plainsong - piano transcription
    • Variations on a Plainsong - original version for solo clarinet
    • March Wind
    • Preludes [piano]
    • Carol Preludes [piano]
    • Marat/Sade Suite [2-piano transcription]
    • Piano Sonata
    • Folksong Dance Suite for Cello & Piano
    • Dance to Your Daddy
    • Salutation Carol Prelude [piano]
    • Grazioso (guitar solo)
    • Dorset Suite (guitar duo)
    • Drink Old England Dry: a Folksong Frolic for Busy Fingers
    • Sonatina for Violin & Piano [1979]
    • Donegal - a choral fantasy transcribed for piano
    • The Phoenix
  • Compositions [jazz/light]
    • Funked-up Bach
    • Basement Jazz
    • Too Darn Hot
  • A Dorset Affair
  • Compositions [Pastiche]
    • La Ronde
    • Zartom: Symphony
    • Hornby: Exultate Jubilate
  • The case for a National Rehearsal Orchestra for New Music
  • ARTWORK
    • Rogues gallery....
    • Pembrokeshire scenes i
    • Pembrokeshire scenes ii
    • Durham 'prints'
    • Picture Dorchester....
    • Italy October 2010
    • Paris
    • Prague
    • Miscellaneous
  • Poems
    • We English - a historical rhyme
  • Rick Birley Blog
  • Miscellaneous
    • Maverick
    • Hobie Adventure Island >
      • Maiden Voyage 12.iii.11
  • Compositions [Miscellaneous]
    • Music Hall for Westfield
    • May 24th 2014 Orchestral Concert
Picture
In the Albert Hall 2016


Picture


Welcome to the website for Rick Birley

On this site is posted a selection of compositions, pictures [paintings & drawings] and poems by Rick Birley


If you would like to contact me, to comment, to ask a question, or whatever, then please feel free to fill out the form below. I will endeavour to reply promptly.
​ 


- click on whichever page you want to go to. Many of these pages have sub-menus. 
- press the F11 key for a full-screen view, and "control +" or "control -" for zoom control. As this site is a wide site you need to zoom down to 75% to get the full page.
- use the "Page Up/ Page Down" keys to navigate quickly up & down a page
- pressing the "home" key will return you instantly to the top of the page (and therefore to the menu)
- if you are playing a piece of music, this will cut out when you leave the page. If you wish to listen to an audio-file on one page whilst visiting another page, just open the other page in a new tab [right clicking gives you this option]
- for most of the pictures, a single click (on the image itself) will present either a full-screen image (this certainly works well for some of the 'landscape' orientated pictures) or at the very least a better view - the background becomes dark.


NB In order to get the maximum quality of sound it is best to use a good pair of headphones when listening to the sound files on this website




On this site I post some of my music, a few pictures and the occasional poem. The music is for the most part played using 'artificial' sounds, that is 'played' using a sample library - in the case of most of the compositions posted here I use is EastWest sound library , which I find gives a more realistic effect than anything I have so far encountered. 
 

Where a good live recording is made, I will of course use that, but the vast majority of my work is unperformed. I love writing for orchestra, so despite only rarely hearing any of it played, I continue to compose symphonic music.

There are a few live recordings here too - I am indebted to those who have taken the trouble to perform my music over the years. To these people I offer my thanks.

In the absence for the most part of any live performances, I have created this website to be my own 'virtual' concert hall, my gallery and my publication pages: welcome as audience! 



    If you would like to contact me, to comment, to ask a question, or whatever, then please feel free to fill out this form. I will endevour to reply promptly.


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(c) 2017 Rick Birley