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Catalogue

Works for Solo Instrument

• Alone for solo oboe (1984)
  3 mins
  First performed at Burgh House in 1985 by Anne Glover
• Three Miniatures for solo clarinet (1984)
  4 mins
  First performed at St. Mary’s Bryanston Square, London in 1984 by Rodney Smith and selected for a workshop performance in the Cornelius Cardew Composition Prize in 1985
• Fiddlers’ Three for solo violin (1991, rev. 1995) The Bitter Taste - Other Places - Gavotte
  6 mins
  First performed at Burgh House in 1991 by Arijit Chakravarky
• Two Studies for Piano (1991)* Invention - Chords
  4 mins
  First performed at Leighton House in 1991 by Jeremy Carter
• The Dream for solo piano (1992)
  3 mins
  First performed at Petersfield Library in 1993 by Jeremy Carter and widely since, including recent performances in Croatia and Prague by Richard Meyrick and at the Purcell Room, London by Andrew Ball
• A Woldgate Requiem for solo organ (1993)*
  8 mins
  First performed at Kingston Parish Church in 1995 by Kevin Bowyer and subsequently at the St. Alban’s International Organ Festival. Recorded by Kevin Bowyer on a CD of contemporary organ works to be released in December 1998
  ’ ... an impassioned work, with great drive and momentum ... the highlight of the concert’ The Organ
  ’It is indeed a powerful piece ... and finely crafted. A significant contribution to the repertoire, it certainly manages to convey the composer’s ... intention most vividly.' Dr Gerald Gifford
  ’... riveting power, searing economy and total emotional commitment.' Philip Cannon
• Dance of Leilah: Dance of Lilith for piano solo (1994)
  11 mins
  First performed at St. John’s Smith Square in 1995 by Philip Mead
• Five Canons for double-manual harpsichord or organ (1997)
  8-10 mins
  First performed (at the harpsichord) by Kevin Bowyer at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford in 1998

Works for Choir

• Release for unaccompanied SATB (1981)* Words by Marguerite Wood
  6 mins
  Selected for the Essex Composers’ Forum in 1991 where it was nominated the ‘best work’ by Geoffrey Mitchell of the BBC Singers

Works for Orchestra

• Suite for junior string orchestra (1991) The Juggling Jugglers - Underwater - The Men with Beards
  5 mins
• The Jazzwoz for symphony orchestra (1993)
  12 mins
• Concerto for chamber orchestra with piano solo and string quartet concertante (1995)
  20 mins
• Offerings from the Earth People concerto in one movement for two recorders (sop., alt. and sop., alt., ten.) and string orchestra (1998)
  13 mins

Works for Recorders

• Two Responses to Silence for solo tenor recorder (1985 rev. 1998)
  3 mins
  First performed by Celia Ireland at Birkenhead 6th Form Centre in November 1998
• Four Pieces for Two Alto Recorders (1989) Sonorities - Hocket - Moto Perpetuo - Jive
  9 mins
  First performed at Kent Music School in 1989 by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman and widely since. Selected for the North East New Music series ‘The Recorder Reborn’ in 1998
  "Eclectic mix of Mediaeval, minimal and jazz elements ... Hocket, a strange yet delightful movement with fascinating rhythmic shifts ... rewarding if executed well ... interesting and attractive ... well-thought out integral harmonies and visceral rhythms." The American Recorder
  "The highlight of the programme could have been, judging by the tumultuous applause, Sonorities by Donald Bousted, its slow, slow oscillation of notes touching each other was quite something." Kent and Sussex Courier "The serene, peaceful mood was continued in ... the first of Donald Bousted’s rather minimalistic ‘Four Pieces’, entitled ‘Sonorities’. This latter work was an exploration of changing sound intervals in a static, mesmeric framework whilst the ‘Moto Perpetuo’ by contrast was a patchwork of unrelenting passagework tossed from player to player." The Recorder Magazine
  "An eclectic work in an avant-garde idiom ... able to communicate directly to the audience." Kent and Sussex Courier
• Pieces for Dorothy (Part One) for two recorders (soprano and alto) and harpsichord (1991)* In the Garden - On Hay Bluff - The Big Hallelujah
  5 mins
  First performed at Orleans House Gallery in 1991 by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman (recorders) and Yeo Yat-Soon (harpsichord)
  "poignant and uncomplicated ... inspired by Bousted’s experiences as a new parent ... accessible both rhythmically and musically ... broad, static melodies." The Recorder Magazine
  "simple and easily accessible ... pleasing sonorous ambience ... somewhere between Impressionism and minimal music." The American Recorder
• This is Hell for two alto recorders (1993)
  10 mins
  "It requires both players to have an extraordinary virtuosic command of quarter-tone fingerings ... and is - with the notable exception of Mathias Spahlinger’s Nah, Getrennt - the most demanding microtonal work extant." The American Recorder
• Three Virtuosic Pieces for two alto recorders (1995) Chanson - Line - Carol
  9 mins
  First performed at St Paul’s, Huddersfield by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman in 1996 and widely since, including two concerts in Germany in June 1996
• A Journey Among Travellers for two alto recorders (1995-6)
  25 mins
  Curve - Colours - Melody - High - Sonata - Double - Still - Descent - Racket
  Nos 1-3 first performed at St Gregory’s, Canterbury by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman in April, 1996 and subsequently at the ERTA International Symposium on Contemporary Music for Recorder in Kassel, Germany; No 5 first performed at Burgh House Hampstead by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman in September, 1996; Nos 7-9 first performed by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman at the British Music Information Centre in November 1997. First complete performance at the University of Huddersfield in May 1998 by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman and in June 1998 performed by them at the Berkeley Music Festival, California, USA. Recorded on CD single by Bennetts/Bowman in 1998.
  "Bousted has attempted to develop a new "tonality" and sound world for the instrument through a carefully worked out quarter-tone system ... All nine movements are contrasting in character ... It is a challenging work which is well structured ... This work is an excellent addition to our contemporary repertoire." The Recorder Magazine
  ’the sounds are uncanny, wild and a million miles from your expectations.' The Newsletter of the British Harry Partch Society
• Pieces for Dorothy (Part Two) for two recorders (soprano and alto) and harpsichord (1995)* Bikes - Are They Angels - Growing
  5 mins
  "complex compositional style with many changes of time and rhythm ... imaginative changes in texture and mood ... a worthwhile challenge." The Recorder Magazine
• Study in Transforming Curves for solo alto recorder (1997)
  3 mins
  Published as an extended study in The Quarter-Tone Recorder Manual (Moeck 1998) by Kathryn Bennetts, Donald Bousted and Peter Bowman First performed by Kathryn Bennetts at the ERTA (UK) Conference 1997, Little Benslow Hills, Hitchin
• The Evolution of Line for amplified solo tenor recorder (1997)
  9 mins
  Commissioned by Philippe Bolton and first performed at Musicora 97, Paris in 1997 by Philippe Renard and widely since in France and England. First broadcast on France Musique in March 1998
• Five Quarter-Tone Pieces for solo alto and tenor recorders (1997)
  16 mins
  Nos. 1 and 3 first performed by Rachel Barnes at the British Music Information Centre in 1998 "very effective." The Recorder Magazine
• Twelve Short Quarter- and Eighth-Tone Pieces for solo alto and tenor recorders (1997-8) Dialogue and Slow Ascent - Trem - Blind Mice - Static Shapes with Twiddles - An Unhealthy Obsession with Snakes - The Cave - Serial Killer - The Interval-Trickster Bird - Monograph - Eighth-Tone Riff - Vanish! - Hornpipe/Fantasy
  27 mins
  Dialogue and Slow Ascent, Trem and Vanish first performed by Philippe Renard at the Royal College of Music in September 1998.
• Three Exotic Canons for two recorders (alt., sop., ten. and alt., ten.) (1997-8)
  6 mins
• Whale Song for two renaissance recorders (alt., ten. and bass, alt.) (1998)
  8 mins

Chamber Music

• Five Pieces for String Quartet (1986) Inflow - Flux - Interlude - Chords - Elegy
  11 mins
  First performed at the British Music Information Centre in 1986 by the Goldsmith’s String Quartet and toured by the Almira String Quartet (1994-5)
• Five Songs for Jeanne La Pucelle for soprano and string quartet (1987) Mark My Words - Symbol of Love - Fille de Dieu - Symbols of Status and Power - Pray for Me Words by Marguerite Wood
  16 mins
  First performed at the Purcell Room in 1987 by Frances Lynch and the Goldsmith’s String Quartet
• Islands for flute and harp (1990)
  5 mins
  First performed at Burgh House in 1991 by Denise Dance (flute) and Fiona Clifton-Welker (harp) and widely since, including a performance by Rowland Sutherland and Hugh Webb in the Composers’ Guild of Great Britain 50th Anniversary Series "A languid tone-painting of sun-bleached scenery." The Hampstead and Highgate Express
• Two Pieces for Alto Flute and Guitar (1990) Invention - The Changing Tune
  5 mins
  First performed at Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham in 1990 by Lucinda Bunce (flute) and Donald Bousted (guitar) and subsequently broadcast on Classic FM. Also played by the Helios Duo and Nancy Ruffer and Steve Smith "Two Pieces for alto flute and guitar moved nicely. Repeated phrases ... returning to their central point

Donald Bousted is a composer with an international reputation. His music has been played throughout the UK, in America, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia and Croatia and broadcast on national radio in the UK and France. His music for recorder is published by Moeck Verlag and Composer Press Recorder Series and is recorded onto CD by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman. His organ piece A Woldgate Requiem has recently been released on a CD of new music for organ by the highly acclaimed organist Kevin Bowyer.

Donald was born in 1957 in Luton in the UK. He studied composition with Philip Cannon at the Royal College of Music and Margaret Lucy Wilkins at the University of Huddersfield. He won the Cobbett Prize for Composition at the RCM in 1981. He is a co-author of The Quarter-Tone Recorder Manual (Moeck, 1998) and is the Artistic Director of Ensemble QTR (Quarter-Tone Recorder) who have recently been described as "the UK’s most exciting microtonal ensemble" (Barbican Centre, London). Notable recent performances include A Woldgate Requiem at the St. Albans International Organ Festival; Dance of Leilah: Dance of Lilith at St. John’s Smith Square; A Journey Among Travellers at the Berkeley Music Festival, California, USA; The Evolution of Line at Musicora 97, Paris and The Dream at the Old Academy in Prague and The Purcell Room, London. Donald’s most recent commission was Tears, for the tuba quartet Tubalat

• Ensemble QTR

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