AN EVENING OF POETRY & SONG

Tickets have just gone on sale for a concert in one of my brother Andrew Hawes' churches in Swinstead, Lincolnshire.  I'll be on the piano with upcoming soprano soloist Elizabeth Adams and poetry read by Andrew. 

We'll be performing some of own song collaborations as well as the works of other English authors and composers from a variety of periods. 

A beautiful evening of music in a beautiful rural setting!

Box Office now open.  Click here for tickets and more details.

FINAL ALEX JAMES RECORDING SESSION

I've just finished the last recording session with Alex James (Blur) for the Sony ATV 'Juice' label and it's sounding amazing!

We recorded the strings section a month or so ago with Alex but we've just finished off a few bits to complete the set.  CLICK HERE to see great behind the scenes footage posted by the English Session Orchestra from the strings recording session.  The video is the strings section recording my new arrangement of Praeludium from Grieg's Holberg Suite - amazing!  Alex James is in the foreground (back to camera) and we're recording in his barn.

BBC INTERVIEWS

A busy morning recording an interview for BBC Radio Norfolk and BBC Look East ahead of the concert tomorrow night at Ranworth Church in Norfolk!

Started this morning at Barton House where most of the Norfolk Wherries are moored, on a Live broadcast with Thordis Fridriksson for the popular morning programme.  Hear it on the iPlayer (scroll to 02:19:25).  It was great to see the wherry White Moth in all her glory sailing on the river and on beautiful summer's morning as she headed on her journey to end up at Ranworth later today.  I can't wait for the world premiere of the new work I've written about this wherry tomorrow night!

Then the BBC Look East team came to film a feature which will go out tonight at 6:30pm.

A few tickets are still available for the concert at Ranworth Church, Norfolk at 7:30pm.  https://secure.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk/Online/default_Other.asp?show=Water  The concert will feature a new work by Patrick plus music from Handel, Britten and Gibbons.

ABBEY ROAD RECORDING (THE GREAT WAR SYMPHONY)

Here's a taster video of the recording from last week at Abbey Road Studios in London.  We were there recording a selection of tracks from The Great War Symphony and I was conducting the English Session Orchestra for Audio Network.  Later in the day the National Youth Choir were recorded in Studio One - the same studio used by Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Thomas Beecham, The Beatles and Pink Floyd!

It was thrilling to hear some of the music come alive whilst I continue to write the rest of the work ahead of the big premiere in 2018!

BBC RADIO NORFOLK INTERVIEW

It was a real pleasure to be speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk's Anthony Isaacs this Sunday morning about writing The Great War Symphony.  A really interesting interview giving a glimpse into the creative journey I'm on.

If you missed it or want to listen again visit the BBC iPlayer and scroll to 2:43:12 for the relevant part.  

And don't forget you can still download the FREE MP3 of the taster track Christian Soldiers and the FREE SHEET MUSIC!

EVENTIDE LONDON PREMIERE

Tickets are now on sale for the LONDON PREMIERE of 

Eventide: In Memoriam Edith Cavell.

Tickets £18

Click here to purchase your tickets.

The work honours the heroism of Edith Cavell, a nurse celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides in World War I without discrimination.  The London concert is to be deeply poignant since the performance will take place exactly 100 years to the day after her death by a German firing squad in 1915 for helping Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium.

The concert will feature the Brandenburg Sinfonia and Addison Singers under the baton of David Wordsworth.  Tiffin Boys Choir will provide the semi-chorus singing the haunting melody of the well-known hymn Abide with Me which permeates the whole work, and are the last words Cavell recited with her chaplain hours before her execution.

Click here to see the BBC's feature ahead of the World Premiere in Norwich Cathedral last year.

FREE CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS DOWNLOADS

          

The Great War Symphony is an epic new work from British composer, Patrick Hawes, written to commemorate the First World War.  Using text compiled from diaries, letters and other first-hand accounts, the symphony has been composed as part of the national Remember WWI project.  The symphony, for choir and orchestra, will be in four movements with each movement depicting a year of the war, to be premiered in its entirety in 2018.

We want as many people as possible to become involved in the evolution of this project, having the opportunity to participate in the genesis of The Great War Symphony and eventually the full premiere and commemorative events in 2018.  The first part of this process is the release of a FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD of an excerpt from the work - Christian Soldiers and FREE SHEET MUSIC for performance.  Patrick has created versions of Christian Soldiers for Orchestra, SATB choir & Organ and another for Brass Band, all available to download for free using the links below.  

If you would like to stay in touch with the progress of The Great War Symphony, please visit www.thegreatwarsymphony.com and sign up to our newsletter.

And don't forget, if you do perform Christian Soldiers or would like/intend to, please let us know!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS MP3

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS SHEET MUSIC