The world premiere of Matthew Whittall’s oboe concerto In the New Light of Spring is on the program of the Vaasa City Orchestra 13. December. The work is a co-commission involving also the Tapiola Sinfonietta. Anni Haapaniemi is the soloist and the concert in Vaasa is conducted by Tomas Djupsjöbacka. Whittall’s previous large-scale work Joy…
Matthew Whittall’s large-scale choral song cycle Songs of Travel (2020-2021) is set to poems by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), compiled and adapted by the composer. Duration 30 minutes. All the songs are also available separately as downloadable and printable PDF publications. Buy now
In this set of love songs “love is a place” after one of the great poets of the genre, Matthew Whittall wanted to create a sense of progression from various phases of that universal feeling – falling in love, building a life with a partner, the birth of children, death and loss – but one…
Matthew Whittall’s pair of psalm-based settings was a commission from the Finnish union of church musicians, for Swedish-language pieces specifically intended for liturgical use. Du kröner året (You crown the year, 4 min), to be sung on the feasts of Michaelmas and Thanksgiving. Sion, prisa din Gud (Zion, praise thy God, 3 min) was written…
Downloadable and printable PDF edition. The composer tells: “Waiting to hear was commissioned by my publisher, Fennica Gehrman, as part of a volume of new duos celebrating their 20th anniversary. I got the request shortly before the untimely death of my friend the violinist, composer and conductor Jaakko Kuusisto, and I wanted to write something…
Northlands (album for horn and string orchestra) is a concertante work for horn and strings. Whittall tells that it was influenced by his brief experience with Iceland, its epic landscapes and otherworldly light, which had had an immediate and powerful impact both on the composer and the concept for the piece. Duration 23 minutes. Solo…
Matthew Whittall’s (b. 1975) Love is Little (2009) is a modern motet which uses a Shaker hymn as cantus firmus. The original melody is gradually slowed down, looped and fragmented, forming a quiet, ambient soundscape in which each singer performs their own part freely. The piece is suitable for larger choirs but also works with…
The second string quartet by Matthew Whittall saw daylight only some 20 years after his first one. Bright Ferment was commissioned for the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition. Duration 9 min. Score & parts 55011-510-1, € 39,90
The long-lasting admiration for the poetry of Octavio Paz inspired Matthew Whittall to compose this captivating choir piece. A constant ostinato motif is carried throughout the piece depicting the white noise of the rain. 55011-506-4, € 8,90
