Michael Short was born in Bermuda and educated in England at Gillingham Grammar School and Bristol University. He then studied music at Morley College and London University and won a Mendelssohn Scholarship which enabled him to study composition in Italy with Goffredo Petrassi, and in London with Sir Lennox Berkeley.
*
His compositions include a wide variety of music, ranging from works commissioned for eminent professional ensembles to pieces for amateurs, educational music and jazz scores (see list of works, below). Many of his compositions have been broadcast on BBC network radio and have been performed in various countries throughout the world. He is a Fellow in composition of Trinity College of Music, London, and is a member of the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters.
*
Besides composition, he has made a special study of the life and music of Gustav Holst. For the centenary of the composer's birth he produced a Centenary Documentation of Holst's works, edited his letters, and organised and compiled the Holst Centenary Exhibition shown in London at the Royal Festival Hall. His comprehensive book Gustav Holst: the Man and his Music was published in 1990 by Oxford University Press. Other writings include Your Book of Music for children, journal articles, record and CD sleeve notes, and radio talks.
*
As a jazz pianist, Michael has played in various venues in Kent and Sussex, as a soloist, with a trio, and as accompanist to jazz singers.
*
Contact:-
Michael Short, 13 Boscobel Road North, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN38 0NY, tel. 01424 436379; email: mshort@dassells.free-online.co.uk.
Other contacts:-
Goodmusic P.O. Box 100, Tewkesbury GL20 7YQ; tel: 01684 773883; fax: 01684 773884; e-mail: Sales@Goodmusic-uk.com
Bandleader Publications, 24 Old Furzebrook Road, Stoborough, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5DD, tel. 01929 550 154. e-mail: david@tresca.demon.co.uk
Studio Music, Cadence House, Eaton Green Road, Luton, Beds, LU2 9LD, tel. 01582 432139, e-mail: sales@studio-music.co.uk
Sound & Music (formerly British Music Information Centre),
3rd floor, South Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA, tel. 020 7759 1800, e-mail: info@soundandmusic.org
Scottish Music Information Centre, City Halls, Candleriggs, Glasgow, tel. 0141 552 5222, e-mail: info@scottishmusiccentre.com.
List of Works
(N.B. Many of these pieces exist in revised versions -
for further information please contact the composer)
*
Orchestral
Aspects of Time: symphonic suite (in preparation)
Autumn Music: overture (12')
Bruton Town: fantasia (15')
Countdown (to Eternity?) (12') Studio Music
Divertimento: suite (16')
Echoes of Manningtree: overture (9')
Estonia!: overture (5') Bandleader Publications
A Festive Flourish: miniature overture (3')
Frost Fair: overture (7') Goodmusic
A Musical Mirror: suite of Renaissance dances
Poèmes Sans Paroles: five pieces after Verlaine (18')
A Romantic Symphony: 4 movements (30')
Three Chinese Pictures: mini suite (7') Goodmusic
Variations on a Scottish theme (15').
*
Concertos
Apollo Concertos for solo instruments & string orchestra:
No.1 - Flute No.2 - Oboe No.3 - Clarinet No.4 - Bassoon
No.5 - Horn No.6 - Trumpet No.7 - Piano
(Nos.1-6 - Goodmusic)
Concertino for viola & small orchestra (15')
Concerto Lirico for cello & orchestra (18')
Double Concerto for 2 violins & string orchestra (15') Goodmusic
Violin Concerto (in preparation).
*
String Orchestra
Celebration: miniature overture (2') Goodmusic
Concert Music (17') Goodmusic
Rondo (10')
Serenade for Strings - 4 movements (13') Goodmusic
Song of Cytherea (15').
*
Choral
Adulatio Perniciosa - the passion of Galileo Galilei for narrator, chorus, motet choir, string quartet & orchestra (75')
Deerhurst Dawn for narrator, chorus & ensemble (17').
Dirge in Woods (Meredith) for unaccompanied SATB (2')
Dunbar's Lament for unaccompanied CtTTB (7')
The Enchanted Mountain (Byron) - cantata for chorus & orchestra or wind band (10')
Five Madrigals (Shakespeare) for unaccompanied SATB (16')
Laudamus Memoriam (Wordsworth) for SATB & piano (7')
Marshfield Dawn - New Year cantata for chorus, orchestra, audience & frogs (9')
Media Vita In Morte Sumus - motet for unaccompanied SATB (2')
Song's Eternity (Clare) for unaccompanied SSA (5') Goodmusic
Three Burns Songs for SSA with optional accompaniment for harp or piano (6') Goodmusic
Three French Folksongs for unaccompanied SATB (12') Goodmusic
Three Motets for unaccompanied SATB (14')
Three Nocturnes for unaccompanied SATB (11')
Three Shakespeare Songs for unaccompanied SATB (12') Goodmusic
The Triumph of Reason (Lucretius) for SATB and brass or strings or piano (5')
A Vision of Winter (Douglas): cantata for tenor solo, SATB & orchestra (20')
A Wedding Song (Clare) for unaccompanied SATB (2') Goodmusic
*
Solo Vocal
Colori (Bartolini) - 7 songs for soprano & 4 instruments
Ever (De La Mare) - song for medium voice & piano
Hesperides (Herrick) - 5 songs for high voice & guitar
Les Soirs, Les Flambeaux Noirs (Verhaeren) - 5 songs for soprano & piano
Of Time And Season (Wordsworth) - 4 songs for medium voice & piano
Reflections (Reynolds) - 5 songs for medium voice & chamber ensemble or small orchestra
Six Love Songs (anon. & Shakespeare) for soprano & 3 instruments
Six Mediaeval Lyrics (anon. & Chaucer) for medium voice & clarinet or viola
Sur la Rivière - 3 Canadian folksongs arranged for medium voice & piano
The Bells (Poe) - 4 songs for medium voice & piano
The Tomb at Akr Çaar (Pound) for narrator & 3 instruments
The World I See (Dickinson) - 6 songs for high voice & piano
Three Romantic Songs (Roethke) for medium voice & piano
Three Spirituals arranged for baritone voice & wind band
West Wind, North Wind- several songs from the Chinese, for medium voice & 3 instruments or piano.
*
Instrumental - Strings
String Quartet No.1 - 4 movements (25')
String Quartet No.2 - 4 movements (20')
String Quartet No.3 - 4 movements (20')
String Quartet No. 4 (Fantasiestück) - one movement (10')
String Quartet No.5 - one movement (24')
String Quartet No.6 - 4 movements (25')
Piano Quartet - 4 movements (21')
Trio for violin, cello & piano - 4 movements (20')
Duo for violin & cello - 2 movements (9')
Sonata Semplice for violin & piano - 3 movements (12')
New Moons - 4 pieces for violin & piano (12')
Sonata Lirica for viola & piano - 4 movements (18')
Sonata da Gamba for cello & piano - 4 movements (18')
A Short Suite for solo cello - 6 pieces (10') Crouch Music
*
Instrumental - Wind
Diversions for wind octet - 3 movements (11')
Four Fantasies for saxophone quartet (14') Studio Music
Imaginations - 12 one-minute pieces for wind quintet
Impromptu for saxophone quintet (6') Studio Music
Intrada, Song & Dance arr for wind quartet (7') Bandleader
A Little Light Music for wind quintet (12')
Lullaby for solo flute (3') Studio Music
Memorial Variations for 11 instruments (12')
Mood Music for wind quartet - 5 movements (11')
Six Poems for wind quintet (19') Studio Music
Soliloquy for solo oboe (5') Studio Music
Three Pieces for wind octet (10') Studio Music
Water Music for 17 wind instruments & percussion (10')
*
Wind Band
Caledonia - 3 movements (10') Bandleader
Countdown - 3 phases (12') Studio Music
A Derbyshire Suite - 4 movements (16') Studio Music
Estonia! - overture (5') Bandleader
Intrada, Song & Dance, arr (7') Bandleader
Kentish Fire - overture (7') Bandleader
Lyric Suite - 3 movements (12') Studio Music
Making Tracks - 3 movements (10') Bandleader
A Musical Mirror - 6 dances by Erasmus Widmann, arr (6')
Old English Suite - 3 sections (5') Studio Music
Our Fighting Ships - 7 sections (12') Bandleader
The Perfect Fool - ballet music (Holst), arr (10') Bandleader
Seven Steps to Heaven - suite (26') Bandleader
Short Shrift - concert march (3') Bandleader
Stonehenge - overture (5') Bandleader
*
Brass
Divertimento for brass quintet - 4 movements (13') Studio Music
Facets for brass quintet - 5 movements (17')
Five Inventions for solo trumpet (7') Studio Music
Gaudeamus - fanfare for brass, horns & percussion (1') Bandleader
Intrada, Song & Dance - arr (7') Bandleader
Jazz Preludes for brass quartet - 7 pieces, Boosey & Hawkes
Partita for brass ensemble - 3 movements (12')
Three Preludes for brass quintet (10')
*
Recorders
Brentwood Bayon (D, Tb, Tn, B) Hawthorns Music
Caprice (D, Tb, Tn) in Forsyth volume
Festive Finale (4D, 2Tb, 2Tn, B, GB + instrumental ensemble)
Five Rounds, arr (3D or 3Tn or 3Tb) Dolmetsch/Chappell
Giocata (D + keyboard)
Intrada, Song & Dance (D, Tb, Tn, B) Bandleader
Invocation & Fugue (D, 2Tb, Tn, B) Oriel
Little Suite (D, Tb, Tn) - 5 movements. Studio Music
Sinfonia (Tb, Hpsd, Str quartet) - 3 movements
Sonatina No.1 (Tb + keyboard) - 4 movements. Studio Music
Sonatina No.2 (unacc Tb or Tb + Keyboard)
The Winds of Change (D, 2Tb, Tb, B), Hawthorns Music
Three Chinese Pictures (D, Tb, Tn, B), Goodmusic
Trinkets (D, Tb, Tn) - 6 movements, Studio Music
*