Latest news:
David
Ward has been commissioned to write a piece for performance at Woodend
Barn, Banchory, Scotland on Friday 12 November 2010 as part of the Sound Festival. The performers will be the wonderfully versatile Emily White on trombone, alto sackbut and
baroque violin, as well as singing and possibly reciting, together with Steve Bingham on
electric violin and electric bass violin. They may both also play some
percussion. The words for Emily to sing and recite during this 25
minute quasi-theatrical piece will be phrases from the harrowing e-mails
which the Scottish artist Jane Frere has sent to David from Palestine, Israel and the refugee camps, especially while she was putting together her Return of the Soul
exhibition in 2007 and 2008. The music will precede the opening of an
exhibition of her on-going paintings 'inspired' by the Israel-Palestine
wall, together with some videos and documents. The last minute and a
half of the piece is expected to have a pre-recording of Jane herself
reading from an e-mail specifically about the wall (the earlier ones
are pre-wall) accompanied by video footage.
In 2007 DW received a commission from the Institute of Evolutionary Studies
to write a piece for 23 solo strings (the same line-up as Strauss's
Metamorphosen) in celebration of Darwinian evolution.
He is currently sketching a new opera, see 'In progress' below for more information and a link to the synopsis.
Recent Premieres:
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David Ward's String Quartet No 6 had its public premiere by the Bingham String Quartet at Woodend Barn, Banchory on 11 November 2007. A
semi-private pre premiere performance of String Quartet No 6 by the BSQ
took place at Maitland and Halldis Mackie's House at Westertown Farm
(Mackies ice cream) near Inverurie in aid of the Matthew Hay Project on
10 November.
A complete live recording of the 11th November performance is available to buy as a high quality mp3 download from Steve Bingham's website at a cost of £3
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David Ward on 1st January 2009
above Glenurquhart
(photograph by Jane Frere)
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David's String Quartet No 5
was given its premiere by the Bingham String Quartet, who have
premiered several of his other quartets, on 25th April 2002, at St.
Giles' Church, Cripplegate, London.
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"Little Duet"
for clarinet and violin - Hector Scott (violin) and Shinobu Miki
(clarinet). Gallery of Modern Art, Queen Street, Glasgow. January 2002.
"Ward's spacious and emotional piece was like a glimpse into a private world of exchanged intimacies." The Herald
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Sonata Fantasia - Rohan De Saram (cello) & Druvi De Saram (piano). June 2001 - Woodend Barn, Banchory, Aberdeenshire
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Cello Concerto No 2 - Rohan de Saram (cello), Southbank Sinfonia conducted by Simon Over, Woodend Barn, Banchory, Scotland. March 2003.
David has written the following dedication for the Cello Concerto no.2:
"Written during the run up to the war against Iraq and premiered one
week before the actual invasion, this concerto is dedicated to the
improvement of understanding and co-operation between people of
different cultures, races and religions."
A sound clip of this piece is now available.
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Variations on a Waltz
was premiered in a concert given by Catherine Nardiello (piano) in
November 2005 in London as part of the 8th London New Wind Festival,
2005.
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Recently Written:
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Evolutionary Metamorphoses has
been commissioned by the Institute of Evolutionary Studies to celebrate
the Theory of Evolution and to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the
birth in 1809 of Charles Darwin.
The composition of Evolutionary
Metamorphoses came about as a result of a conversation David Ward was
having with a group of people at the University of Glasgow. They were
bemoaning the fact that there were so many pieces of music being
written in praise of God (MacMillan, Tavener, Pärt etc); but it seemed
there were none being written in praise of Evolution.
| | | In progress: | |
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David Ward is currently working on sketches for an opera entitled Sybil which
is a love story set against misunderstanding and conflict between the
very rich and the very poor. It is loosely based on aspects (no more)
of the novel of the same name by Benjamin Disraeli. A synopsis can be
downloaded by following this link and clicking on the portrait of three
children. | |
LINKS
If you would like to suggest a relevant link please email the details.
Vanderbeek & Imrie Ltd
Publishers of David Ward's music
Scottish Music Centre (SMC)
British Music Information Centre (BMIC)
Bingham String Quartet
Rohan de Saram
Steve Bingham
(site includes download of the David Ward 6th Quartet)
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