DAVID HACKBRIDGE JOHNSON Selected Work List
There are over 500 works in the catalogue. Below is a selection. All scores are for sale; for prices and enquiries please use the e mail address in the contact page.
Symphonies
Opus 2 Symphony No. 1 in A minor Written aged 17.
Opus 6 no.1 Symphony No. 2 in F Dedicated to my father.
Opus 6 no.2 Symphony No. 3 in A
Opus 21 no.1 Sinfonia Scientifica (Symphony No. 4) The last movement is a perilous rondo inspired by the Mandelbrot set.
Opus 21 no.2 Symphony No. 5 ‘March of the Paradigms’
Opus 105 Symphony No. 6 Dedicated to Carol Fine
Opus 115 Symphony No. 7 A short chamber symphony dedicated to Denis ApIvor.
Opus 116 Symphony No. 8 ‘On Byzantine Hymns' Dedicated to Mark Henegar
Opus 295 Symphony No. 9
Tone Poems and Other Orchestral Works
Opus 1 no.8 Kettledrummer After the painting by Paul Klee.
Opus 1 no. 23 Andrina After a short story by George McKay Brown.
Opus 1 no.36 Pastorale
Opus 1 no.38 Serenade No. 2 4 horns, 2 harps and strings.
Opus 25 Les Myrophores Dedicated to Carol Fine. The title means ‘the myrrh-bearers’.
Opus 33 Epitaphion for Strings In memory of Jacky McCabe
Opus 43 Burlesque Overture
Opus 44 Solalex Named after a mountainous area of Switzerland.
Opus 103 Communion Antiphon XIII
Opus 104 Suffolk Suite Large suite of 4 tone poems based on ancient sacred art from Suffolk.
Opus 110a Peyrepertuse Consolamentum Inspired by reading about the Cathars and a visit to their castle at Peyrepertuse.
Opus 111 Two Clerical Episodes Winner of the South Bank Symphony Orchestra composition competition in 2002 and performed by them conducted by Torkjell Hareide
Opus 114 Lament for Himbert Blanke Blanke was a Knight’s Templar who died in the early 14th century. This work was chosen by Steve Martland to be performed by the Goldberg Ensemble conducted by Malcolm Layfield in Wolverhampton, 2003
Opus 129 Ixaxar Tone poem after Arthur Machen. Dedicated to Michael Garrett.
Opus 131 Diverse Manners of Ornamenting a Chimney The title is from Piranesi.
Opus 132 Toccata for Strings
Opus 135 Sinfonietta
Opus 232 Fantasia on ‘Of the Father’s Heart Begotten’ Written especially for ‘Christmas Album’ by the Camerata of London. It can be heard on the MSM label (MSM003) together with arrangements of carols also by Hackbridge Johnson.
Opus 257 Two Motets for Orchestra
Spartan War Manoeuvres Cycle
Opus 118 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 1 2 oboes, 2 cor anglais, 2 percussions
Opus 118a Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 1a 4 saxophones, 2 percussions
Opus 119 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 2 Orchestra
Opus 127 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 3 Horn and Piano
Opus 137 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 4 Orchestra
Opus 138 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 5 Wind Quintet and Piano
Opus 147 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 6 Piano
Opus 151 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 7 2 pianos
Opus 186 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 8 3 pianos (quarter tone tuning)
Opus 187 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 9 5 pianos (quarter tone tuning)
Opus 188 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 10 Oboe and 3 harps
Opus 189 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 11 2 oboes, 2 cor anglais, 3 harps
Opus 191 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 12 2 oboes, 2 cor anglais, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon
Opus 192 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 13 4 bassoons, 4 contrabassoons
Opus 193 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 14 4 contrabassoons, 4 percussions
Opus 194 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 15 4 flutes, 4 alto flutes, 4 percussions
Opus 195 Spartan War Manoeuvres No. 16 3 bass clarinets, 3 guitars
Works for solo (instrument or voice) and orchestra
Opus 18 Shir-ha-maaloth for violin and orchestra
Opus 46 Aria for Cello and Strings In a pub in Villars, Switzerland I met cellist Mark Drobinsky who asked me to write a piece. I wrote it that night and it was rehearsed and performed the following night by Mark with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Saulius Sondeckis. The premiere was recorded and the work was repeated two days later.
Opus 49 Cello Concerto
Opus 87 The Ruin for baritone and orchestra
Opus 140 Rosario for tenor and chamber orchestra
Opus 173 Mephisto Concerto for piano, woodblocks and strings
Ballets
Opus 77 Bistea Neptuni Quinotaurus Similis Based on the history and myths surrounding the Merovingian dynasty.
Opus 81 Shopping Trolleys for Chechnya Accepted by the SPNM on their shortlist.
Opus 82 Goliathus Goliathus A day in the life of Uganda’s largest beetle.
Piano Sonatas
Opus 4 no.1 Piano Sonata No. 1 in G minor
Opus 4 no.2 Piano Sonata No. 2 in Eb
Opus 4 no.3 Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor
Opus 4 no. 4 Piano Sonata No. 4 in D Performed privately in California by Rolf Hind.
Opus 89 no.1 Piano Sonata No. 5 in D (from old fragments)
Opus 89 no.2 Piano Sonata No. 6 in Eb minor (from old fragments)
Opus 110 no.1 Piano Sonata No. 7 ‘Peyrepertuse’ The 3 sonatas opus 110 are inspired by events in the Albigensian Crusade.
Opus 110 no.2 Piano Sonata No. 8 ‘Beziers’
Opus 110 no.3 Piano Sonata No. 9 ‘Queribus’
Opus 156 no.10 Sonata ‘De Profundis’ (Piano Sonata No. 10)
The last piece in a large cycle dedicated to the memory of my wife.
Opus 208 Piano Sonata No. 11 ‘On Contemplating Certain Korean Ceramics’ I like pottery very much; this sonata is inspired by celadons of the Koryo dynasty.
Opus 235 Piano Sonata No. 12 in F# minor Dedicated to Nicholas Austin.
Opus 248 no.1 Piano Sonata No. 13 in A
Opus 248 no.2 Piano Sonata No. 14 ‘My Favourite Frogs’ Five frog portraits dedicated to Chisato Kusunoki
Opus 248 no.3 Piano Sonata No 15 For John White Premiered by Maiko Mori
Opus 272 no. 1 Piano Sonata No 16 Dedicated to Jonathan Powell
Opus 272 no. 2 Piano Sonata No 17 Dedicated to Maiko Mori
Opus 286 Piano Sonata No 18
A Selection of Other Piano Works
Opus 1 no.37 Eleven Bagatelles
Opus 8 Four Preludes
Opus 34 no.1 Der Gläserne Tag Performed by Steven Gutman in 1997.
Opus 34 no.2 The Angels Share A hommage to whisky
Opus 38 no.1 Miniature Suite
Opus 83 Two Waltz Elegies
Opus 101 Nicolai Appolonovich Was Lost In Contemplation Of The Strings
inspired by a passage from 'Petersberg' by Andrei Bely
Opus 108 Three Skazki Dedicated to my brother Chris and with Medtner in mind.
Opus 117 Miniature Stories: 12 easy pieces
Opus 130 Sonatina No. 1
Opus 136 Two Scottish Ballads Dedicated to Ronald and Marjorie Stevenson.
Opus 143 -146 Four Scottish Dance Suites
Opus 148 Tributes A magnum opus (75 minutes long!) with hommages to Faure, Busoni, Stevenson and others.
Opus 156 Funeral Sentences A cycle of 10 pieces culminating in the 10th Sonata.
Opus 160 Four Barcarolle Elegies
Opus 171 Folk Forms 9 movements
Opus 201 Greengages Performed by the composer in the Cathedral of the Isles, 2006.
Opus 207 Snowscape: Edo
Opus 209 Laphroaig Another whisky inspired effort.
Opus 211 Semplice-Variations on Stevenson’s ‘Eins und Alles’. Dedicated to and played privately by Ronald Stevenson.
Opus 214 Album Leaf Performed several times and recorded by Chisato Kusunoki
Opus 217 Sonatina Lyrico (Sonatina No. 2)
Opus 219 Five Coloured Parakeet in the Branch of a Blossoming Apricot Tree Also played and recorded by Chisato Kusunoki. The title is taken from a Chinese silk painting.
Opus 224 Calligraphic Poems Inspired by Japanese calligraphy. In 6 movements.
Opus 225 Tragedy-Fragment
Opus 226 Five Preludes Dedicated to Justin Connolly
Opus 227 Twelve Modal Preludes Nicholas Austin has recorded one of these.
Opus 228 Promenade-Elegy Dedicated to Iain Colqhuon
Opus 230 Nocturnes 3 and 4 The third has been recorded by Nicholas Austin.
Opus 236 Tales from the Forest Easy to intermediate pieces featuring monkeys, tigers, snakes, etc. Premiered by Chisato Kusunoki
Opus 238 Two Laments Written after hearing about the demise of the Baiji dolphin in the Yangtze River and the death of gorillas in Virunga National Park.
Opus 239 Fragment from Fourmagnac Memories of the south of France….
Opus 240 Twelve Etudes in the Minor Keys
Opus 242 Accursed Leaves from the Necronomicon Dedicated to Michael Garrett and a hommage to the macabre stories of H.P. Lovecraft
Opus 244 Paraphrase on an English Carol Dedicated to and performed by Chisato Kusunoki in Bristol Cathedral, 2007.
Opus 245 Piano Album 10 pieces
Opus 247 L’amertume de coeur
There are many other occasional piano pieces and sets of pieces.
Violin and Piano
Opus 1 no.1 Four Fragments
Opus 3 nos.1-3 Three Sonatinas
Opus 9 no.3 Salon Suite Performed several times by the composer with Vincent Barr, piano.
Opus 40 Violin Sonata No. 1 in F
Opus 60 no.4 Aria
Opus 69 Waterfall-Epitaph Performed by the composer with Yeu Meng Chan, piano at the BMIC.
Opus 79 Violin Sonata No. 2 in C# Performed by the composer with Yeu Meng Chan, piano BMIC
Opus 113 Violin Sonata No. 3 Dedicated to Michael Garrett
Opus 121 Little Poem Performed privately by the composer with Yeu Meng Chan, piano.
Opus 122c Cradle Song
Opus 141 Canonic Elegy for Denis ApIvor Performed by the composer with Richard Black, piano at the Cathedral of the Isles, Cumbrae, August 2006.
Opus 155a Lament for Carol
Other Chamber Works
These include 7 string quartets (no.2 performed in 1989 by the Dmitri Quartet), Fantasy Quintet (performed in 1989), piano trio, 3 sonatas for solo violin (no.2 performed at the BMIC by the composer), 3 Church Sonatas for 2 violins and organ, cello sonata, flute sonata (performed at the BMIC by Georgina Roberts, fl and David Elwin, pft, 1998), bassoon sonata, clarinet sonatina, flute sonatina, cello sonata and many other works for 2 or more instruments. Other performances include The Wrong Sort of Pieces for flute, trombone, cimbalom and piano performed in Huddersfield, Scherzetto for piano trio performed at Exeter University by Gemini, Three Canzonas for trombones performed at Guildhall School of Music. There are also several works featuring the clarsach – the Scottish harp.
Song Cycles
Opus 22 Flung Gravel Chime: Six Dylan Thomas Songs Performed by the composer, baritone and Vincent Barr, pft, at the BMIC.
Opus 23 Drei Lieder Performed by the composer and Yeu Meng Chan, piano at BMIC.
Opus 91 Viking Runes To be sung in Old Norse – (it’s not so bad to pronounce!).
Opus 93 Deux Chanson de Alfred de Musset
Opus 95 Three Bird Poems of Richard McDonald Dedicated to the poet
Opus 96 Two Polyphonic McDonalds
Opus 139 Three Poems of William Dunbar
Opus 149 Three Elamite Prayers
Opus 154 The Green Rose of Love (cycles of six poems by Ezra Pound) Dedicated to my wife
Opus 203 Four British Folk Songs For Val Norton
Opus 204 Four Unfoldings Settings in Old English, Ancient Babylonian etc.!
Opus 213 Two Housman Songs
Opus 233 Drei Goethe Lieder
There are other single songs by various poets.
Choral Works
Opus 14 Ah, Sunflower SATB. Words by Blake
Opus 15 Sleep, O Sleep my Saviour Jesus SATB. Words by DHJ
Opus 16 Missa Sine Nomine SATB
Opus 17 Four Advent Motets
Opus 17 no.1 Ecce Virgo SATB. Performed by Vocalise conducted by Mark Stone. Also by Nord Deutsche Rundfunk Chor conducted by Robin Gritton
Opus 17 no.2 Rorate Coeli SATB. Performed by NDR Chor conducted by Robin Gritton in Hamburg.
Opus 17 no.3 Tollite Portas SATB and 3 trombones
Opus 17 no.4 Festina Quasaeamus SATB
Opus 20 Two All Saints Motets
Opus 20 no.1 Gaudeamus Omnes SATB
Opus 20 no.2 Angeli Archangeli SATB and 3 trombones
Opus 30 My Beloved Spake SATB and organ. Written for Paul and Lesley Mason’s wedding.
Opus 37 no.1 Salvator Mundi Trebles and organ. Performed at Swiss Reform Church, Villars, Switzerland Aiglon College Choir conducted by Jeremy Hibbins.
Opus 37 no.2 Blessed be that Maid Marie SATB and organ. Performed at Catholic Church, Villars, Aiglon College conducted by Jeremy Hibbins.
Opus 45 Cantata Pro Pace SATB
Opus 54 Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis SATB and organ. Dedicated to Mark Henegar.
Opus 55 no.1 Why O My Soul SATB
Opus 55 no.2 The First Nowell Dedicated to Roland Mason
Opus 66 Missa Aque Serven Counter tenor, 2 tenors, bass, organ and quartet of viols. Dedicated to my mother.
Opus 107 no.2 Vox in Rama Counter tenor, 2 tenors, bass.
Opus 109 Hymn of the XXX Legion Male chorus, 2 trombones, 2 percussions. Words from ancient Rome adapted by Kipling.
Opus 133 Noctem Quietum SATB and organ.
Opus 150 Offertory to Inshushinak Male chorus and ensemble. To be sung in Ancient Elamite.
Electonic works
There are many of these which use many unusual instruments and objects to create works. There is some manipulation of the sound using computer software.
13 Sound Collages
5 Ferenczi Fragments
The Ghost-Piano Book
Shamanic Ritual Service
Klingon Opera (in progress)
There are also over 100 jazz compositions and arrangements the most significant of which is the Suite: Hommage à Don Redman Opus 196.
