Kevin George Brown

Composer

“I was struck by the craftsmanship and inventiveness of Kevin’s writing for voice and piano and felt that he responded most sympathetically to his chosen text. His setting was clear and precise while also leaving us as performers room to interpret. His music strikes me overall ultimately as being properly professional”.

Roderick Williams OBE

“His music has a strength and directness, and an individuality within a straightforward idiom”.

Anthony Gilbert

“These pieces display a confident composer with a strong technique. Each work has a definite character and message to convey”.

David Heyes
Double bassist

“I was particularly interested in the very lucid way the form of 1932 is constructed, creating quite a complex musical situation from the simplest of means. Always an appealing combination!”.

Geoffrey Paterson
Conductor

“This is meticulously crafted music for all its aleatoric possibilities and it packs a powerful emotional punch as well”.

Dr. Irina Kuzminsky

“I particularly appreciate the austerity of Ecce Panis Angelorum”.

James Weeks
Conductor and composer

“He works rigorously and with a degree of self-discipline ensuring that the end results are precise and not over-burdened with unnecessary baggage.

David Ellis
Conductor, composer, record producer and former Head of Music, BBC North

“I marvel at the Three Movements for Organ in their sheer originality, inventiveness and colouristic effects”.

Prof. Dr. Ian Tracey

“The piano miniatures are lovely – very atmospheric and great teaching pieces for students interested in contemporary styles”.

Leslie East OBE
Former CEO of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

“May I put on record my thanks for writing this beautiful choral piece. It very much suits our acoustic both in the main body of the cathedral and in the Lady chapel and I would very much like to keep it in our repertoire”.

Dr. Christopher McElroy
Director of Music, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (on Ave Maris Stella)

“Kevin George Brown’s Description of Spring was most attractive, featuring a lyrical vocal line (sung by Roderick Williams) and busy, illustrative piano writing, expertly despatched by Susie Allan.”

John Quinn
Seenandheard-international.com (Three Choirs Festival review).

“Rather than seeking to replace the classical tradition of English church music, Kevin George Brown extends its power into the twenty first century. Through a series of refreshing and rewarding pieces he demonstrates the beauty and passion of modern classical church music”.

Mark Delaney
CIO, AustralianSuper

“Nature feeds Kevin George Brown’s two songs, Dying Day (Larkin), heavy and low, against Description of Spring to a text by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (d. 1547). There is a magical element, surely, to the harmonies used in the latter, a sort of Ravelian haze, but with an English accent”.

Colin Clarke
Fanfare Magazine

“I much enjoyed listening to the Fanfare: it has poise and solemnity, and grows powerfully. The piece was just right for the acoustic – it really exploits it, and the sense of space. Bravo!”.

Anthony Gilbert

“Kevin George Brown, (born 1959), is represented by settings of Larkin and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. Brown rises to the challenge of Larkin’s multi-faceted and subtle art. In Henry Howard’s Description of Spring, the vocal line soars above a shimmering accompaniment. A catalogue of animal life is then described; a passage that bears comparison with a similar one in Haydn’s Creation”.

David Hackbridge Johnson
MusicWeb International

“There are several little nuggets of gold here: among them I loved the works by Kevin George Brown”

www.citylife.co.uk (review of The Wagon of Life compilation CD).

“Magisterial – cathedral music for the 21st century”.

Dr. Irina Kuzminsky

“High points for me included Kevin George Brown’s setting of Philip Larkin’s ‘Dying Day’. Its extensive piano introduction is arresting while Mark Rowlinson captures its unstated theme of death with rich sombre-toned singing”.

Alan Cooper
British Music Society review

“Much enjoyed these three substantial organ pieces – they have a nice flow from the plainchant-based beginning through the dreamy central piece to the harmonic clarity of the third movement. Very attractive.”.

Anthony Gilbert

“There is, moreover, a quintessentially English feel about his music, one that evokes in particular the northern landscapes of lakes, fells and moors”.

Dr. Irina Kuzminsky

New Album: Three Movements for Organ

Richard Lea, organ

Three Movements for Organ is an important new contribution to the organ repertoire from  Kevin George Brown.

The esteemed organist Richard Lea has released a number of critically acclaimed recordings and is renowned for his work at the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and Buckfast Abbey.

“I marvel at the ‘Three Movements for Organ’ in their sheer originality, inventiveness and colouristic effects”. Prof. Dr. Ian Tracey.

Available at:

Amazon
Apple Music

Previews:

Jubilate:

 

Meditation:

 

Programme Notes

Spanning 33’ duration Three Movements for Organ comprises Jubilate, Meditation and Processional.
These three individual movements manipulate the same basic time frame (c.11’) in different ways,
offering different perspectives of the same core material.
The work is based on elements of Gregorian Chant and is inspired by the architectural, spiritual and
atmospheric aspects of the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

Jubilate utilizes a structured “circular form” and comprises twelve interpretations of the core material.

Meditation presents the thematic material “concurrently” in a free-floating stasis and employs controlled
improvisation. This movement also features a solo treble voice and single bell.

Processional. Essentially ostinato based, this is not a goal-orientated ‘procession’ but rather a fragmented
mosaic: the procession suddenly nearby; suddenly afar; sometimes in juxtaposition passing either side;
sometimes heard as just fragments (on the wind, or in between buildings, as it were).

© Kevin George Brown
Release Date 20/03/2023 (digital download).

 

© Copyright Kevin George Brown 2020