Concerto works

by Nicholas Sackman

Concerto (1988-89: revised 1996 and 2002) for flute & string orchestra

Commissioned by the BBC
Duration 15 minutes
Published by Schott
A copy of the score is at The British Music Information Centre

An audio extract is available:
Extract (Movement 1) - 920KB

This work has languished in limbo-land since the first performance, which is a pity since the string writing is highly accomplished (I used to play violin and viola) and the flute part was thoroughly approved by the first performance soloist, Ingrid Culliford. By chance, a Swiss flautist planned three performances in Switzerland in 1996, but the performances were cancelled before rehearsals had even begun.

In Keith Potter's Musical Times June 1991 article about my String Quartet no.2 (see below) he wrote enthusiastically about the Flute Concerto "...a discourse brilliantly offsetting the chameleon-like solo flute against the glinting, corruscating surfaces of the strings."

Caccia (1997-98)

concertino for piano and orchestra

Duration 11 minutes
Published by the composer
A copy of the score is at The British Music Information Centre together with a synthesized recording.

An audio extract is available:
Extract - 576KB

This was my entry for the Composers' Competition which was an integral part of the 1999 Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Belgium. Apparently Caccia was one of the five concertos from which the winning entry was eventually chosen by the adjudicating panel. In just eleven minutes it says all that needs to be said in a piano concerto.

Meld (1998)

concerto for piano, brass and percussion

Commissioned by Thames Valley University Centre for Research into Contemporary Music Practices
Duration 16 minutes
Published by Warwick Music
A copy of the score is at The British Music Information Centre
CD: Released on NMC D099 (March 2005). Reviewed in Gramophone January 2006

An audio extract is available:
Extract - 1.7MB (approx 7 minutes)

Commissioned for the pianist Philip Mead, the first performance was at the Royal Northern College of Music on March 15th 2000. Jim Gourlay (Head of Brass at the RNCM and the conductor of the first performance) has described the piece as "absolutely fantastic".

Violin Concerto (2007)

Duration 23 minutes
Published by the composer

An audio extract is available:
Extract 1 - 2.7MB

Composed for Ruth Palmer and in admiration of her uninhibited style of violin playing.