Music

Compositions by Rikky Rooksby

2002
From Cornish Springs (strings, 12 mins)
Draws on two traditional melodies ‘Gaelic Waltz’ and ‘Kimiad’.

A Chepstow Girl (elegy for harp, violin and strings, 12 mins).
Performed in public by ex-members of the National Children’s orchestra (ENCOR) in Hastings and Eastbourne on August 23 and 24, conductor Glyn Oxley. Performed again in Hartpury near Gloucester and in Chepstow in November 2002.

At Runnymede (strings, 11 mins)
This piece won the Lennox Berkeley Open Composition prize at the Oxford Music Festival in February 2004.

Around the Curve of Winter (oboe and strings, 8 mins)
Partly inspired by two paintings of S.J.Lamorna Birch’s, ‘In Our Old World Valley’ and ‘Spring Morning’. In February 2007 awarded a distinction in the Open Composition prize at the Oxford Music Festival.

Persephone (strings, 5 minutes)

2004-05
A House in White Woods (suite for orchestra, 23 mins)
Partly inspired by the centenary of the building of Sibelius’ house ‘Ainola’. In January 2006 awarded a distinction in the Open Composition prize at the Oxford Music Festival

2005
Pictures at A Cornish Exhibition (suite for orchestra, 35 minutes)
A musical response to over a dozen well-known examples of art created in Cornwall by leading Newlyn School painters such as Stanhope Forbes, Elizabeth Forbes, Norman Garstin, Walter Langley, Lamorna Birch, and other later artists.

Trevalgan (hymn, organ, with lyric, 3 mins)

2006
Five Cornish Pictures (for orchestra, 11 minutes)
Selected from the longer work. In May 2006 chosen by Roxanna Panufnik for the St. Alban’s Symphony Orchestra Composer Day and given a public performance.

For The Few (solo organ, 2 minutes)

2007
Sinfonietta (A Child in Lakeland) (orchestra, 35 mins)

Snowdrifts (cor anglais and strings, 5 mins)

2008
Festival Overture (for orchestra, 8 minutes)
Highly commended in the West Forest Sinfonia Composer competition.

2009
String quartet no.1. (15 mins)

River Nocturne (clarinet and string quartet, 8 mins)

A Night in the Arcade of Shadows (clarinet and string quartet, 7 mins)
Highly commended entry in the University of St. Andrews Chamber Music competition.

Tayport Reflections (harp and chamber orchestra)
Commissioned by William Henry and given a private performance at Great Milton, Oxfordshire in June 2009.

2010
Scenes from the Life of Sir Humphry Davy (for orchestra, 30 mins)
A commission from the Old Penwithian Association to mark the centenary of the Humphry Davy school in Penzance. Public performance at St.John’s Hall, Penzance on May 29, 2010.

2014
String Quartet no.2

On the Great Western (for string sextet, 18 mins)

Pavane for Shiva

An arrangement for a larger group of strings of the slow movement of On the Great Western.

John Kennedy at Coos Bay (piano, 18 mins)

This was partly inspired by a famous photograph that Jacques Lowe took of (then) Senator Kennedy standing in a boat looking down at the water on a November morning at Coos Bay after giving an address to a mostly empty hall with about 20 workers.

2015

For the New Frontier (for trumpet and strings) is awarded a distinction at the Oxford Music Festival.

2016

Purple Blue Black (Masquerades) (20 pieces for piano, 35 mins)

On Carrack Dhu (strings, 8 mins)

2017

This Sea, For The First Time (strings, 8 mins); This Sea (Graham’s Theme) (strings, 2 mins, shorter version)

2018

Symphony in B major (The Blue Rider) (orchestra, one mvt, 22 mins)

Symphony 2 (orchestra, two mvts, 31 mins)

2019

An Evening at Towednack (clarinet quintet)

2020

Symphony 3 (orchestra, three mvts, 39 mins)

2021

Symphony 4 (orchestra, four mvts, 38 mins)