Nostalgia’s Own End – Concerto for Klezmer Band and Orchetra – (Band consists of cl,vln, acc,trom, db - string orchetra, tubular bells, bass drum and snaire). 2004

hear a sample from the 1st movement

hear a sample from the 2nd movement

hear a sample from the conslusion:

Colne Cannons - Full orchetra - no horns. 1999.

Seppenwolft - Full orchestra. 1995.

Amadeus Meditation - solo piano / full orchestra. 1993.

Triumphant into the Blinding Fray - String Orchetra - 1994

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Chamber Music:

A Dream of Something Lost and Found - flute quartet - (fl, vln, vla, vc.) 2002

The Rooster is Already Crowing – (pno, vln, vc). 2001

Old Wedding Song - (cl, vln, vc, perc) winner of Elkin Memorial prize. 1994

Suite from The Last Exodus - (cl, alto fl, vc, cb) - a suite of 2 minute pieces. 1990

hear the 2nd Dance

14 Chords through 17 Frames - oboe trio (ob,ob,cor anglais.) 1993

plus 2 string quartets and other assorted bits..

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Choral:

Six Songs of Corruption and Death - full choir - 1994

hear a sample from the 4th Song

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Rohan’s Book of Quirky Dances – 20 pieces.
A collection of light, charming and eccentric pieces, partly inspired by Jewish and Gypsy music traditions. These make excellent concert fillers, and some make great encores. They are not meant to be played as a set.

hear a sample from the Bee-sting Dance

Three Pieces – Fantasizing the Shtetl – 3 movements.
Three dark and intense concert pieces, written in part as a warning against nostalgic reinterpretations of the past. 16 minutes.

2 Farewells – 2 movements.
2 elegant and wistful pieces depicting a sad moment of parting. Only the first half of number 1 has been performed.

hear a sample from no.1 Romance.

Solinski Fantasies – Three pieces.
3 pieces loosely melodically based on a set of recordings made in 1911 by Josef Solinski. These have been developed into dramatic and quirky concert pieces. Romanian melodies meet Eric Satie. Only number 1 has been performed. In total around 15 minutes.

Dos Bettlers Lied – single movement.
Much in the spirit of Kreisler, an intentionally charming salon piece that wears its heart on its sleeve. 4 ½ minutes.

hear a sample

A Turkisher Schostakovich Koshmar – single movement.
A very intense and technically difficult contrapuntal piece set in a world reminiscent of Schostakovich in a Turkish market. Unperformed.

3 Bagatelles – 3 movements
Inevitably inspired by Beethoven, these are a modern (though not modernist) slant on the bagatelle for violin and piano. A humble tribute to the Great man. Unperformed.

2 Impromptus – 2 movements.
Inevitably inspired by Schubert, these are a modern (though not modernist) slant on the impromptu for violin and piano. A humble tribute to the Great man. Unperformed.

A Tentative Sketchbook of Gothic Misdemeanours – 8 sections
A visit to a very dark and intense place. 8 short musical frames, semi-minimalist, and filled with disguised musical quotes. Technically not too difficult but very demanding musically. Unperformed.

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Rohan’s Book of Fiddle Tunes – around 100 tunes,
40 by me, the others collected from Gypsy, Jewish, Sikh and Celtic traditions. These pieces are ideal for the slightly more sophisticated functions. I have earned my living playing these tunes for the last few years – tedious though it is. Can be played solo or with chordal accompaniment on guitar, piano, accordion etc.

hear a sample from the Transylvanian Tavern Dance

hear a sample from Thakur Tum

Sonata for Solo Violin – 3 movts.
Composed in part as an exercise to improve my double stopping this piece turned out much larger than I intended. The final movement has been performed a number of times, and gives a great opportunity to show off virtuosity. The first two movements are good for students to practise 6ths and 5ths.

hear a sample from the 3rd movement

In addition another 20 or so duos for 2 violins and a around 10 un-catalogued pieces for violin and piano.

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The Art of Funerary Violin, compiled and edited by Rohan Kriwaczek - 48 pieces, including:

The Funerary Notebooks of Herr Gratchenfleiss – 15 Pieces.
A series of 15 short pieces, each exploring a different aspect of our relationship with mortality.

listen to examples as recorded by Wilhelm Kleinbach in 1912

The Noble March of Death

The Masque of Death

The Fleeting Panic of Death

The Erroneous Dirge of George Babcotte – 1 piece.
A long passacaglia, composed by Thomas Dinsley in 1696 after reading a detailed account of the performance of George Babcotte at the funeral of Sir Philip Sidney.

The Funerary Suite no. 4 by Charles Sudbury – 7 movements.
3 marches, a panic, a flight, a dream and a eulogy, as was traditional in the 1830s.

Sept Regards sur l’Esprit de la Mort by Pierre Dubuisson – 7 movements. A French perspective on the traditional 3 marches, a panic, a flight, a dream and and a eulogy of the 1830s by Sudbury’s foremost rival.

Complete Contents:

George Babcotte / Thomas Dinsley (1586/1697)

1. The Erroneous Dirge of George Babcotte

Orlando Addleston - from Funerarius for Micheal Wise Esquire (1681)

2. Grave
3. Andante Con Moto
4. Allegretto

Compton Walberswick 1692 – Funerary Processional (1692)

5. Funerary Processional

Michel Meunier - Pompes Funèbres no. 2 (1693) -

6. Pompe I.
7. Pompe II.
8. Pompe III.

Kaspar Ignaz Faustmann – Todesmusik (1722)

9. Intrada
10. Trauermarsch I.
11. Trauermarsch II.

Ulmer Diederich - Trauermarsch (1787)

12. Trauermarsch

Herr Hieronymous Gratchenfleiss - Funerary Notebooks (?-1810)

13. (The Noble March of Death)
14. (The Dizzy Flight of Death)
15. (The Statuesque Discipline of Death)
16. (The Stately Tragedy of Death)
17. (The Formal Stance of Death)
18. (The Fleeting Panic of Death)
19. (The Masque of Death)
20. (The Subtle Sleep of Death)
21. (The Savage Indifference of Death)
22. (The Softly Spoken Wanderings of Death)
23. (The Sultry Dance of Death)
24. (The Long Uncertainty of Death)
25. (The Sombre Coquetry of Death)
26. (The Worthy Triumph of Death)

Lachlan Baird - Dirge in a Scottish Style (1818?)

27. Dirge in a Scottish Style

Joseph Sea-Boone – Funeral March in A Minor (1809)

28. Funeral March in A Minor

Pierre Dubuisson - Sept Regards sur l’Esprit de la Mort (1826)

29. Marche Funèbre - Lent, posé et majestueux
30. Vol - Magnanime et degage
31. Marche Funèbre - Sombre, pourtant ouvert sur l’avenir
32. Éloge - Lyrique et couronné de tristesse
33. Panique - Panique momentanée - enraciné bien q'essayant de se sauver
34. Rêve - Enfin libre, pas sans tristesse, l'esprit s’envole
35. Marche Funèbre - Triomphe de la tragédie

Charles Sudbury - Funerary Suite no.4 (1832)

36. March - For the subtle approach of Death: to ease the fear and calm the Soul’s gentle mortification
37. Introduction and March - To show the Soul’s newfound delight, and expel the sadness of those who mourn.
38. Dream - As the Soul looks down upon all that is laid aside, a brief moment of grief before the bargaining begins.
39. Panic - For the banishment of all spirits whose heart is not of purest white, and to drive away the evil- minded ghosts that dwell where death is to be found.
40. Flight - As if to dispel all doubts, the cleansed Spirit marks a final path between God and Man, before its ultimate ascension.
41. Eulogy - A final farewell as the Spirit rises unto God; not without sadness we put our faith, and the spirit of our dead, in God’s own hands.
42. March - Now that all is done and as it should be, we may weep without reserve.

Matthew Connisten – Introduction, Dirge and March (1841)

43. Introduction
44. Dirge
45. March

Stanley Eaton – Great Funerary Sonata (1912)

46. Knocking at the Door
47. Introduction to the Angels
48. The Purging of Mortal Sin