Julian Marshall joins Novello
22nd March 2016
A musician with a rich and varied output, Marshall has composed pieces for soprano Melanie Pappenheim and tenor James Gilchrist among others, as well as music for film and the stage. He has also written for and performed with various bands and has a number of hit records to his name. In recent years, he has turned his attention to choral music, composing an SATB work The Divine Image, a series of Christmas carols on traditional texts including In the Bleak Midwinter and The Holly and the Ivy, and a collection of settings of William Blake, Dark Disputes and Artful Teasing, which will be among the first Novello publications.
Marshall is a graduate of the Royal College of Music whose career to date has ranged from song writing and composing to record producing, teaching and mentoring. He was co-creator (with Kit Hain) of the group Marshall Hain, whose single Dancing in the City went platinum in 1978, and was a member of the band The Flying Lizards, who scored a top five UK hit with the single Money in 1979. In the 1980s he formed the group Eye to Eye with American songwriter and performer Deborah Berg. The group recorded two classic albums for Warner Brothers produced by Steely Dan producer Gary Katz and a latter-day third album produced by Roxy Music producer Rhett Davies. He has taught and lectured at Dartington College of Arts, Plymouth University, Middlesex University and Dartington International Summer School. He currently is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) in London.
The premiere performances of Marshall’s Blake cycle Dark Disputes and Artful Teasing for a cappella choir and tenor will take place on April 28 (London) and April 30 (Suffolk) where they will be performed by tenor James Gilchrist and vocal ensemble Rubythroat conducted by George Jackson (further details below).
Writing about the cycle, the composer says:
The musical style, reflecting both the diversity of the Innocence and Experience poems and my musical preferences, is, to say the least, diverse… It’s a bit like you’re in Ronnie Scott's one minute and King's College Chapel the next! I do hope and trust, however, that the overall piece frames these timeless poems in a way that feels like a good multi-experience journey. I love setting Blake – most especially for how he seems to simultaneously sum up expressing both 'grounded' human narrative and the transcendent with effortless grace.
Dark Disputes and Artful Teasing
Julian Marshall
James Gilchrist, tenor
Rubythroat
George Jackson, conductor
April 28, 7:30pm, St Gabriel’s Church, Pimlico,
London, SW1V 2AD
April 30, 7:30pm, St Michael’s Church,
Framlingham, Suffolk, IP13 9BJ
Tickets available from: admin@musicalprojects.co.uk
