Five short movements for trumpet, piano, violin, viola and cello — Op. 47
Music by Mark Goddard
New Edition!
Mark Goddard’s Circles is available in various versions. This brand new edition is for chamber ensemble. Composed in 1982, this work won the Royal Academy of Music’s Humphrey Searle Composition Prize, and has recently revised by the composer (2021) and fully typeset to the highest standards. This new edition replaces the old legacy edition of 1982.
Total duration: about 12.5 minutes.
I 3:20 Page 1
II 2:00 Page 8
III 2:30 Page 17
IV 3:00 Page 26
V 1:40 Page 41
Programme Note
The work is intended to be played without long breaks between movements and it is hoped that performance will reveal five circles within a larger one, rather than five separate circles! The musical form is essentially cyclic and centres on a small number of motivic elements, both harmonic and melodic, that reoccur in various guises.
The five movements alternate between reflective and robust moods: slow-fast-slow-fast-slow. The reflective core of the piece (Movement III) is preoccupied by an inverted canon between violin and cello, later passed to trumpet and viola, which encapsulates and distils these intense motivic ingredients.
‘Circles for chamber ensemble’ was completed in 1982 and won the Humphrey Searle Composition Prize at the Royal Academy of Music.
Score and parts available.
YouTube videos
Introducing Circles for chamber ensemble — a short trailer
Follow the Score: Circles for chamber ensemble — follow every note
Sample Pages