A list of the compositions recorded by Graham Collier, and
other major pieces written during his forty-five year
career
Where CDs are named click in
Recordings and
More for
further information
* indicates some analysis or other writing, click for the
Writings Index
A
*Aberdeen
Angus
(1967)
Down Another Road
(album included in first BGO compilation). Included
in
Back to the Bus, Babyshambles
(a compilation of tunes listened to on the Babyshambles
tour bus).
Different versions were recorded on
Adam’s Marble
(also used the CD accompanying
Interaction),
and as
An Alternate Aberdeen Angus
on
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks
(2003)
Adam
(1974)
Midnight Blue
(album included in third BGO
compilation)
Adam's
Marble
(1986)
Adam's Marble
Alexandria
Quartet (1965/6) A suite for
big band and voices inspired by Laurence Durrell’s
novels. Unrecorded partially because Durrell’s agent
told me in no uncertain terms that he would not allow his
words to be used in such a
composition.
And
Now for Something Completely Different
(1971)
Portraits
(album included in second BGO
compilation)
B
The
Barley Mow (1962)
Down Another Road
(album included in first BGO compilation). Recorded in a
different version on
Workpoints.
That version issued included in
The Cuneiform Story
compilation
(a Jazz Italia cover-mount CD).
The
Bass Saxophone (1989) Music for a
BBC adaptation of Josef Skvorecky’s novella for a
production which won the Sony Drama Prize of that
year.
Bird (1995 ) Music for
Radio Three Drama by David Halliwell.
Blue
Spring (2000)
Winter Oranges
The
Blue Suite (2006):
Kind of Sketchy
Kind of So What
Kind of Freddie
Kind of Green
All Kinds.
Unrecorded as yet. Inspired by the ideas behind Kind of
Blue.
Bread
& Circuses (2000)
Bread and Circuses
Introduction
Ballad One
Clapping
Pattern One
Interlude
Pattern Two
Ballad Two
Blues
Coda
Bread
& Circuses.
Ballad One was included in Forty Years On,
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks
(2003) as
An Alternate Low Circus Ballad.
Bright
as Silver (for Don & John) (1994)
Adam's Marble
British
Conversations (1975)
Red Sky in the
Morning
Clear Moon
Halo Round the Sun
Red Sky at Night
Mackerel Sky
Commissioned
by Swedish Radio for their big band and performed in
Stockholm in 1975.
Clear Moon
and
Mackerel Sky
have been used as separate items and are listed
elsewhere.
C
Café
Blues (1975)
Unrecorded. Inspired by Carson McCullers’
novella
Ballad of the Sad Café
Cathedra
(1974)
Midnight Blue
(album included in third BGO
compilation)
Charles River Fragments (1994)
Charles River Fragments
The
Chief of Rostrums and the Domino Woman (1979)
Recorded but unreleased. Portraits of two minor characters
in Malcolm Lowry’s
Under the Volcano
Clear
Moon (1975) (From
British Conversations)
Workpoints
Contrapuntal
Forms (1968)
Contrapuntal Forms
The Donkey
Motif No. 3
The Wrestlers
Trigon
Commissioned
by Harlow Festival. Inspired by five sculptures in the
town
Conversations (1967)
Deep Dark Blue Centre
(album included in second BGO
compilation)
Conversations
with Magic Stones (1990)
Breathing
Dawn Dance
Moonlight
Feeding Time
Unrecorded. Inspired by a Barbara Hepworth
Sculpture
seen in St. Ives, Cornwall.
Crumblin’
Cookie (1964)
Deep Dark Blue Centre
(stereo version of album
included in second BGO compilation). Included in two
compilations by
whatmusic.com:
Trailer Happiness, Velvet
Voodoo,
and
New Tokyo
International Jazz Airport meets whatmusic.com
Crystals
of Space and Time (1985)
Unrecorded suite written to
complement a performance of Hoarded Dreams for WDR in
Cologne and the
Camden Jazz Festival.
D
Danish
Blue (1968)
Down Another Road
(album included in first BGO
compilation)
Darius
(1974)
Darius
(album included in third BGO compilation); Parts 1 3 &
4 only Recorded in a different version on
Workpoints.
The
Day of the Dead (1977)
Day of the Dead
(album included in fourth BGO
compilation)
Deep
Dark Blue Centre (1966)
Deep Dark Blue Centre
(stereo version of album included in second BGO
compilation). Recorded in a different version on
Workpoints.
Deserted
Funfair (1985)
Something British Made in Hong
Kong
Down
Another Road (1967)
Down Another Road
(album included in first BGO compilation).
Recorded in a new version 2005 on
Seven’s and Eight’s
by Nostalgia 77, which had over 6,000 plays on their
MySpace page.
In 2007
Universal Japan released this track as part of a 2 CD
compilation by DJ/Producer Jazztronik. Although I was
pleased at the inclusion, it was a blatant breach of my
copyright. When I complained they paid compensation, but
took the album off the shelves... And despite many requests
they have failed to produce royalty statements or even a
copy of the CDs! (This is one episode in a long-running
fight with Universal to get them to acknowledge that I was
reassigned the rights to three of my early albums in 1996.
The full story will be carried elsewhere in due course.)
E
Eggshell
Summer (2000)
Winter Oranges.
Recorded in a new version by George Haslam’s
Meltdown
in 2001. A different version
An Alternate Eggshell Summer
was included in
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks
(2003)
El
Miklos (1966)
Deep Dark Blue Centre
(stereo version of album included in second BGO
compilation)
Eridanus
(1977)
Guitar and saxophone duo added to
The Day of the Dead
when Disconforme issued it as a double CD. Not included in
the fourth BGO compilation version.
F
Five
Characters in search of a Volcano (1979)
Two Hatted Pelado
Indian’s Burden
The Chief of Gardens
The Sad Faced Potter;
The Mad Tyreman.
Recorded but unreleased.
Inspired by five minor characters in Malcolm
Lowry’s
Under the Volcano.
Forest
Path to the Spring (1977)
Symphony of Scorpions
(album included in fourth BGO
compilation)
Forty
Years On (2003)
Between a Donkey
and a Rolls Royce
An Alternate Aberdeen Angus
An Alternate Ryoanji
An Interlude
An Alternate New Conditions and some Out Blues
An Alternate Eggshell Summer
Mackerel Sky, An Alternate Blues
An Alternate Low Circus Ballad
An Alternate Third Simple Piece
A relook at some pieces written during my career recorded
on
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks. Most sections mentioned
elsewhere on this page.
Four
Pieces for Paul Klee (1989)
Blue Bird Pumpkin
Still Life with Dove
Submerged Landscape
Witches of the Earth
Four
saxophone quartets inspired by Paul Klee paintings.
Published by Advance. Unrecorded but MP3 files available
(see
Recordings and More).
From
Acorns (2007)
Unrecorded. Commissioned by Derby Jazz for performance by
Harry Beckett and the East Midlands Jazz
Orchestra.
From Nine to Infinity (1998)
Commissioned by the IASJ for their ninth jazz meeting.
Recorded on
IASJ Gala Concert.
G
Go
West (1968)
Originally Song Nine from Songs for My Father. Recorded
on
Flare Up
by Harry Beckett
Grown
Men (1984)
Unrecorded. Written for the rehearsal band which later
became
Loose Tubes.
H
The
Hackney Five (1985)
Charles River Fragments.
The track was also used in the CD accompanying
Interaction.
Hirayoshi
Suite (1966)
Deep Dark Blue Centre;
(stereo version of album included in second BGO
compilation)
Hoarded Dreams (1983)
Hoarded Dreams
1
Introduction
II Group One
– five trumpets and a baritone
III Ensemble One – a ballad and a waltz
IV Group Two – an alto flute and three
trombones
V Ensemble Two – controlled freedom
VI Group Three – three tenors and two guitars
VII Coda
Hong
Kong Suite (1958)
The Teeming
Millions
Repulse Bay Romance
Macao Interlude
Unrecorded.
Written while in Hong Kong with the British
Army.
IJK
A
Kind of Game (1979) Musical about
Kim Philby with David Fisher.
L
Little
Ben (1975) Workpoints
Luminosity
(2010)
Yellow Hymn
Blue Monolith
Jardin d’Amour
Above Deep Water
Orchestral Dominance in Red /in Yellow/ in Green
Unrecorded.
A suite, playable in any order, inspired by paintings by
Hans Hofmann.
M
Mackerel
Sky (1975) (From
British Conversations)
Workpoints.
Two different versions,
Mackerel Sky, an alternate blues
and
An Alternate Mackerel Sky
were included in
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks
(2003)
The
Magic Ride (1969) Music for
Documentary on the building and maiden voyage of the QE2.
* memories arrested in space (2007)
Something Rich and
Strange (Full Fathom Five)
An Abstract Sense of Light (Cathedral)
A Glimpse Into Deep Space (Lucifer)
Anywhere Is Everywhere (Phosphorescence)
The Beauty of Space (Reflections of the Big Dipper)
Reverberations In and Beyond (Alchemy).
Six saxophone quartets inspired by Jackson Pollock
paintings from 1947. Published by Advance. Unrecorded but
MP3 files available (see Recordings and More).
Mescalusions
(1985) Unrecorded as
yet
Midnight
Blue (1974) Midnight
Blue (album
included in third BGO compilation)
Midsummer
Dawn (1985)
Something British Made in Hong Kong
The
Miró Tile
(1996)
The Third Colour
Mist
on Water (1985)
Something British Made in Hong Kong
Molewrench
(1968)
Down Another Road
(album included in first BGO compilation)
Mosaics (1971)
Parts 1 to
4
Recorded
live in London in three different performances. One was
chosen for
Mosaics
(album included in first BGO compilation). Two tracks from
another version were first issued on
elastic jazz, sketches of
Britain,
a compilation of British Jazz from the 60s and 70s and
later issued in full as
The Alternate Mosaics
in the second BGO compilation.
N
A
New Dawn (1973)
Darius
(album included in third BGO compilation), and used in the
CD accompanying Interaction.
New
Conditions (1975)
Intro
Parts 1-8
Finale.
New
Conditions
(album included in third BGO compilation).
An alternate New Conditions
(part 6 only) was included in Forty Years On,
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks
(2003)
New
Fire (1980) Commissioned
for Greenwich Festival, based on New Fire Festival of the
Aztecs
A
New Three Chord Trick (1983 ) Commisioned by
TVSouth for the Berkshire Youth Jazz Orchestra
Northern Crescent (1990) Music for a
television drama
O
October
Ferry (1977)
Day of the Dead
(album included in fourth BGO compilation)
One
by One the Cow Goes By (1991-2)
Written for the Royal Academy of Music Big Band. Recorded
on
spirits rising
(RAM records). Sections of this recording were used in the
CD accompanying
Interaction.
The
Other Side (1970)
Recorded on
Flare Up
by Harry Beckett
Oxford
Palms (2001)
Picky Blues and
Ballad One
Open Blues and Ballad Two
One Note Blues and Ballad Three
Clapping Blues and Ballad Four
Commissioned
by George Haslam for Meltdown’s performance at the
Oxford Contemporary Music Festival. Inspired by the two
interlocking ideas of William Faulkner’s Wild Palms.
Recorded by The Collective, Perth, Australia, released
as
Bread & Circuses
P
Pebble
Fresh from the Brook (1984) Unrecorded.
Commissioned by The Danish Radio Jazz
Group.
Plain
Song and Mountain Birds (1988) Unrecorded.
Commissioned by West Deutscher Rundfunk for a concert by
their Orchestra, with soloists Geoff Warren (flute and
saxophone) and Ed Speight (guitar)
Portraits
(1972)
Portraits (album included in second BGO
compilation)
Postal
Order from my Grannie (1974) Songs written
for a musical with Mike Naylor.
Q
Quanahuac
(1977)
Guitar and saxophone duo added
to
The Day of the Dead
when Disconforme issued it as a double CD. Not included in
the fourth BGO compilation version.
Queensberry
Rules (1985)
Something British Made in Hong Kong
R
Rings
of Sound (1981-2)
Crimson &
Saffron
Azure Tinged with Green
Azure Blues
Colour of Bronze.
Unrecorded. Crimson & Saffron was commissioned for the
first meeting of the European Community Youth Jazz
Orchestra. The other pieces were composed later using some
of the same material.
Rolli’s Tune (1968)
Recorded by Harry Beckett’s band on
Flare Up.
Track included in
impressed with Gilles Peterson,
a compilation of British jazz from the 1960s and ‘70s
which also included Lullaby for a Lonely Child from
Down Another Road
(composed by Karl Jenkins) which was the first example of
Universal not asking my permission before using a track
which I owned the rights to. Rolli’s Tune was also
used as part of the background score to
The Long Firm
(BBC Television).
Rosemary
for Remembrance (1973) Commissioned
by Globe for Shakespeare Birthday celebrations. Hamlet
connection. Linked to Sherris for Valour.
*Ryoanji (1973)
inspired by the Japanes Garden in Kyoto. Recorded in two
different versions as part of the Book/CD package
Interaction, Opening Up the Jazz Ensemble
(Advance).
An Alternate Ryoanji
was included in Forty Years On,
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks
(2003).
S
Sea,
Sky and Down (1973) Commissioned
by Southern Arts for Worthing Festival of Literature. Prose
by RHJeffries, poetry by Ted Walker.
Shapes,
Colours, Energy (1995)
The Third Colour
Sherris
for Valour (1973) Commissioned
by Globe for Shakespeare Birthday celebrations. Linked to
Rosemary for Remembrance. Falstaff portrait.
Silver Queen Saloon ( 1977) Songs for play
written by Paul Foster. Part commissioned by Antwerp
Theatre and John Calder
Six
Possible Pictures (1986-7)
I Wall Street Blues
II Stompin’
III Promised Land
IV Death of Kings
V Freedom Now!
VI One World?
Unrecorded. A suite for Big Band looking at the history of
jazz through a contemporary composer’s
eyes.
Smoke
Blackened Walls and Curlews (1970 ) Commissioned
by Bradford festival. Used words by Ted Hughes, Edward
Carpenter, J B Priestley, Mrs Gaskell.
Songs
for My Father (1970)
Song One
(Seven-Four)
Song Two (Ballad)
Song Three (Nine-Eight Blues)
Song Four (Waltz in Four-Four)
Song Five (Rubato)
Song Six (Dirge)
Song Seven (Four-Four Figured).
Songs
for My Father
(album included in first BGO
compilation)
Spring Rain (1985)
Something British Made in Hong Kong
Suite
Sandy Brown (1969) Written for a
concert with Sandy Brown. Derived from Sweet Georgia Brown.
Sweet Fat (1988 ) Music for play
by Jack Kenny and Peter King commissioned by BBC Radio
Three.
Symphony
of Scorpions (1976)
Symphony of Scorpions (album included in fourth BGO
compilation)
T
Thames
Base (1980) Written for
Danish Radio Big band , featured Niels-Henning Orsted
Pederson
Three
Simple Pieces (1997)
Parts 1-3
The
Third Colour; Parts 1 and 2 recorded in a different version
by the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra on
Winter Oranges.
Part Three
was included in Forty Years On,
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks
(2003) as
An Alternate Third Simple Piece.
Three
Solid Gs (1992) Unreorded.
Commissioned by Graz, Austria City Council for performance
at the IASJ Conference.
*The
Third Colour (1997)
The Third Colour.
Recorded in a different version as
*The Alternate Third Colour
on
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks.
Out Blues from The Third
Colour was also included in Forty Years On,
directing 14
Jackson Pollocks (2003)
The
Third Road (1968)
Recorded on
Flare Up
by Harry Beckett, also on three separate albums by Ted
Curson
who added lyrics - and retitled it Lin’s Garden -
when they worked together in Hamburg. The albums - with no
lyrics and varying degrees of composer credit - are
I Heard Mingus,
'Round about Midnight,
and
Travelling On.
Tinted Autumn (2000)
Winter Oranges
To
The Boathouse (1999) Composed for
the Vancouver and Victoria International Jazz Orchestras.
Triptych
(1976):
I Mark Rothko
II Clifford Styll
III Hans Hartung
Big
Band suite , recorded on the same night as
Symphony of Scorpions.
Added to
The Day of the Dead
when Disconforme issued it as a double CD. Not included in
the fourth BGO compilation version.
U
Ultramarine (1979) South East
Arts Commission. Title (only) from Malcolm
Lowry.
Under
the Pier (1973)
Workpoints.
Two different versions were used in the CD
accompanying
Interaction.
Under the Volcano (1979) Dramatic Music
for BBC adaptation produced by John Tydeman. Adapted from
the Day of the Dead music.
V
The
Vonetta Factor (2004)
directing 14 Jackson Pollocks
WXYZ
Walkabout
(1974) Originally a
song in Postal Order from My Granny
Wheel
of Dreams (1970-72) Multi-media
self-portrait, commissioned by Camden Festival. For Norma
Winstone, cello, 7 piece band, pre-recorded voice tracks
and projections on three screens. Words drawn from a
variety of sources including Conrad Aiken, Walt Whitman,
W.H.Auden and Michelangelo.
Where
will they put the blue plaque now? (1970)
Last piece
written in my London flat before they knocked it down.
Whirligig
(1985)
Something British Made in Hong
Kong
Winter
Oranges (2000)
I Blue Spring
II Eggshell Summer
III Tinted Autumn
IV Winter Oranges
Commisioned by The Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra. Recorded
on
Winter Oranges. All sections mentioned above as
separate items.
Workpoints
(1968)
Workpoints
World
Turned Upside Down (1974) Some songs for
a proposed Jazz Opera with Mike Naylor