A reasonably full list of John Purser's compositions can be accessed at the Scottish Music Centre. Below is a selection of works, along with some reviews.
Compositions on CD and/or published
1986 Prelude and Toccata for Guitar Scottish Music Publishing, Glasgow 1986.
2000 Skyelines I and II for Trombone and Organ Warwick Music UK. Warwick
2000 Skyelines I and II for Trombone and Organ, on CD Dreaming of Islands JWP 010 and on CD The Voice of the Carnyx, BML 016. Commissioned by John
Kenny.
2001 Throat for Carnyx, Soprano and Percussion, full 6-movement version on CD Bannockburn JWP 030, and 4-movement version on CD Forest-River-Ocean BML 024. Commissioned by United Distillers.
2002 Trombone Sonata Warwick Music UK. Warwick. Commissioned by the Hope Scott Trust.
2003 Trombone Sonata on CD A Field of Scarecrows, BML 018
2004 Lament for a Chickadee for Carillon on CD The Bells of Iowa State, Iowa State University Alumni Association, Stanton Memorial Carillon Foundation.
2006 Piobaireachd for Solo Flute – Wai Taheke, International Opus Music, Richmond , and on CD Dreaming of Islands JWP 010.
2013
The Banks of Corrib, Creagan Beaga, Luis, Bonnie on the Deck, Clavier Sonata, Skyelines, Piobaireachd for solo flute “Wai Taheke”, Tha thu air aigeann m’inntinn, Dreaming of Islands on Dreaming of Islands JWP010
Circus Suite, Suite for Unaccompanied Violin, Flute Sonata, The Old Composer Remembers, A Message to Hirini Melbourne, (poetry reading) In Memoriam Hirini Melbourne, Cello Sonata on Circus Suite JWP020.
Bannockburn, Throat, Carrier Strike on Bannockburn JWP030
Musical Compositions – Selected Commissions and Performances
Opera
The Undertaker Comic Chamber Opera, 25’. Commissioned by Scottish Opera and Scottish Television. Edinburgh International Festival 1969. (Libretto by John Purser)
The Bell Children’s Opera, 50’ Commissioned by BBC Radio
Scotland. Broadcast 1974? (Libretto by Sean Purser senior)
Orchestral
Variations
on Amhran Dochais Symphony Orchestra RTESO Dublin Francis Xavier Hall?
Opus 7 Commissioned by the SNO. SNO, Alexander Gibson, Glasgow City Hall?
Epitaph 1916 RTESO, O’Brien, Francis Xavier Hall, 1967? BBCSSO and RTE Televison
Overture Clydefair Commissioned by Clydefair International. BBCSSO, Christopher Seaman, Glasgow Kelvin Hall
Comedy Overture Commissioned by John Noble. SNO, Alexander Gibson, Glasgow City Hall
Bannockburn London Session Orchestra, Christopher Seaman, National Trust for Scotland Exhibition, 23.6.1972-
Stone of Destiny Commissioned by Edinburgh District Council? For the Queen’s Silver Jubilee 1978? Edinburgh Schools’ Orchestra, King’s Theatre, EdinburghAne Gentill Chaunticleer
Concerti
Viola Concerto Commissioned by Connoisseur Concerts, Soloist, James Durrant
Piano Concertino for Youth Soloist and Youth Orchestra, Commissioned by Soloist, Colin Caughie and Milngavie and Bearsden Youth Orchestra. Also Soloist, Murray McLachlan and Strathclyde University Orchestra, conductor Allan Tavener.
Choral Works
Love in Season for SSAATTBB, Commissioned by Cork International Choral Festival - text by John Purser (1976)
A Flight of Saints for Children’s voices and ensemble, Commissioned by Milngavie Junior Singers (texts from Old Gaelic, and John Purser)
The Wren Boys for Tenor, Boys and Male voices, Strings and Organ, Commissioned by BBC Radio Scotland, Paisley Abbey (text Traditional and John Purser)
The Seal of the City of Glasgow for solo voices, audience and chamber ensemble. Commissioned by Strathclyde University for the Bi-centenary (text John Purser)
Chamber Music – Vocal Accompanied
Lines from the Faerie Queene for Soprano, Tenor, Flute and Piano (Spenser) commissioned by Dumfriess Music Society. The Loreburn Ensemble, Dumfriess,
17.1.1978 and January 2002 (revised version).
Throat for Carnyx, Soprano and Percussion (John Purser) (Commissioned by United Distillers) (1997)
Tha Thu Air Aiginn M’Intinn for Soprano and Two Cellos (Iain Crichton Smith) (Skye, Sabhal Mor Ostaig 1999)
Creagan Beaga for Soprano, 2 harps, 2 violins and ‘cello (Sorley MacLean) (For John Muir Trust Wild Land Conference, Pitlochry, 21.10.2004; Skye, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig 2011.
Chamber Music
Flute Sonata - Flute and Piano (1965)
Dances of Ilion for Clarinet and Piano
Three Studies for Horn and Piano
Carrier Strike for Harpsichord, Piccolo & Timpani (Concept: Ian Hamilton Finlay. Models and Photography: Carl Heideken) (1977)
String Quartet 1981 Commissioned by The Glasgow Chamber Music Society. Bochmann Quartet, Glasgow Art Gallery, 1981, London Purcell Room, Dublin Royal Dublin Society.
Skyelines III for String Quartet Commissioned by Victor Rosenberg, Glasgow
Sonata for Violin and Piano commissioned by Peter Mountain and Angela Dale (1989, revised 2011)
Cello Sonata - Cello and Piano, Commissioned by Philip Norris (1987)
Skyelines I and II for Trombone and Organ, Commissioned by John Kenny (1994)
Trombone Sonata - Trombone and Piano, Commissioned by The Hope Scott Trust (2002)
Puna for Taonga Puoro and bassoon, Commissioned by Ben Hoadley (British Museum 2005)
The Banks of Corrib for Viola, Cello and Bronze Age Horn, Commissioned by Music Archaeology Ireland, (St John’s Cathedral, Galway 2009)
Dreaming of Islands for violin and cello (2010)
Silver Reflections for cello and piano, Commissioned by Philip Norris and Lynda Green with funding from Creative Scotland (Ardkinglas House 2013)
Solo Works
Suite for Solo Violin (1970) Commissioned by Leonard Friedman
Toccata for Organ (revised 2003)
Clavier Sonata Commissioned by Gordon Frier (1974)
Prelude and Toccata for Guitar, Commissioned by Philip Thorne (1985)
The Old Composer Remembers for Lute, Commissioned by Robert McKillop (2002)
In Memoriam Hirini Melbourne for solo flute, Rotorua (2004)
Piobaireachd for Solo Flute – “Wai Taheke” for solo flute, Rotorua (2005)
In Memory of Michael Miles for solo flute, Rotorua (2005)
Bonnie on the Deck for solo fiddle (2010)
Luis for solo fiddle (2011)
Song Cycles
Landscapes for Mezzo Soprano and Piano (T.S.Eliot)
Six Sea Songs for Tenor and Piano (Sean Purser)
Incidental Music
Julius Caesar, (Shakespeare) Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 1966
Twelfth Night, (Shakespeare) Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow 1967
Phaedra, (Racine – Lowell) Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow 1966
The Tempest, (Shakespeare) Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 1968
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (Shakespeare) Regents Park Open Air Theatre, London 1966
Kalavrita’s One Thousand Antigones (Kalavrita des Mille Antigone), (Charlotte Delbo). Glasgow Arts Theatre 1981
Columba (Ian Crichton Smith) Edinburgh, Oban, etcetera 1997
Comments on John Purser’s Musical Compositions
Suite for Solo Violin "beautiful and intense . . . impressive . . . and intellectually satisfying" (John France, musicweb-international, May 2014)
"Purser’s Suite for Unaccompanied Violin may just be the most beautiful music written for violin solo since Max Reger and Eugène Ysaÿe" (Jerry Dubins, Fanfare July-August 2014)
Five Landscapes “I would pick John Purser’s ‘Landscapes’ (T.S.Eliot) as showing an unusual flair for word setting and a rich but disciplined imagination.” (The Guardian)
Toccata “There is much subtle thought here, the harmonic progressions being simple but far from obvious . . . Altogether this is a most effective piece,” (Malcolm Rayment, the Glasgow Herald)
Piobaireachd “Wai Taheke” for Solo Flute “Audiences LOVE this Piobaireachd and I highly recommend it! It is modern but not difficult for a general audience, it is well written to explore the flute’s attributes, and it seems that people throughout the world appreciate music with a Celtic influence!” (Alexa Still, Flute Focus 5, January 2006, p.15.)
Flute Sonata “Flautists should be grateful to John Purser . . for providing them with a three-movement work of unusually serious purpose.” (Wilfrid Norris, The
Glasgow Herald)
“This was an impressive work . . the engineering of the climax itself, its deep emotional effect and the gradual relaxation of the tension in a prolonged coda made one look forward with pleasure to Purser’s next opus . .” (John Currie, The Scotsman 6.9.1965)
“John Purser’s most attractive sonata . . The first movement has the freshness and piquancy of Shostakovich: the slow movement is good modern cantabile: the last includes brilliant building with and use of a striking and simple two-note brick.” (Charles Acton, The Irish Times)
Dances of Ilion “a sensitive and imaginative work that has justly been given many performances.” (Malcolm Rayment, The Glasgow Herald 6.6.1974)
“John Purser’s charming and wistful ‘Dances of Ilion’ for clarinet and piano was played with great assurance and beauty” (Conrad Wilson, The Scotsman)
Love In Season “The exquisite fragility of his Love In Season . . expressed in brief episodes of verse and music, imaginative and ephemeral and quite
delightful . .” (Geraldine Neeson, “Cork Choral Festival”, In: The Irish Times, 4.5.1976)
Carrier Strike (with Ian Hamilton Finlay) “With photography by Carl Heideken and music by John Purser, it re-enacts the Battle of Midway . . . Shot in black and white, the music – an inspired blend of timpani, piccolo and harpsichord – surges from perkiness to poignance as the toys tumble into the black void. Spectators are moved and mystified: has an epic tragedy been transformed into a homespun yarn or vice versa?” (Rachel Spence, “The conflict connection”, In: The Financial Times 17.8.2012)
“Purser’s score . . does much for the innate character of the piece by being at once ancient and modern, domestic and stridently aggressive.” (Edward Gage, The Scotsman 10.10.1977)
“It was a pleasure to hear it again; I had forgotten just how good it is.” (Ian Hamilton Finlay to the composer 21.11.90)
“John Purser’s superb score helps bring the story to life, a piccolo conveying the playful qualities of the piece while dissonant harpsichord and urgent timpani reflect the drama and tragedy of war. By juxtaposing the domestic and the military, Finlay reminds us that behind every warzone lies a home front.” (Stewart Smith, The List, 6.8.2012)
“The exhibition begins with a re-discovered moment of genius by the late Ian Hamilton Finlay. Carrier Strike (1977) is a classic Finlayesque clash of the heroic and the domestic: in this case an epic air/sea battle played out on the surface of an ironing board. Photographed by Carl Heideken and set to music by John Purser, the ironing board becomes an aircraft carrier, surrounded by destroyer irons, and small model planes amongst cotton wool clouds. Like all Finlay’s work, the ideas are layered and delivered with gentle humour.” (Ingleby Gallery Ian Hamilton Finlay – Twilight Remembers – www.inglebygallery.com/exhibitions/ian-hamilton-finlay-2/ accessed 4.8.2012)
“Ingleby Gallery’s exhibition draws on Hamilton Finlay’s work in many media, but its core is a rediscovered major piece from the late 1970s, ‘Carrier Strike’: a representation of an epic sea/air battle enacted on the surface of an ironing board. The board is the aircraft carrier, surrounded by destroyer irons and small model planes among cotton wool clouds. This mock-drama is set to music by John Purser, and in its narrative playfulness, cross-over genres and invocation of the domestic resonate with contemporary art now.” (Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times, 4.8.2012)
String Quartet 1981 “ . . masterfully crafted, exuding idiomatic sense . .” (The Daily Telegraph)
“ . . what a moving and exciting work it is . . composed with deep emotionalism and poetic melody . . . it is a pleasure, and honour and an emotional experience to have met with it.”(Charles Acton, The Irish Times, 18.1.1983)
“The work is admirably wrought with an individual stamp, personal and coherent and shaped with character and feeling.” (Mary MacGoris, The Irish
Independent, 18.1.1983)
“The instrumental writing is entirely idiomatic, whether in the soothing lyricism of the second movement’s central section, set dramatically alight in an expressive recitativo or in the taut, electrifying climax of the final largo . .” (Kenneth Walton, The Glasgow Herald 11.10.1984)
Violin Sonata “ . . a gentle valedictory piece . . the result has its own freshness and truth.” (Conrad Wilson, The Scotsman 6.5.1989)
Cello Sonata “The Purser sonata . . provided some of the warmth the Musgrave lacked . . it poetically explored, within a relatively
terse single-movement format, the instrument’s tonal range . .” (The Scotsman, 19.4.1988)
Tha Thu Air Aiginn m’Intinn “ . . bha an ceòl domhain is seunta.” ( . . the music was profound and magical) (Caoimhin MacNèill, An Gaidheal Ùr. Damhair 1999)
Creagan Beaga “But it was the youngsters of Sgoil Chiùil na Gàidhealtachd . . . and old hand John Purser, with a new composition in honour of the poet, who practically stole the show . . . John Purser leaned persuasively into his viola [sic] as he stretched several young musicians and Mary Ann Kennedy’s not inconsiderable vocal range to their limits in a new classical work written for Sorley. He made another important contribution to the event at one of the Parallel Paper Sessions the next day in his talk on ‘Sorley and the music of the bards’ when he argued that Sorley epitomized the bardic tradition in which the sound of words is fundamental to the poetry and suggested that the Gaelic bards’ marriage of poetry and music may have been influential in creating modern opera.” Norman Bissell, Northings, northings.com/2011/06/23/ainmeal-thar-cheudan-a-centenary-celebration-of-sor
28/06/2011
Throat “The astonishing finale is Throat for carnyx, percussion and soprano. Five movements by John Purser reflect ancient characteristics in our music. It is a tour de force from which the haunting fourth movement, Lament, based on the pre-Christian pi-li-li-liu will linger long in the memory.” (Leslie Hills, Skyeline Productions)
The Old Composer Remembers “Purser’s four-movement work The Old Composer Remembers was almost a technical and historical survey of the lute, using a variety of musical forms – memorably, its reflective slow movement and its hard-edged eccentric dance.” (Michael Tumelty, The Herald 4.2.02)
Opera, the Undertaker “The little comedy which he has created with a light hand, is an uninhibitedly obscene burlesque, the music of which has
the spontaneity of a good improvisation, betrays an intuitive sense of theatre, and at the right moment concentrates itself into gracious lyrical
ensembles.”) (Translated from the German of Hans Gál “Oper und Symbolik als Eckpfeiler” In: Nationalzeitung, Bâle, 23.9.1969.)
“The music itself, as we now expect of Purser, is lively, conservative and eclectic . . unashamedly traditional ensemble and set-pieces merge happily in the larger structure before a softer, more rhapsodic conclusion. Throughout, the scoring is pointed and fascinating. The small wind band, single violin, piano and
percussion are never allowed to go stale. Lugubrious ostinati, sharp rhythmical operations and attractive scoring effect all contribute to a highly-coloured and assured score.” (John Currie, “More work for the undertaker” In:, The Times Educational Supplement Friday, September 12th [19th?]1969.)
“The score is light but attractive. From his small orchestra of eight players, Purser conjures a succession of swiftly-moving ostinatos, spinning them deftly on their way, varying them just when they might grow monotonous, scoring them incisively but delicately enough for voices and words in recitative or lyrical passages to come through easily.” (Ronald Crichton “The Undertaker” In: The Financial Times, Monday September 15th 1969.)
“But perhaps the occasion for which this Festival may be recorded in future reference-books was the opera commissioned by 28-year-old John Purser, who had written words and music . . . The Undertaker is neither ‘black comedy’ in the Gianni Schicchi manner (relatives quarrelling around a ‘wake’) nor the fluid
unreality of Il Prigioniero, but a fantastic tale which retrospectively reminded me of a fantastic French film . . . This joyous tale, laughter-provoking, used duets, quartets, solos, recitative. Scoring was effective but sparse.” (M.D.Hastings “Return to Edinburgh ‘69” In Music Volume 3 No6, 1970, p.44.)
“It is lively, colourful and, above all, easily approached by the dedicated opera-lover or the man who thinks he knows nothing at all about music. All of which is simple to understand once you have talked to Purser himself. For the 28-year-old Glasgow-born composer – who studied with Tippett and Hans Gál – has a refreshingly down-to-earth manner and a zest for life which shines through this half-hour piece.” Neville Garden, Radio Times, 26.2.1970.
“Purser is not a composer who worries about idioms, which may in part account for the extraordinary success of his first operatic venture, yet his C-major here will certainly not sound old-fashioned. It is liberally spiced with dissonance, often emphasizing rhythm – which is perhaps the foremost characteristic of the
score. His metrical patterns often suggest a rumba, but they can also be regarded as extensions of those accompaniment figures favoured by Verdi and, later, Stravinsky. The atmosphere of jollity is set emphatically before the curtain rises with a rumbustious instrumental prologue. . . One way in which the words are made clear is by writing a line of inverted aria in which the tune is given to instruments while the voice superimposes natural speech rhythms on the texture. There are, however, normal arias as well as varied ensembles. These last are among the most individual parts of the opera with part writing that is made
colourful through a deft use of dissonance. Reproduced on a piano these voice parts combined mean little, but when sung they have an effect that is memorable.” Malcolm Rayment, The Glasgow Herald, August 1969.
“To commission a comic opera, at short notice, from a young composer new to the genre must have been an act of faith. The result is a brilliant success. The Undertaker, a hilarious and fast-moving mixture of coffins, wine bottles, ghosts and true love, shows a flair for theatrical effects, a mastery of comic cliché and an overall control of pace which are remarkable in a first opera. . . Before considering the musical substance of this little opera, there is one other truly theatrical point which, at the premiere last Monday, shone like a light. Mr. Purser is a uniquely talented librettist. The text of The Undertaker is bright, funny, crisp, singable and full of well contrived comic points. More than this, there is a constant ‘presence’ in the comic script which suggests that Mr. Purser is working on more than one level.” John Currie, The Times Educational Supplement, 5.9.1969.
The Tempest – incidental music and songs “ . . John Purser has enveloped the whole in hauntingly suggestive music.” (Cordelia Oliver, the Guardian ?.1.1968)
“ . . The supernatural atmosphere is established immediately . . – enhanced by John Purser’s solemn organ music. This austere music and the stark setting by Harry Waistnage suggest the mystery of a desert island where strange spirits dwell.” (Allen Wright, the Scotsman 18.1.1968)
Phaedra – incidental music “ . . John Purser’s haunting, veiled musical decorations . .” (Christopher Small, The Glasgow Herald 9.11.1966)
“The music by John Purser noticeably heightened the atmosphere . .” (Cordelia Oliver, The Guardian 10.11.1966)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – incidental music for Regent’s Park theatre production “John Purser’s music, by the way, adds a lot.” (Derek Malcolm, The Guardian
9.6.1966)
Compositions on CD and/or published
1986 Prelude and Toccata for Guitar Scottish Music Publishing, Glasgow 1986.
2000 Skyelines I and II for Trombone and Organ Warwick Music UK. Warwick
2000 Skyelines I and II for Trombone and Organ, on CD Dreaming of Islands JWP 010 and on CD The Voice of the Carnyx, BML 016. Commissioned by John
Kenny.
2001 Throat for Carnyx, Soprano and Percussion, full 6-movement version on CD Bannockburn JWP 030, and 4-movement version on CD Forest-River-Ocean BML 024. Commissioned by United Distillers.
2002 Trombone Sonata Warwick Music UK. Warwick. Commissioned by the Hope Scott Trust.
2003 Trombone Sonata on CD A Field of Scarecrows, BML 018
2004 Lament for a Chickadee for Carillon on CD The Bells of Iowa State, Iowa State University Alumni Association, Stanton Memorial Carillon Foundation.
2006 Piobaireachd for Solo Flute – Wai Taheke, International Opus Music, Richmond , and on CD Dreaming of Islands JWP 010.
2013
The Banks of Corrib, Creagan Beaga, Luis, Bonnie on the Deck, Clavier Sonata, Skyelines, Piobaireachd for solo flute “Wai Taheke”, Tha thu air aigeann m’inntinn, Dreaming of Islands on Dreaming of Islands JWP010
Circus Suite, Suite for Unaccompanied Violin, Flute Sonata, The Old Composer Remembers, A Message to Hirini Melbourne, (poetry reading) In Memoriam Hirini Melbourne, Cello Sonata on Circus Suite JWP020.
Bannockburn, Throat, Carrier Strike on Bannockburn JWP030
Musical Compositions – Selected Commissions and Performances
Opera
The Undertaker Comic Chamber Opera, 25’. Commissioned by Scottish Opera and Scottish Television. Edinburgh International Festival 1969. (Libretto by John Purser)
The Bell Children’s Opera, 50’ Commissioned by BBC Radio
Scotland. Broadcast 1974? (Libretto by Sean Purser senior)
Orchestral
Variations
on Amhran Dochais Symphony Orchestra RTESO Dublin Francis Xavier Hall?
Opus 7 Commissioned by the SNO. SNO, Alexander Gibson, Glasgow City Hall?
Epitaph 1916 RTESO, O’Brien, Francis Xavier Hall, 1967? BBCSSO and RTE Televison
Overture Clydefair Commissioned by Clydefair International. BBCSSO, Christopher Seaman, Glasgow Kelvin Hall
Comedy Overture Commissioned by John Noble. SNO, Alexander Gibson, Glasgow City Hall
Bannockburn London Session Orchestra, Christopher Seaman, National Trust for Scotland Exhibition, 23.6.1972-
Stone of Destiny Commissioned by Edinburgh District Council? For the Queen’s Silver Jubilee 1978? Edinburgh Schools’ Orchestra, King’s Theatre, EdinburghAne Gentill Chaunticleer
Concerti
Viola Concerto Commissioned by Connoisseur Concerts, Soloist, James Durrant
Piano Concertino for Youth Soloist and Youth Orchestra, Commissioned by Soloist, Colin Caughie and Milngavie and Bearsden Youth Orchestra. Also Soloist, Murray McLachlan and Strathclyde University Orchestra, conductor Allan Tavener.
Choral Works
Love in Season for SSAATTBB, Commissioned by Cork International Choral Festival - text by John Purser (1976)
A Flight of Saints for Children’s voices and ensemble, Commissioned by Milngavie Junior Singers (texts from Old Gaelic, and John Purser)
The Wren Boys for Tenor, Boys and Male voices, Strings and Organ, Commissioned by BBC Radio Scotland, Paisley Abbey (text Traditional and John Purser)
The Seal of the City of Glasgow for solo voices, audience and chamber ensemble. Commissioned by Strathclyde University for the Bi-centenary (text John Purser)
Chamber Music – Vocal Accompanied
Lines from the Faerie Queene for Soprano, Tenor, Flute and Piano (Spenser) commissioned by Dumfriess Music Society. The Loreburn Ensemble, Dumfriess,
17.1.1978 and January 2002 (revised version).
Throat for Carnyx, Soprano and Percussion (John Purser) (Commissioned by United Distillers) (1997)
Tha Thu Air Aiginn M’Intinn for Soprano and Two Cellos (Iain Crichton Smith) (Skye, Sabhal Mor Ostaig 1999)
Creagan Beaga for Soprano, 2 harps, 2 violins and ‘cello (Sorley MacLean) (For John Muir Trust Wild Land Conference, Pitlochry, 21.10.2004; Skye, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig 2011.
Chamber Music
Flute Sonata - Flute and Piano (1965)
Dances of Ilion for Clarinet and Piano
Three Studies for Horn and Piano
Carrier Strike for Harpsichord, Piccolo & Timpani (Concept: Ian Hamilton Finlay. Models and Photography: Carl Heideken) (1977)
String Quartet 1981 Commissioned by The Glasgow Chamber Music Society. Bochmann Quartet, Glasgow Art Gallery, 1981, London Purcell Room, Dublin Royal Dublin Society.
Skyelines III for String Quartet Commissioned by Victor Rosenberg, Glasgow
Sonata for Violin and Piano commissioned by Peter Mountain and Angela Dale (1989, revised 2011)
Cello Sonata - Cello and Piano, Commissioned by Philip Norris (1987)
Skyelines I and II for Trombone and Organ, Commissioned by John Kenny (1994)
Trombone Sonata - Trombone and Piano, Commissioned by The Hope Scott Trust (2002)
Puna for Taonga Puoro and bassoon, Commissioned by Ben Hoadley (British Museum 2005)
The Banks of Corrib for Viola, Cello and Bronze Age Horn, Commissioned by Music Archaeology Ireland, (St John’s Cathedral, Galway 2009)
Dreaming of Islands for violin and cello (2010)
Silver Reflections for cello and piano, Commissioned by Philip Norris and Lynda Green with funding from Creative Scotland (Ardkinglas House 2013)
Solo Works
Suite for Solo Violin (1970) Commissioned by Leonard Friedman
Toccata for Organ (revised 2003)
Clavier Sonata Commissioned by Gordon Frier (1974)
Prelude and Toccata for Guitar, Commissioned by Philip Thorne (1985)
The Old Composer Remembers for Lute, Commissioned by Robert McKillop (2002)
In Memoriam Hirini Melbourne for solo flute, Rotorua (2004)
Piobaireachd for Solo Flute – “Wai Taheke” for solo flute, Rotorua (2005)
In Memory of Michael Miles for solo flute, Rotorua (2005)
Bonnie on the Deck for solo fiddle (2010)
Luis for solo fiddle (2011)
Song Cycles
Landscapes for Mezzo Soprano and Piano (T.S.Eliot)
Six Sea Songs for Tenor and Piano (Sean Purser)
Incidental Music
Julius Caesar, (Shakespeare) Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 1966
Twelfth Night, (Shakespeare) Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow 1967
Phaedra, (Racine – Lowell) Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow 1966
The Tempest, (Shakespeare) Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 1968
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (Shakespeare) Regents Park Open Air Theatre, London 1966
Kalavrita’s One Thousand Antigones (Kalavrita des Mille Antigone), (Charlotte Delbo). Glasgow Arts Theatre 1981
Columba (Ian Crichton Smith) Edinburgh, Oban, etcetera 1997
Comments on John Purser’s Musical Compositions
Suite for Solo Violin "beautiful and intense . . . impressive . . . and intellectually satisfying" (John France, musicweb-international, May 2014)
"Purser’s Suite for Unaccompanied Violin may just be the most beautiful music written for violin solo since Max Reger and Eugène Ysaÿe" (Jerry Dubins, Fanfare July-August 2014)
Five Landscapes “I would pick John Purser’s ‘Landscapes’ (T.S.Eliot) as showing an unusual flair for word setting and a rich but disciplined imagination.” (The Guardian)
Toccata “There is much subtle thought here, the harmonic progressions being simple but far from obvious . . . Altogether this is a most effective piece,” (Malcolm Rayment, the Glasgow Herald)
Piobaireachd “Wai Taheke” for Solo Flute “Audiences LOVE this Piobaireachd and I highly recommend it! It is modern but not difficult for a general audience, it is well written to explore the flute’s attributes, and it seems that people throughout the world appreciate music with a Celtic influence!” (Alexa Still, Flute Focus 5, January 2006, p.15.)
Flute Sonata “Flautists should be grateful to John Purser . . for providing them with a three-movement work of unusually serious purpose.” (Wilfrid Norris, The
Glasgow Herald)
“This was an impressive work . . the engineering of the climax itself, its deep emotional effect and the gradual relaxation of the tension in a prolonged coda made one look forward with pleasure to Purser’s next opus . .” (John Currie, The Scotsman 6.9.1965)
“John Purser’s most attractive sonata . . The first movement has the freshness and piquancy of Shostakovich: the slow movement is good modern cantabile: the last includes brilliant building with and use of a striking and simple two-note brick.” (Charles Acton, The Irish Times)
Dances of Ilion “a sensitive and imaginative work that has justly been given many performances.” (Malcolm Rayment, The Glasgow Herald 6.6.1974)
“John Purser’s charming and wistful ‘Dances of Ilion’ for clarinet and piano was played with great assurance and beauty” (Conrad Wilson, The Scotsman)
Love In Season “The exquisite fragility of his Love In Season . . expressed in brief episodes of verse and music, imaginative and ephemeral and quite
delightful . .” (Geraldine Neeson, “Cork Choral Festival”, In: The Irish Times, 4.5.1976)
Carrier Strike (with Ian Hamilton Finlay) “With photography by Carl Heideken and music by John Purser, it re-enacts the Battle of Midway . . . Shot in black and white, the music – an inspired blend of timpani, piccolo and harpsichord – surges from perkiness to poignance as the toys tumble into the black void. Spectators are moved and mystified: has an epic tragedy been transformed into a homespun yarn or vice versa?” (Rachel Spence, “The conflict connection”, In: The Financial Times 17.8.2012)
“Purser’s score . . does much for the innate character of the piece by being at once ancient and modern, domestic and stridently aggressive.” (Edward Gage, The Scotsman 10.10.1977)
“It was a pleasure to hear it again; I had forgotten just how good it is.” (Ian Hamilton Finlay to the composer 21.11.90)
“John Purser’s superb score helps bring the story to life, a piccolo conveying the playful qualities of the piece while dissonant harpsichord and urgent timpani reflect the drama and tragedy of war. By juxtaposing the domestic and the military, Finlay reminds us that behind every warzone lies a home front.” (Stewart Smith, The List, 6.8.2012)
“The exhibition begins with a re-discovered moment of genius by the late Ian Hamilton Finlay. Carrier Strike (1977) is a classic Finlayesque clash of the heroic and the domestic: in this case an epic air/sea battle played out on the surface of an ironing board. Photographed by Carl Heideken and set to music by John Purser, the ironing board becomes an aircraft carrier, surrounded by destroyer irons, and small model planes amongst cotton wool clouds. Like all Finlay’s work, the ideas are layered and delivered with gentle humour.” (Ingleby Gallery Ian Hamilton Finlay – Twilight Remembers – www.inglebygallery.com/exhibitions/ian-hamilton-finlay-2/ accessed 4.8.2012)
“Ingleby Gallery’s exhibition draws on Hamilton Finlay’s work in many media, but its core is a rediscovered major piece from the late 1970s, ‘Carrier Strike’: a representation of an epic sea/air battle enacted on the surface of an ironing board. The board is the aircraft carrier, surrounded by destroyer irons and small model planes among cotton wool clouds. This mock-drama is set to music by John Purser, and in its narrative playfulness, cross-over genres and invocation of the domestic resonate with contemporary art now.” (Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times, 4.8.2012)
String Quartet 1981 “ . . masterfully crafted, exuding idiomatic sense . .” (The Daily Telegraph)
“ . . what a moving and exciting work it is . . composed with deep emotionalism and poetic melody . . . it is a pleasure, and honour and an emotional experience to have met with it.”(Charles Acton, The Irish Times, 18.1.1983)
“The work is admirably wrought with an individual stamp, personal and coherent and shaped with character and feeling.” (Mary MacGoris, The Irish
Independent, 18.1.1983)
“The instrumental writing is entirely idiomatic, whether in the soothing lyricism of the second movement’s central section, set dramatically alight in an expressive recitativo or in the taut, electrifying climax of the final largo . .” (Kenneth Walton, The Glasgow Herald 11.10.1984)
Violin Sonata “ . . a gentle valedictory piece . . the result has its own freshness and truth.” (Conrad Wilson, The Scotsman 6.5.1989)
Cello Sonata “The Purser sonata . . provided some of the warmth the Musgrave lacked . . it poetically explored, within a relatively
terse single-movement format, the instrument’s tonal range . .” (The Scotsman, 19.4.1988)
Tha Thu Air Aiginn m’Intinn “ . . bha an ceòl domhain is seunta.” ( . . the music was profound and magical) (Caoimhin MacNèill, An Gaidheal Ùr. Damhair 1999)
Creagan Beaga “But it was the youngsters of Sgoil Chiùil na Gàidhealtachd . . . and old hand John Purser, with a new composition in honour of the poet, who practically stole the show . . . John Purser leaned persuasively into his viola [sic] as he stretched several young musicians and Mary Ann Kennedy’s not inconsiderable vocal range to their limits in a new classical work written for Sorley. He made another important contribution to the event at one of the Parallel Paper Sessions the next day in his talk on ‘Sorley and the music of the bards’ when he argued that Sorley epitomized the bardic tradition in which the sound of words is fundamental to the poetry and suggested that the Gaelic bards’ marriage of poetry and music may have been influential in creating modern opera.” Norman Bissell, Northings, northings.com/2011/06/23/ainmeal-thar-cheudan-a-centenary-celebration-of-sor
28/06/2011
Throat “The astonishing finale is Throat for carnyx, percussion and soprano. Five movements by John Purser reflect ancient characteristics in our music. It is a tour de force from which the haunting fourth movement, Lament, based on the pre-Christian pi-li-li-liu will linger long in the memory.” (Leslie Hills, Skyeline Productions)
The Old Composer Remembers “Purser’s four-movement work The Old Composer Remembers was almost a technical and historical survey of the lute, using a variety of musical forms – memorably, its reflective slow movement and its hard-edged eccentric dance.” (Michael Tumelty, The Herald 4.2.02)
Opera, the Undertaker “The little comedy which he has created with a light hand, is an uninhibitedly obscene burlesque, the music of which has
the spontaneity of a good improvisation, betrays an intuitive sense of theatre, and at the right moment concentrates itself into gracious lyrical
ensembles.”) (Translated from the German of Hans Gál “Oper und Symbolik als Eckpfeiler” In: Nationalzeitung, Bâle, 23.9.1969.)
“The music itself, as we now expect of Purser, is lively, conservative and eclectic . . unashamedly traditional ensemble and set-pieces merge happily in the larger structure before a softer, more rhapsodic conclusion. Throughout, the scoring is pointed and fascinating. The small wind band, single violin, piano and
percussion are never allowed to go stale. Lugubrious ostinati, sharp rhythmical operations and attractive scoring effect all contribute to a highly-coloured and assured score.” (John Currie, “More work for the undertaker” In:, The Times Educational Supplement Friday, September 12th [19th?]1969.)
“The score is light but attractive. From his small orchestra of eight players, Purser conjures a succession of swiftly-moving ostinatos, spinning them deftly on their way, varying them just when they might grow monotonous, scoring them incisively but delicately enough for voices and words in recitative or lyrical passages to come through easily.” (Ronald Crichton “The Undertaker” In: The Financial Times, Monday September 15th 1969.)
“But perhaps the occasion for which this Festival may be recorded in future reference-books was the opera commissioned by 28-year-old John Purser, who had written words and music . . . The Undertaker is neither ‘black comedy’ in the Gianni Schicchi manner (relatives quarrelling around a ‘wake’) nor the fluid
unreality of Il Prigioniero, but a fantastic tale which retrospectively reminded me of a fantastic French film . . . This joyous tale, laughter-provoking, used duets, quartets, solos, recitative. Scoring was effective but sparse.” (M.D.Hastings “Return to Edinburgh ‘69” In Music Volume 3 No6, 1970, p.44.)
“It is lively, colourful and, above all, easily approached by the dedicated opera-lover or the man who thinks he knows nothing at all about music. All of which is simple to understand once you have talked to Purser himself. For the 28-year-old Glasgow-born composer – who studied with Tippett and Hans Gál – has a refreshingly down-to-earth manner and a zest for life which shines through this half-hour piece.” Neville Garden, Radio Times, 26.2.1970.
“Purser is not a composer who worries about idioms, which may in part account for the extraordinary success of his first operatic venture, yet his C-major here will certainly not sound old-fashioned. It is liberally spiced with dissonance, often emphasizing rhythm – which is perhaps the foremost characteristic of the
score. His metrical patterns often suggest a rumba, but they can also be regarded as extensions of those accompaniment figures favoured by Verdi and, later, Stravinsky. The atmosphere of jollity is set emphatically before the curtain rises with a rumbustious instrumental prologue. . . One way in which the words are made clear is by writing a line of inverted aria in which the tune is given to instruments while the voice superimposes natural speech rhythms on the texture. There are, however, normal arias as well as varied ensembles. These last are among the most individual parts of the opera with part writing that is made
colourful through a deft use of dissonance. Reproduced on a piano these voice parts combined mean little, but when sung they have an effect that is memorable.” Malcolm Rayment, The Glasgow Herald, August 1969.
“To commission a comic opera, at short notice, from a young composer new to the genre must have been an act of faith. The result is a brilliant success. The Undertaker, a hilarious and fast-moving mixture of coffins, wine bottles, ghosts and true love, shows a flair for theatrical effects, a mastery of comic cliché and an overall control of pace which are remarkable in a first opera. . . Before considering the musical substance of this little opera, there is one other truly theatrical point which, at the premiere last Monday, shone like a light. Mr. Purser is a uniquely talented librettist. The text of The Undertaker is bright, funny, crisp, singable and full of well contrived comic points. More than this, there is a constant ‘presence’ in the comic script which suggests that Mr. Purser is working on more than one level.” John Currie, The Times Educational Supplement, 5.9.1969.
The Tempest – incidental music and songs “ . . John Purser has enveloped the whole in hauntingly suggestive music.” (Cordelia Oliver, the Guardian ?.1.1968)
“ . . The supernatural atmosphere is established immediately . . – enhanced by John Purser’s solemn organ music. This austere music and the stark setting by Harry Waistnage suggest the mystery of a desert island where strange spirits dwell.” (Allen Wright, the Scotsman 18.1.1968)
Phaedra – incidental music “ . . John Purser’s haunting, veiled musical decorations . .” (Christopher Small, The Glasgow Herald 9.11.1966)
“The music by John Purser noticeably heightened the atmosphere . .” (Cordelia Oliver, The Guardian 10.11.1966)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – incidental music for Regent’s Park theatre production “John Purser’s music, by the way, adds a lot.” (Derek Malcolm, The Guardian
9.6.1966)