Ray Thompson Music

The Symphony in B minor was composed between December 1880 and January 1881. I “discovered” this early work of Debussy’s fairly recently Unlike the pioneering Impressionist style he became famous for later in life, the ...

Alnwick Symphonic Wind Ensemble (ASWE in short) Alnwick Symphonic Wind Ensemble is a group of talented musicians from Alnwick and North Northumberland, in the United Kingdom it was formed in September 2011 as an offshoot of Alnwick Playhouse Concert...

In 1776 young Mozart was touring Europe with his father. When they arrived in The Hague, The Netherlands, it was just in time for the enthronement of William V, Prince of Orange. The enthronement represented William’s coming of age, as he had been r...

Mozart composed many works for a smaller chamber ensemble. I have adapted, or arranged many of them for wind ensembles of different sizes. Divertimenti Divertimento No. 1 in E♭ major, K. 113 (1771) Divertimento No. 2 in D major, K. 131 (1772) (...

I have been spending a lot of time lately arranging many of Schubert’s works for different sizes of wind ensemble. I have arranged the following works: Ave Maria, Various Impromptus, March Heroique No 1, all 3 March Militaires, various Moments Music...

Pulcinella Suite Stravinsky extracted a purely instrumental suite from his ballet Pulcinella*** which was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Monteux, on 22 December 1922. It has these eight movements: Sinfonia ...

The Petite Suite, L 65, is a suite for piano four hands by Claude Debussy. It has been transcribed many times, most notably in an orchestral version by Debussy's colleague Henri Büsser. I have arranged the complete...

I thought it would be useful, as well as interesting, to discuss late 19th Century and early 20th Century classical music written for dance/ballet. Satie: Parade "Parade" is a ballet with music by Erik Satie and a one-act scenario by Jean Cocteau. T...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prodigious composer in all genres of music. His output included symphonies, concertos and chamber music. He was also a prolific composer of operas. The overtures to the operas were usually written, very quickly, upon co...

Sadly, this isn’t a “find” of a recently discovered Elgar masterpiece, to match his Serenade in E minor for Strings, rather it’s a compilation of the 4 pieces in his harmony musics nos 6 and 7 arranged for symphonic winds by me. His harmony music is...

I came across these different wind quintet pieces recently. They are unusual wind quintet pieces in that they were written for 2 flutes, oboe, clarinet and bassoon. An important part of Elgar's early development as a composer was a wind quintet for ...

The Wand of Youth Suites No. 1 and No. 2 are works for orchestra by Edward Elgar, first performed in 1907 and 1908 respectively. They are based on sketches of music he wrote for a childhood play. Elgar wrote a programme note for Fred Gaisberg of His...

I am currently arranging some of Elgar’s less well known works for wind ensemble.(wind quintet and wind dectet)(They adapt well for wind ensemble.)(Sir Edward William Elgar, (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose work...

Roger Cuthbert Quilter (1 November 1877 – 21 September 1953) was a British composer, known particularly for his art songs. His songs, which number over a hundred, often set music to text by William Shakespeare and are a mainstay o...

I finally got there.I now have 250 scores listed on my site, raythompsonmusic which I started with payhip in September 2024.My 250th piece is an arrangement of a composition by Roger Quilter: A Children’s OvertureI have arranged it for standard wind ...