Opera in Two Acts

1 soprano, 1 mezzo-soprano, 1 tenor, 1 baritone, orchestra
2 (+picc).2.2.2-2.2.0.0-timp (+ flexatone)-harpsichord-str

Libretto by Alexander McCall Smith (Eng,) based on the novel by Muriel Spark

Commissioned by Scottish Opera

for male singer, 3 dancers (silent – optional), 6 players
fl (+alto/picc), cl (+bass cl), perc (1 player), piano (+ electronic keyboard), violin, cello
Libretto: David Norris (Eng.)
Commissioned by the Hampstead & Highgate Festival with support from The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation and The Hinrichsen Foundation
FP: 11 May 2008, Hampstead & Highgate Festival, London, Andrew Slater (baritone), Yvonne Fontane (director), Festival Ensemble / George Vass

‘This is the most impressive and genuinely exciting work by a young British composer I have heard in years. It is, I have no hesitation in declaring, a genuinely original masterpiece – an utterly compelling piece of serious art-music.’
ClassicalSource.com (September 2017)

‘… a score that deftly conjures up the songs and dances of the era, but also has an apt, brittle edge … ‘
Richard Morrison, The Times (7 July 2015)

‘ … his sheer vigour and intrinsic sense of drama won the day … Thomas Hyde clearly has dramatic as well as musical potential, and his work drew a full-house, enthusiastic audience.’
Jill Barlow, Tempo (January 2009)

‘… a score which was certainly alive in its own way to possibilities of humour, and which responded to Norris’s deft verse with parodies of Handel and of Finzi … Though it may be too early to announce a new theatrical talent, Hyde in the meantime is certainly one to be watched.’
Nicholas Williams, Opera (July 2008)

‘ … a quirky, clever score … with a promising grasp of what it takes to make music-theatre work … With a modest but punchy chamber ensemble conducted by George Vass, it turned small history into surprisingly large musical gestures.’
Michael White, Opera Now (September 2008)

for orchestra
2.2.2.2-2.2.0.0-timp-str

for symphony orchestra
pic.2.2.corA.3.3-4.3.3.1-timp-perc (2 players): hi-hat/cymbals/bass drum/2 congas/2 bongos/suspended cymbal/triangle/whip/tambourine/claves/vibraslap/snare drum – harp – strings
FP: 10 March 2018, City Halls, Glasgow, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Geoffrey Paterson

‘… driven by a gravitational relevance and personal belief.’
The Scotsman (March 2018)

‘… Thomas Hyde’s Symphony was a world premiere and the most immediately arresting of the evening’s pieces, its drama punctuated by congas and bongos, glissando trombones and some highly original writing for the strings.’
The Herald (March 2018)

‘Overriding any such embracing of the symphonic heritage, however, was a refreshing individuality that is the mark of a fully-fledged creative artist … In its breezy eclecticism, Hyde’s new Symphony ranges, hawk-like, over the entire symphonic tradition and reinvigorates it with a refreshingly quirky approach to structure and notably limpid, uncluttered textures.’
Paul Conway, Musical Opinion Quarterly (July 2018)

for symphony orchestra
3(3+pic).2.2.2. – 4.3.3.1 – timp – perc (2 players): 2 tambourines/little gong/triangle/bass drum/suspended
cymbal/snare drum/2 pairs of cymbals/xylophone/3 chinese temple blocks/hornophone (optional) – harp – strings
FP: 13 July 2018, Lichfield Festival, BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Dalia Stasevska

‘Hyde has written a worthy tribute to an irreplaceable comic talent. Light-hearted comedy overtures have a strong tradition in British orchestral music, from William Walton’s Scapino and Portsmouth Point to Malcolm Arnold’s Beckus the Dandipratt and Peter Maxwell Davies’s Mavis in Las Vegas. Hyde’s overture joins their select but cherishable number with its uproarious character and unabashed emphasis on orchestral colour and melody.’
Musical Opinion Quarterly (April 2019)

for chamber orchestra
1 (+picc).1.1.1-1.0.0.0-strings (64442)
Commissioned by the Lucille Graham Trust
FP: 10 October 1999, Royal Academy of Music, London, RAM Players / Ludovic Morlot

‘Thomas Hyde’s ‘miniscule’ symphony is an impressive miniature – its three movements lasting around 10 minutes in total – which deserves wide exposure: attractive, yet modern, it is a real symphony, in that the composer subtly inverts the first movement material in the finale, thus binding the piece together admirably.’
Robert Matthew-Walker, Classical Source (June 2011)

for 10 players (or small orchestra)
1.1.1.1-1.0.0.0-1.1.1.1.1 (or small string orchestra)
Commissioned by private patrons with funds from the Royal Academy of Music and RVW Trust
FP: 14 March 2015, Royal Academy of Music, London, Junior RAM Ensemble / Matthew Taylor
Published by Composers Edition – Buy Now

Nine miniatures for string quartet
FP (No.1): 18 October 2013, Little Missenden Festival, Benyounes Quartet

Commissioned by the London Chamber Music Society with funds from the John S Cohen Foundation
FP: 28 February 2010, King’s Place, London, Allegri String Quartet

‘ … a substantial work that makes imaginative use of delicate string quartet textures and draws its formal sense from the interplay between atonal and tonal techniques, creating a fascinatingly robust but subtle kind of dynamism.’
Guy Dammann, The Guardian (7 January 2015)

‘The first movement, with its striking designation ‘Agitato – Andante con brio’ is Hyde at his best, what he terms ‘a storm scene’ that settles down into an eloquent melody the more effective for its brevity. The second movement is more than twice as long and involves stronger contrasts in an ambitious attempt to balance questing deliberation against energetic aspiration … it charts an unusually wide-ranging trajectory and ends with tellingly heartfelt restraint.’
Arnold Whittall, Tempo (July 2013)

‘The material is quite dense in places, patterns constantly shifting, and Hyde is not afraid to employ twelve tone procedures …  whilst Schoenberg may be a solid port of call, I sensed also a deep admiration for Bartokian texture, rhythm and colour. It’s a fine work.’
Jonathan Woolf, Musicweb International (January 2013)

‘ … surely Hyde’s most significant piece to date. Here the two movements counteract each other in an almost dialectical process: the initial Allegro, with crescendoing chords that permeate its tensile course through to the heightened coda, followed by a Lento which – at twice the length – builds through a series of ever more animated paragraphs to an eloquent climax, before yielding to a coda whose repose is the tangible destination of the whole work.’
Richard Whitehouse, International Record Review (December 2012)

for viola and ensemble of 4 players (flute (+alto), clarinet, harp, cello)
Commissioned by the Little Missenden Festival with funds from Arts Council England
FP: 12 October 2003, Little Missenden Festival, Edward Vanderspar (viola), Eliza Marshall (flute), Catriona Scott (clarinet), Ruth Potter (harp), Katherine Jenkinson (cello)

‘Hyde’s sensuous, lyrical writing for the solo instrument was given full rein in Vanderspar’s gripping performance, buoyed up by the rich, luminous textures from the other instrumentalists, which would as suddenly lighten into beautiful soloistic moments. The structure of the work, too, draws the listener in – the music begins in full energy but gradually unwinds to an exquisite stillness, though not before a potent viola cadenza.’
Catherine Nelson, The Strad (February 2004)

‘… despite its being inspired by the colours of autumn leaves in New England, the music has a restless quality in which its very fragmentation somehow magically coalesces into a cohesive shape.’
Fanfare Magazine [USA] (August 2013)

for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet
FP: 20 June 2001, Spitalfields Festival, London, Catrin Finch (harp) / Manson Ensemble / Simon Bainbridge

for eight cellos
FP: 28 March 2000, Royal Academy of Music, London, Royal Academy of Music Cellists / Edward Gardner

Miniature for solo trombone
Commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music to celebrate its 200 anniversary
FP: 23 April 2021, Royal Academy of Music, Hannah Stell (trombone)

for violin and piano
Commissioned for Jennifer Pike
FP: 3 October 2014, Little Missenden Festival, Jennifer Pike (violin) & Tom Poster (piano)

for cor anglais (or cello) and piano 

Commissioned by Music Past & Present 
FP: 13 February 2005, Jacksons Lane Community Centre, Highgate, London, 
Emma Feilding (cor anglais) & Martin Cousin (piano) 

Published by Composers Edition

FP: 19 February 2002, Royal Academy of Music, London, Katherine Jenkinson
Published by Composers Edition – Buy Score

‘Those who know Britten’s first two cello suites are likely to hear echoes, not least because Hyde’s technical deftness – he  really understands instruments – involves a not un-Brittenish flair for turning those inescapable cello clichés to good use.’
Arnold Whittall, Tempo (July 2013)

‘… its pithy overall sequence (apparently made even more so in a 2011 revision), in which three pairs of movements are marked off by brief interludes, deftly elides between the succession of dance-types found in the Baroque format and an overarching accumulation of activity which endows the whole with a seamless momentum.’
Richard Whitehouse, International Record Review (December 2012) 

for solo harp
FP: 24 November 2000, Royal Academy of Music, London, Ruth Potter 

for organ
Commissioned by the Orgelbüchlein Project
FP: 18 October 2012, Festival Toulouse les Orgues, France, William Whitehead

for organ

1. Improvisation on ‘Puer natus’ (2010)
Commissioned for the BBC/EBU Christmas broadcast
FP: 19 December 2010, St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, London, Stephen Farr

2. Lucis Creator (2005)
Commissioned by Norman Harper
FP: 22 October 2005, Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, Norman Harper   

3. Easter Alleluyas (2011)
Commissioned by the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music
FP: 11 May 2011, St Pancras Church, London, Leon Charles 

‘Organist Stephen Farr is given the chance to shine both as soloist and accompanist. The premiere recording of Thomas Hyde’s ‘Improvisation on Puer natus’ sees him bring out the subtleties of the music through changes of register and his formidable technique.’
The Cherwell (November 2012)

for organ
Commissioned by Choir & Organ Magazine
FP: 31 March 2007, Rosslyn Hill Chapel, Hampstead, London, William Whitehead

for piano
Commissioned by the Presteigne Festival of Music & the Arts
FP: 28 August 2006, St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne, Evelina Puzaite
Published by Composers Edition – Buy Score

‘These three pieces, which get progressively shorter in a 3:2:1 ratio, conjured the impression of a feverish mind aspiring to sleep but continuing to juggle notes … Evelina Puzaite delivered them with conviction.’
Rhian Evans, Musical Opinion (November 2006)

for voice and piano
Texts: Muriel Spark & Alexander McCall Smith (Eng)
FP: 24 November 2021, Stapleford Granary [recording session]
Lucy Schaufer (mezzo-soprano) / Huw Watkins (piano)

for soprano, harp and 5 players (fl.cl.vn.vla.vc)
Text: Ted Hughes (Eng.)
Commissioned by the Presteigne Festival with funds from the Arts Council of Wales
FP: 26 August 2013, St Andrew’s Presteigne, Helen-Jane Howells (soprano), Presteigne Festival Players / Chris Hopkins

for voice and piano
Text: Philip Larkin (Eng.)
FP: 28 August 2003, Merton Abbey Mills, London, Anna Flannagan (soprano), Gemma Hitchen (piano)

for SATB choir and organ
Text: Mass Ordinary (Latin)

Commissioned by King’s College London and the Presteigne Festival

FP: 27 August 2023, St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne
Choir of King’s College London / Joseph Fort

Motet for unaccompanied voices in 40 parts
Text: Alexander McCall Smith (Eng)

Commissioned by the Lichfield Festival on its 40th anniversary, with the generous support of Frances Yorke, in memory of her husband Michael, Dean of Lichfield, 1999-2004

FP: 9 July 2022, Lichfield Cathedral, 
Combined Choirs: The Caprice Singers, Pieces of Eight, The Gentlemen of the Lichfield Cathedral Choir, Patrick Craig (conductor)

for unaccompanied SATB choir

1. O nata lux (October 2002) 8’
Text: Hymn for Lauds on the Feast of the Transfiguration (Latin)
FP: 30 November 2002, Keble College Chapel, Oxford, Commotio / Matthew Berry

2. Dic nobis Maria (June 2018) 3’
Text: from the Easter sequence ‘Victimae paschali laudes’ (Latin)

for four unaccompanied voices (SATB)
Text: Stephen Romer (Eng.)
FP: 17 June 2019, Worcester College, Oxford

for unaccompanied SATB
Text: Luke I: 46-55 (Latin)
Commissioned by the Concertgebouw Bruges
FP: 29 November 2017, Concertgebouw Bruges, The Sixteen / Eamonn Dougan
Published by Composers Edition – Buy Now

for unaccompanied SATB choir
Text: 16th century
Published by Composers Edition – Buy Now

for soprano and bass soli, SATB choir and organ
Text: Magnificat Antiphons (Latin)
Commissioned by St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge
FP: 29 November 2015, St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, Clare McCaldin (mezzo), Cheyney Kent (bass), Choir of St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge / Stephen Farr
Published by Composers Edition – Buy Now

for unaccompanied SATB choir
Text: William Shakespeare (Eng.)
Commissioned by the John Armitage Memorial Trust in memory of John McCabe
FP: 28 June 2015, St Mary of Charity, Faversham, City of Canterbury Chamber Choir / George Vass
Published by Novello & Company Ltd. – Buy Now

‘Hyde priorities communication of the text in a direct manner and the work is only two minutes long, but here the style is a perfect recreation of the mid/late 20th century English partsong.’
Choir & Organ Magazine (August 2016)

for SSA choir and organ
Text: Trad. (Eng.)
Commissioned by Downe House School
FP: 10 December 2009, St Nicholas Church, Newbury, Choir of Downe House School
Published by Novello & Company Ltd. – Buy Score 

for unison voices (congregation) and organ
Text: Mass Ordinary (Eng.)
Commissioned for the 25th anniversary of the consecration of St Philip the Apostle, Sydenham
FP: 14 September 2008, St Philip the Apostle Church, Sydenham

for unaccompanied SATB choir
Text: Song of Songs, chapter 2, verses 2-3 & 6 (Eng.)
Commissioned by Katie Johnston and John Hillier on the occasion of their marriage
FP: 20 March 2004, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, Members of Commotio
Published by Novello & Company Ltd. – Buy Now

‘It would make a pleasing alternative to settings of Set me as a seal by Walton and others, for a discerning, musical couple planning their nuptials …’
Alan Spedding, Organist’s Review (March 2012) 

‘… it’s three verses from the Song of Songs contain nothing to which the Sufi mystic or indeed total non-believer could not assent. The music is unexpectedly dramatic and arresting.’
Church Music Quarterly (2012)

for unaccompanied SATB choir
Text: William Ballet (MS Lute Book, early 17 century, Trinity College, Dublin) (Eng.)
Commissioned by the Hampstead Chamber Choir
FP: 17 December 2003, Hampstead, Hampstead Chamber Choir / Eamonn Dougan
Published by Novello & Company Ltd. – Buy Now

‘ … among the more attractive carols of recent years.’
Marc Rochester, Gramophone (December 2012)

‘Uses gratifyingly limited vocal ranges and creates its lilting effect through subtly undulating metre.’
Jeremy Summerly, Choir & Organ (January 2012)

for trebles and organ
Text: Psalm 98, vv.1,4,8. (Eng.)
Commissioned by the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir School Foundation / City of London Festival
FP: 4 July 2001, St Paul’s Cathedral, Choristers of St Paul’s / Huw Williams (organ) / John Scott

for string orchestra
Tema and Tema Elaborata for a set of variations by various composers
Commissioned by the Presteigne Festival 2017
FP: 25 August 2017, Presteigne Festival, Presteigne Festival Orchestra / George Vass
Published by Music Haven

for string orchestra
FP: 14 December 2003, St Bartholomew’s Church, Sydenham, Orchestra of St Bartholomew / Robert Trory
Published by Composers Edition – Buy Now

folksong arrangement for violin, viola, clarinet, horn and bassoon
FP: 10 September 1996, Hoy Kirk, Orkney, Members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra