My Music
We've moved and are currently rebuilding the site - so please bear with us! These pages will eventually contain an expanded selection of David's music. The original site was designed so that the opening bars of the music could be seen while the whole of the piece was being heard
With the march of technology this has changed. The music can now be heard while the score can be seen from beginning to end. This is done mostly electronically, not live.
There are exceptions. The major one is the Oboe Sonata. John Anderson is Principal Oboist of both the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra, based in London. He very generously visited my shed to record my sonata amongst the coffee stains, insect corpses, empty wine bottles and miscellaneous other debris A man of unbelievable talent and tremendous kindliness of spirit and I am very grateful to him.
Several volunteer amateur singers have contributed live music to the site and they and others will make their appearance on the site the near future.
My profound thanks go to them, who, like John, recorded in my garden shed, where in addition to all its other failings, its acoustics fall far short of what you might expect to hear on a professional CD. You might occasionally hear the complaint of an unenthusistic pidgeon, the distant scream of a low-flying jet or the grumble of a petrol driven lawn mower, none of which were intended. Putting all background noises into shade, though, is the talent, tolerance, wit and patience of the singers - to say nothing of their charm and good humour. I am deeply grateful to them all.
And, by the way, I'm bound to say that all original music on this site is copyright David Pugh, allonsong.com!
Calypso - Limboing Down
This is the first of the music for classroom performance pieces. and is an example of how the site works. For more of these kinds of pieces go to the School Music - Introduction page, which explains the thinking behind them.
If a title on the left is preceded by a small circle, it is a one off. If it is preceded by a sideways triangle it is a route to other pieces.
Church Music - introduction
Welcome to the Church music Welcome page. You can access some of David's church music compositions through this page. Where singing is involved, I am delighted by the contributions of friends who have been brave enough to record in my garden shed.
Lords Prayer
A unison setting of the Lord's Prayer for soloist or congregation. The singer is Edna Giblin, a strength and support in the social life of the village of Gazeley and with a beautiful voice.
The opening melody is the introduction for the Cantor - Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us.
God, whose farm is all creation
A setting of John Arlott's famous harvest hymn. Words used by permission and again featuring Vera Giblin.
The technical recording here is not the best that appears on this site but the lilt in the interpretation, to me, is a delight.
Postlude for Organ
The first organ piece on the site.
Instrumental Music - introduction
I have a wide variety of chamber music that will be posted for a time and then replaced. Some is for string quartet, some for piano and a range of traditonal instruments, and one for piano, flute and glockenspiel.
The piece that I am proudest of is an oboe sonata which takes about 15 minutes to perform. It was recorded - in my garden shed where all my equipment is housed - by John Anderson, Principal Oboe of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra. Most things I do are done electronically, using general midi and minor refinements and that is usually good enough, by default. To have a first rate professional play, albeit it with an electronic accompaniment, is, for me as an amateur, an experience of a totally different kind.
Fantasia for Flute, Glockenspiel and Piano
A piece for an unusual combination which neverthe less woks well.
It is written in three main sections, the second one being heralded by four part chords on the glock and the final section being a return to the patterns of the first section.
Invention
A short piece for piano
Oboe Sonata Adagio Semplice, Finale Con Brio
This is the second half of the Oboe Sonata. It comprises the slow movement which goes without break into the finale. As with the first half, it is played by John Anderson.
The pattern of movements is:
Introduction
Scherzo
Adagio Semplice
Introduction-Con Brio
Buffering takes quite a while
Cello Sonata - first movement
The first of three movements
Cello Sonata - slow movement
Cello Sonata - last movement
This movement, the third concludes the Cello Sonata.
Oboe Sonata: Introduction and Rondo
This page contains the first two movements of my Oboe Sonata - Introduction and Rondo. The introduction lays out the main ideas which are developed in the later movements. The Rondo speaks for itself. The third movement is a slow one and the final movement is the Big One, so to speak. These are both on Oboe Sonata page: Andante Semplice and Finale. The structure of the piece is inspired by the Aaron Copland Organ Concerto.
As I've said elsewhere, this Sonata is played by John Anderson, Prinipal Oboe of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Oboe of the English Chamber Orchestra and recorded in my garden shed, would you believe!
Spring Flute
A short piece for flute and piano - evocative of Spring, perhaps.
Dance - for oboe and harpsichord
A short (one minute one second) dance for oboe and harpsichord (primarily but piano will do !)
Sketch for String Quartet
A short sketch for string quartet
Waltz 1
One of three Waltzes for Flute and Piano.
These are all easy on the ear and try to enter into the spirit of the early 19 century.
School Music - introduction
All of music in this section has been generated over the last thirty years for 9 -13 middle schools. There is a number of occasional pieces, starting with Tip Toe Tango, on this page. The instrumentation for these varies. Tip Toe Tango is written for Violins 1 and 2 (of equal difficulty) and Viola and Cello - rather easier. A piano accompaniment is necessary in all cases.
There are also pieces for classroom performance. All these pieces conform to the same orchestration:
a melody suitable for descant recorder, violin, oboe, flute, doubled on the piano
a glockenspiel part (hard beaters best)
two xylophone parts (soft beaters best)
a single line keyboard part doubled on the clarinet (optional)
a percussion part (optional)
a piano part
A strength of the pieces is that they can be performed by melody and piano accompaniment alone. The other elements of the instrumentation enhance the music but are not, strictly speaking, necessary.
There are seventeen classroom pieces altogether. Try the links below to get a flavour of both occasional and classroom music.
All original pieces on this web site are copyright. If you want a copy of any of the pieces for the approximate cost of copying, please get in touch.
Blues Cruise
Another from the collection for Classroom Performance.
This one continues the attempt to try and make stylistic differences in music clearer to young people.
Soft beaters on the xylophones are perhaps more appropriate than hard in several of these pieces
Clog Dance
This is a bouncy, rhythmic (pseudo) clog dance and provides the opportunity to perform accurate dotted rhythms and a gentle crescendo or two.
It was written for descant, treble and tenor recorders, Violins 1 and 2, viola, cello, percussion and piano. It works with Descant recorder, Violin 1 and Piano.
Playing time is 1 minute 25 seconds.
copyright
Hoe Down
Another of the ensemble pieces for classroom orchestra.
This one features first /second time repeat bars.
La Volta
Another short piece in the classroom music selection.
As music teachers will know, La Volta was a popular dance in sixteenth century high Elizabethan society. At different points in the progress of the dance, the male dancer would lift his partner as high in the air as he could.
Here is a replication of the spirit of the dance for youngsters in the middle years. The jump points are obvious and can be re-enforced with percussion.
The change in rhythm may not be quite authentic but is pretty natural.
Party Time Rock'n'Roll
Another piece for classroom ensemble.
War Dance
War Dance - another piece classroom ensemble - with marked dynamic changes.
Tip Toe Tango
A piece aimed at 9 - 13 year old string players with piano accompaniment.
This is one of the occasional pieces for Middle School string players.