Works – Ensemble
Hymns Uproarious
Settings of Sir John Betjeman for Two Reciters and Six Instumentalists
Fl. (picc) Cl./Bcl. A. Sax./Bcl. Tpt. Perc. Vc.
17 mins. (Music available from composer until further notice.)
First Performance: Rosslyn Hill Chapel, London, 1985 cond. Charles Peebles
CD Recording with the Belmont Ensemble cond. Peter Gilbert-Dyson, 1992
Reciters Benjamin Luxon and Sheila Amit
The Echoing Green for Wind Quintet
Fl./Picc. Ob./Cor Ang. Cl./Bcl. Bsn. Hn.
7 mins. (pub. Music Shop Europe)
First Performance: Royal Academy of Music 1992
Harps of Gold
Commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music Harp Department
Four harps
10 mins. (pub. Music Shop Europe)
First Performance: United Kingdom Harp Association, London
28th November 1993
Some Corner of a Foreign Field
Commissioned by London Musici
String 4tet and String Orchestra
14 mins. (pub. Music Shop Europe)
First Performance: Bournemouth International Festival – London Musici cond. Mark Stephenson
12th June 1994
Kol Simcha (Ballet)
Commissioned by London Musici
For Traditional Jewish Folk Ensemble
Cl. in C, Cl. In B flat, Tpt. Tbn. 1 Perc. Accordion, 2 Vl. DB.
23 mins. (pub. Chester Novello)
First Performance: St. Johns Smith Square – London Musici cond. Mark Stephenson
12 July 1995
“A score that you longed to hear again, then and there…weeping and whooping by turns…utterly life-enhancing.”
Jenny Gilbert, The Independent, February 1996
“…Superbly danceable music…”
Nicholas Dromgoole, The Sunday Telegraph, February 1996
“…A delight throughout…”
Brian Hick, Musical Opinion, October 1995
Kol Simcha Suite
Fl. Cl. Perc. Pno. Vl. Vc
15 mins. (Pub. Composers Edition)
First Performance: Luton Music Club October 1998
Weimar
Commissioned by the Purcell School
1, (Picc.) 1, E Flat Cl. 1, T. Sax. Bsn. 1, 1, 1,
1 Perc. Pno. Harp, 2 Sopranos, 2 Vls. Vla. Vc. DB
(Could be Played With a Small String Section, eg 54321)
18 mins. (Pub. Composers Edition)
First Performance: Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham
Purcell School Contemporary Music Ensemble cond. Edward Longstaff
24th June 2000
“The most enjoyment of the evening came in Adam Gorb’s Weimar. There was plenty of fun and feeling here in what was close to music theatre – with gunshots and scat singing.”
Robert Beale, Manchester Evening News, June 2000
“Adam Gorb’s Weimer, receiving its world premiere, was the most immediately impressive, both for its dramatic intensity and masterly scoring. Gorb candidly acknowledged his indebtedness to others, including Schoenberg and Duke Ellington, but you can also detect Messiaen, Varese and even Maxwell Davies in this glorious post-modern mix of styles.”
David Hart, The Birmingham Post, June 2000
Diaspora
Commissioned by the Goldberg Ensemble
6 Vls. 2 Vlas. 2 Vcs. DB
15 mins. (Pub. Composers Edition)
First Performance: St. John’s-in-the-Square, Wolverhampton
Goldberg Ensemble cond. Malcolm Layfield
15th February 2003
“…this deeply felt, finely crafted and disturbingly emotional work made a tremendous impact. It should be played far and wide.”
David Hart, Birmingham Post, February 2003“…Adam Gorb’s Diaspora…was beautifully constructed programme music, with, typically, no dull moments.”
Robert Beale, Manchester Evening News February 2003
Burlesque
For Clarinet Choir (2004)
Version for Saxophone Choir (2005)
Commissioned by the British Clarinet Ensemble with Financial assistance from the Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain (CASS)
10 mins. (pub. Maecenas)
First Performance: University of Maryland, Washington USA
British Clarinet Choir cond. Charles Hine
CD Recording, British Clarinet Ensemble, BCE 102 (2005)
“Adam Gorb’s expertise in writing for winds is second to none and this Burlesque has proved to be a substantial addition to the repertoire,….There are the Klezmer swoops familiar to those who know Gorb’s work together with wonderful use of flutter tongue, grace notes, glissando and key clicks. An effective mix of pastiche and special effects are delivered with a twinkle in the eye, a good dose of Stravinsky and an unerring sense of drama…..you must programme it!”
Charles Hine, Clarinet and Saxophone Magazine, 2005
Quarrel
Flexible Instrumentation
Commissioned by Contemporary Music for Amateurs (COMA) with funds provided by the Esmee Fairburn Fund
4 mins. (pub. Awayday)
First Performance: COMA Summer School, 27th June 2005
A Better Place
Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Piano.
Commissioned by the Zephyr Ensemble of London with funds provided by the RVW Trust and the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
7 mins. (Pub. Composers Edition)
First Performance: Luton Music Club, 23rd October 2006
Zephyr Ensemble of London
Fasolt’s Revenge
4 Euphoniums, 4 Tubas, 2 Percussion
Commissioned by Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble
8 mins. (Pub. Composers Edition)
First Performance: Weil Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, USA
28th January 2007
Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble conducted by Winston Morris
Dancing in the Ghetto
Picc. Ob. Cl/Bass Cl. Bsn. 1, 1, 1,
2 Perc. Piano, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
4 mins. (Pub. Composers Edition)
First Performance: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group cond. Peter Wiegold
11th May 2008
Into the Light
Written for the RNCM Cello Ensemble
8 Cellos
10 mins. (Pub. Composers Edition)
First Performance: Royal Northern College of Music Manchester
RNCM Cello Ensemble conducted by Clark Rundell
14th November 2008
“And I also liked Adam Gorb’s ‘Into the Light’, which – as its title suggests – moved from Stygian gloom to Straussian ecstasy and even ended on a glowing optimistic major chord…”
Richard Morrison, The Times
January 2011
“Adam Gorb’s Into the Light immediately suggested the dark world of Sibelius’s Fourth Symphony, a piece that gradually escaped such a maze into lyrical acceptance and Tippettian radiance and beauty.”
Colin Anderson
Subsequent performances by Cellophony and the cello section of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Desta (2017)
(Pub. Composers Edition)
CD Recording Toccata Classics TOCC0504
“…the piece is infectiously attractive from the first note to the last, a worthy, life-enhancing five-minute memorial to a person who was, by all accounts, full of life. I had never heard any of Adam Gorb’s music before, but I will now be seeking it out.”
William Hedley MusicWeb International
Awayday
(arranged by Jonathan Wintringham, revised Adam Gorb)
Saxophone Ensemble: 1 Sopranino, 2 soprano, 3 alto, 3 tenor, 3 baritone, 1 percussion
6 min. (pub. Maecenas)
First Performance: RNCM conducted by Rob Buckland 22nd March 2018
Yiddish Dances Chamber version (2020)
1 (picc), 1, Eb Cl, 1, Bcl, Bsn, Alto sax, 1,2,1,1 2 perc.
YouTube performance University of Melbourne Dec 3rd 2021
15 mins Pub. Maecenas
Bohemian Revelry Chamber version (2021)
1 (picc), 1, 2, Bcl, Bsn, Alto sax, 1,2,1,1 2 perc.
15 mins Pub. Maecenas