List of compositions by Robert Simpson


This list of compositions by Robert Simpson is a list of the musical compositions of Robert Simpson sorted by genre.

Symphonies

Robert Simpson is said to have written and destroyed four Symphonies before his first published Symphony. He submitted his official

String quartets

Simpson composed 15 numbered string quartets; a quartet preceding this sequence was written as part of his course at Durham University and may still exist there. He regarded Quartets No. s 1 - 3 as forming a natural sequence, and No. s 4 - 6 are a clearly distinct group related to three Beethoven quartets, though they can all be performed as entirely independent compositions.
  • String Quartet No. 1
  • String Quartet No. 2
  • String Quartet No. 3
  • String Quartet No. 4, dedicated to Basil Lam
  • String Quartet No. 5, dedicated to Angela Musgrave
  • String Quartet No. 6, dedicated to the film-maker Barrie Gavin and his wife Jamila
  • String Quartet No. 7, dedicated to the organist Susi Jeans and written in celebration of the birth-centenary of her husband, the astronomer Sir James Jeans
  • String Quartet No. 8, dedicated to the biologist and entomologist J.D. Gillett and his wife
  • String Quartet No. 9 is subtitled 32 Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Haydn and was dedicated to the Delmé Quartet, who commissioned it, on their 20th anniversary, which was also the 250th anniversary of the birth of Haydn
  • String Quartet No. 10 bears the title For Peace and was composed for the tenth anniversary of the Coull Quartet
  • String Quartet No. 11, also written for the Coull Quartet
  • String Quartet No. 12 was commissioned for the 1988 Nottingham Festival
  • String Quartet No. 13 was commissioned for the 1990 Cardiff Festival and was premiered there by the Delmé Quartet. It is dedicated to the BBC producer Graham Melville-Mason and his wife Alex.
  • String Quartet No. 14
  • String Quartet No. 15

Concerti

Other orchestral music

Other chamber music

Incidental music

  • Incidental music to Ibsen's play The Pretenders
  • Incidental music to Milton's play Samson Agonistes
  • Entr'acte

Vocal

  • Media morte in vita sumus
  • Tempi, for full mixed voice chorus a capella

Compositions for brass band

Compositions for keyboard instruments

  • Piano Sonata
  • Variations and Finale on a Theme of Haydn for solo piano
  • Sonata for two pianos Michael Tippett, His Mystery for solo piano Eppur si muove, Ricercar and Passacaglia for organ
  • Variations and Finale on a Theme by Beethoven for solo piano

Arrangements