Works - Chamber

Tango

Violin, Clarinet and Piano
Version for viola, clarinet and piano
5 mins. (pub. Corda)

First Performance:
Purcell Room, London 1985

Animal Dances

Piano Duet
15 mins. (pub. Ricordi)

First Performance:
Adam Gorb and Miles Knapman,
St. Mary's Church, Braughing, Herts, 1989

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Clarinet Sonata

Clarinet and Piano
25 mins. (pub. Ricordi)

First Performance:
Andre Kerver and Andrew Wise,
Enschede, Holland, December 1991

"…coherant musical language with brash motor-rhythms, unashamed flirting with music-hall elements, but also lyrical expression and imaginative use of the instruments…a marvellous addition to the clarinet and piano literature"

Tubantia Holland, November 1991

Listen:
Sample 1

Sample 2

The Dying of the Light

Bassoon and Piano
10 mins. (pub. Ricordi)

First Performance:
Clara Kingslake and Helen Vickery,
British Music Information Centre
8th July 1992

Valse/Nocturne

Viola and Piano
6 mins. (pub. Ricordi)

First Performance:
Martin Outram and Michael Freyhan,
British Music Information Centre
7th December 1993

Liebeslied

Violin and Harp
Commissioned by Skaila Kanga
10 mins. (pub. Ricordi)

First Performance:
Kenneth Sillito and Skaila Kanga,
Whitstable Music Club
17th June 1995

Sonata for Violin and Piano

Commissioned by Thomas Bowes
and Eleanor Alberga
20 mins. (pub. Edition Peters)

First Performance:
Thomas Bowes and Eleanor Alberga,
Spitalfields Festival, London
17th June 1996

"A communicative, tonal work direct in form, Gorb's Sonata doesn't waste a note. An unstated drama impels it forwards, couched in piquantly scored terms, including microtones, its Shostakovichian breadth seems natural and earned."
Timothy Managan, Los Angeles Times 1997

"A tour-de force, ambitious in form, though never heavy handed…most memorable…"
Nicholas Williams, The Independent June 1996

"A poweful, fluently composed work."
Rick Jones, Evening Standard June 1996

Programme Notes

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Reconciliation

Clarinet and Piano
Commissioned by Park Lane
Young Artists Series
12 mins. (pub. Edition Peters)

First Performance:
Elaine Cocks and Rebecca Woolcock,
Purcell Room, London
5th January 1998

"A glittering bell-like ostinato of rising, open fifths and a real test of flexibility and fluency."
Michael White, The Independent January 1998

"Adam Gorb’s Reconciliation launches a sparkier, more combative dialogue for clarinet and piano but finally achieves a tranquil, mellifluous resolution in which the warring elements are pacified. To the great credit of Scott and Dussek, however, their clashing dissonances never sounded rebarbative: on the contrary, tonal beauty was a feature of the strife as much as of the peace."
Barry Millington, London Evening Standard
2008

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Four Temperaments
for Two Guitars

Commissioned by Mark Eden and Christopher Stell
12 mins. (Music available from the composer)

First Performance:
Mark Eden and Christopher Stell,
Wigmore Hall, London
28th November 1999

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Bittersweet

2 Violins, Cello and Piano
Commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble
3 mins. (pub. Edition Peters)

First Performance:
Wigmore Hall, London
23rd March 2001

CD recording NMC D080

Programme Notes

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Life Sentence

Double Bass and Piano
Commissioned by the Ida Carroll Trust
5 mins. (pub. Recital)

First Performance:
Jenny Knight and Mark Cracknell
Wells Cathedral School
7th October 2001

String Quartet No. 1

Commissioned by Bromsgrove Music Club
30 mins. (pub. Maecenas)

First Performance:
Maggini Quartet, Bromsgrove Music Club
27th February 2002

"…a finely conceived and impressively mature composition."
David Hart, Birmingham Post

Programme Notes

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Straitjacket

Tuba and Piano
Commissioned by James Gourlay
10 mins. (pub. Bim)

First Performance:
James Gourlay and John Wilson,
Leeds University
7th June 2002

Programme Notes

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Sample 1

Sample 2

Tubaccata

2 Euphoniums and 2 Tubas
3 mins. (Music available from the composer)

First Performance:
Tubalate,
Royal Northern College of Music
14th November 2003

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Yiddish Dances

Arrangement for Piano Duet
Commissioned by Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow.
16 mins. (pub. Maecenas)

First Performance:
Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow,
St. Mary's Church Beverley
17th September 2004

CD Recording - Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow, Divine Art 25032 (2005)

Programme Notes

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Sample 1

Sample 2


Piano Duet Version - Sample 1

Piano Duet Version - Sample 2

Freedom

Oboe and Harp
9 mins. (Pub. Edition Peters)

Written for Melinda Maxwell
CD Recording - Melinda Maxwell and Hugh Webb CDLX 7180 (2005)

Programme Notes

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clEarinG

Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano
2 mins. 30 secs.
(Music available from the composer)

First Performance:
Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
22nd June 2008

String Quartet No. 2

Commissioned by her family to celebrate the 85th birthday of Thilde Frankel on December 13th 2008
11 mins. (pub. Edition Peters)

Private Performance at
Thilde Frankel’s house
6th December 2009

First Public Performance:
Royal Northern College of Music Manchester
Apponyi Quartet
January 8th 2010

"Adam Gorb’s String Quartet no. 2 could hardly have offered a greater contrast. Premiered by the Apponyi Quartet, it fell into four clearly delimited sections within its 11-minute total, changing speed and character each time. More than once it seemed to search after the wistful, viola-solo meditative quality that is to some the essence of Englishness. Tantalisingly, it deserted those moments of sunlit beauty almost as soon as it discovered them."
Robert Beale, January 2010

Programme Notes

Listen:
Sample 1

Sample 2