Works - Wind Ensemble
Metropolis3 (2 picc), 2, E flat Cl, 4, Bcl, Cbcl, 2, Cbsn, 4 Sax, First Performance: CD recording - RNCM Wind Ensemble cond. Timothy Reynish KLAVIER K1115Z (1996.) CD Recording - Ithaca College Wind Ensemble cond. Rodney Winther MARK 6537-MCD (1995) Winner of the 1994 Walter Beeler "A talented young composer, Adam Gorb, whose bold piece Metropolis was full of striking effects." "His splendid opening piece, Metropolis, was a 15 minute one movement tour de force. This work is a must for professional groups who want a challenging work, which is rhythmically complex, but tonal enough to attract a lay audience. Here is an original voice of whom we shall hear more." Listen: |
Scenes from BruegelCommissioned by the National Youth Wind Orchestra. First Performance: "…Racy red-blooded score…driven by powerful jagged rhythms…scored with an ingenious and original spacing," "Scenes from Bruegel (1994) draws on four of the artist’s depictions of human reality in a ‘sinfonietta’ of vivid contrasts and grimly ironic humour" |
Bermuda TriangleCommissioned by the Northampton Schools Wind Ensemble. First Performance: CD Recording - Northamptonshire Orchestral Winds cond. Andrew Bassey NOWCD 2006001 (2006) Listen: |
AscentCommissioned by the Uster Festival First Performance: "Clearly influenced by Impressionism, Adam Gorb's Ascent, about a painting by Paul Cezanne, presented itself with sophistication and skill in dealing with a specific language of music…. " "Ascent takes its inspiration from the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings by Cézanne as the basis for an accumulation of fanfares towards a plateau of formal and tonal resolution. …a recording which captures the music’s impact but also its delicacy in full measure." "I particularly enjoyed the space he creates in the piece, which it’s sparse scoring. This CD [Towards Nirvana] is a must for all connoisseurs of the wind ensemble." Listen: |
AwaydayCommissioned by the Royal Northern College of Music First Performance: CD Recording -University of North Texas Wind Ensemble cond. Eugene Corporon, Klavier KCD 11091 (1998) "…A creative artist with the same gift for heightened use of vernacular musical language that made Bernstein so successful. One to watch." "It is a bit of a barn-burner, a fun take of an Englishman on American popular culture. I can’t remember anything so attractive since John Barnes Chance wrote his Overture to a Musical Comedy in the late 1960s." Listen: Sample 2 - Symphony Orchestra Version |
Euphonium ConcertoCommissioned by Richmond School Soloist Ian Whitwham First Performance: "The strength and coherence of this work stems largely from its unashamed acknowledgement of tradition. Nevertheless, structural and tonal security do not preclude a boldly innovative style. Indeed, Gorb approaches a contemporary idiom that issues just the right challenge to an ensemble of this age and calibre. The work patently brought much excitement and gave a great deal of pleasure to its youthful performers." |
Yiddish DancesCommissioned by Timothy Reynish First Performance: CD Recording - Rutgers Wind Ensemble cond. William Berz, Mark 3570-MCD (1999) Listen: Sample 2 Sample 2 - Piano Duet Version |
ElementsFor percussion solo and Wind Ensemble First Performance: CD recording, RNCM Wind Ensemble cond. Timothy Reynish, DOYDOY CD 27 (2001) "Everything I have heard by Adam Gorb has intrigued and delighted me, and this work does not let us down. It is full of inventiveness and an extraordinary sense of tone colour." Listen: |
Symphony No. 1 in CCommissioned by Tom Hill for a private party First Performance: Listen: Sample 2 |
Downtown DiversionsCommissioned by a consortium of university bands in the USA First Performance: CD Recording - The Band of HM Royal Marines cond. Chris Pavis CHVCD25 (2006) Listen: |
Towards NirvanaCommissioned by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra First Performance: Winner of British Composer Award, Wind and Brass Category, 2004 "…it is good to have a new 'biggy' in the repertoire and this piece might have been written specially for the programme, it fitted so well, with its dynamic wedge shape, its quiet ending ideal…" Listen: Sample 2
|
Dances from CreteCommissioned by Timothy Reynish First Performance: "Commissioned in memory of William Reynish, and what a wonderful life-affirming piece to celebrate His memory…enormously enjoyable - both for bands to play and for audiences to listen to…to write light classical music well, the music needs to be well crafted, have integrity, be wonderfully and skilfully scored - and Gorb does all these things. This is a piece that should travel, and deservedly so." Listen: Sample 2 |
French Dances RevisitedCommissioned by a Consortium of USA High Schools Premiered in Minneapolis USA in November 2004 Listen: |
Adrenaline CityCommissioned by a consortium of USA Wind Ensembles First Performance: Winner of British Composer Award: Wind and Brass Band Category 2008 "...Cohesive, articulate and full of interest throughout...first class scoring...capturing the stress and vibrancy of 21st century life...a most deserving winner." Listen: |
Sunrise and Safari3 (Picc) 1, 3, Bcl. 1, 4Sax, 4, 3, 3, Euph, Tba, DB, 4 perc. First Performance: |
Midnight in Buenos AiresCommissioned by Harmonie St. Caecilia Blerick First Performance: CD Recording - RNCM Wind Ensemble cond. Clark Rundell Polyphonic QPRM 152D (2007) Listen: Sample 2 |
FarewellCommissioned by the National Youth Wind Ensemble of Wales First Performance: Winner of British Composer Award, "...Highly original work...beautifully scored, brave and epic. The climax is aurally devastating. This winning work is in a class of its own, crafted by a true master of the genre." "It engages the listener right away with the strident clatrinet solo which opens the work, and is complex and demanding yet rewarding, a superb example of what can be achieved in this medium. This CD [Towards Nirvana] is a must for all connoisseurs of the wind ensemble." Robert Parker, ‘Winds’ Listen: |
Tranquility For Wind Ensemble First Performance: Listen:
|
War of the Worlds Commissioned by the Bromley Youth Concert Band and their principal conductor Michael Purton First Performance: Listen:
|
Concertino for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble Commissioned by Tim Watson with funds from the Arts Council of England First Performance: Forthcoming CD Release: Tim Watson and the Hertfordshire County Youth Wind Orchestra conducted by Mark Eager Listen: |
