Matthew Coleridge
choral composer
An exciting new voice in UK choral music, Matthew Coleridge's compositions blend elements of Medieval music and plainsong with beautiful, shimmering modern harmonies.
His highly approachable music weaves flowing, melodic vocal lines into a rich tapestry of sound.
Buckfast Abbey Requiem workshop
On March 2nd I'll be leading an all-day workshop, culminating with a performance of my Requiem. Buckfast Abbey has one of the best acoustics for choral music in the South-West, and we'll be working with David Davies at the brand new Ruffati pipe organ. Join us for an unmissable day of glorious choral music, hosted by Dartington Community Choir.
Update 1.2.19 - the workshop is now full: we'll have 140 singers taking part! Tickets for the evening performance are available from the Abbey box office
REQUIEM
A work of sublime beauty and quiet intimacy, scored for SATB choir and solo cello, with organ or strings (and optional percussion).
Hailed by Sir Neville Marriner as 'a valuable addition to 21st century choral repertoire', Requiem is a deeply moving work, full of flowing melodies, soaring cello lines and startling textures.
It is very approachable to sing, and can be performed on a minimal budget. Duration 30 mins.
Next performance: Buckfast Abbey, March 2nd 2019, conducted by the composer.
"A valuable addition to the 21st century choral repertoire"
Sir Neville Marriner
"A most beautiful thing... I find myself entranced by the openness of this music"
Paul Carr, composer
"Astonishing textures... if I didn't have the score in front of me, I'd constantly be asking 'just how does he do that?', such is the originality of the music"
Simon Dunbavand, organist and conductor
Catalogue
All works are available as PDF downloads. You can download a free PDF of every piece of music for evaluation purposes, with the option to buy a licence to print copies for your choir and to perform the music.
Performances
Buckfast Abbey, March 2nd 2019.
Full-day workshop on Requiem, led by Matthew Coleridge, including evening performance. Details and application form
Recordings
The Queen's Six: Lo, how a rose e'er bloomethfeatures 'The Corpus Christi Carol'
Kantos Chamber Choir: The Silver Stars at Playfeatures 'Balulalow'
Commissions
Please get in touch if you'd like to discuss a commission for your choir. Current commissions include a duet for soprano and cello, 'And I Saw A New Heaven', for premiere at Buckfast Abbey, and a set of three a cappella German songs for 2005 BBC Choir of the Year, the Oriel Singers.
Dorset-based composer Matthew Coleridge is an exciting new voice on the British choral music scene.
His acclaimed Requiem - his first major composition - was hailed by Sir Neville Marriner as 'a valuable addition to the 21st century choral repertoire'. It was recorded in 2016 by RSVP Voices, and has been performed numerous times in the UK and Europe.
His a cappella works have been recorded by professional ensembles, including The Queen's Six for BBC Music Magazine.
"My musical journey began when I joined my local church choir at the age of six. I was inspired by the new sound world into which I was immersed: Tallis and Gibbons, Sumsion and Stanford, Psalms and plainsong.
I was soon encouraged to compose. My first offering (aged 8) was a fairly awful Christmas carol. I'd started two or three Magnificats by my early teens - though I'm yet to finish one. Composing always felt a natural and instinctive process; my grandfather and great-grandfather were both prolific amateur composers, so I guess it's in the blood.
In my twenties, most of my creative output was well away from choral music. I wrote and recorded a lot of electronic and ambient music, penned a few songs, worked as a composers assistant, and exposed myself to as wide a spectrum of music as I possibly could.
It wasn't until I reached my thirties that I started to regain an interest in choral composing. My first 'mature' composition was a setting of the Corpus Christi Carol, which was recorded beautifully by The Queen's Six for BBC Music Magazine's Christmas CD in 2015. Blending elements of Medieval music and plainsong with gentle, shimmering dissonances, it set the tone for much of my work to date.
My first large-scale composition, Requiem, grew out of fragments of music that I'd written over many years - ideas that I'd never found a chance to develop beyond a few bars. Following an acclaimed first performance in Dorset, I crowdfunded a recording with the wonderful RSVP Voices, cellist Guy Johnston and organist Stephen Farr."