News – Nigel Clarke

March 22, 2026

Nigel Clarke’s BREUG[H]EL – Symphony for Piccolo/Flute to be recorded in September 2026

Nigel’s BRUEG[H]EL – symphony for piccolo/flute to be recorded this September by Jennifer M. Gunn (piccolo/flute) and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Neil Thomson. BRUEG[H]EL was composed specifically for Jennifer M. Gunn, who was appointed flute and piccolo of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Daniel Barenboim in 2005.

BRUEG[H]EL is inspired by four extraordinary Northern Renaissance paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger (father and son) displayed at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium. The four paintings are Pieter the Elder’s Winter Landscape with Bird Trap and The Fall of Icarus, (the latter of which is attributed to him though is possibly by a follower) as well as Pieter the Younger’s The Massacre of the Innocentsand Battle of Carnival and Lent, which are reworkings of his father’s work.

BRUEG[H]EL will be released on the Divine Arts record label in the spring of next year. The recording will also feature two additional works: ‘Samurai’, newly arranged for symphony orchestra, and ‘Pulp and Rags’ for string orchestra.

`Winter Landscape and Bird Trap’ – Photograph with thanks to The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium

March 22, 2026

BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium

Here is a selection of photographs documenting last week’s concert at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. The event featured Peter Sheppard Skaerved who performed solo violin and viola works in the museum’s Bruegel Room, surrounded by paintings from Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Peter played eight of Nigel’s solo violin and viola miniatures from Book One of ‘BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH’, alongside music composed during the Bruegel family’s era.

In May and June Peter Sheppard Skaerved will record both Book 1 and 2 of ‘BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH’ on the Devine Arts record label and will be released in Autumn of this year.

A heartfelt thank you to Christine Ayoub, Sabine van Sprang and the wonderful staff at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium for making this event possible.

Peter Sheppard Skaerved (violin) performing at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium

Nigel Clarke introducing Brueg[h]el’s Brush at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium

Sabine van Sprang (RMFAB) introducing the works for Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium.

Extract from Nigel Clarke’s Brueg[h]el’s Brush

November 10, 2025

Nigel Clarke’s Diary of A Madman

Here below is the winning performance of my ‘Diary of a Madman’ at the French National Brass Band Championships in 2023 by Hautes-de-Hauts-de-France Brass Band under the baton of Luc Vertommen. `DIARY OF A MADMAN’ depicts Ukrainian resistance against the unjust despotism of Putin’s Russian invasion of 24th February 2022.

The are various musical quotes used throughout `DIARY OF A MADMAN’ to emphasis Ukraine’s resistance. It opens with almost toy-soldier like percussion, before an agressive outburst that represents the first days of invasion back in 2022. Rising above the smoky theatre of war, we hear a distant cornet give a rendition of the Ukrainian Nation Anthem (The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished. Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians). The solo cornet soon enters a fragile duet with a second cornet accompanied by dark undertones. One by one, we hear short shards of aggressive fanfare-like figures from various instruments in the band. The mood breaks – we hear strident fortissimo whole-tone scales representing pealing church bells, warning of danger. In contrast, we also hear pianissimo whole-tone scales announcing that the enemy’s troops are falling back. A counter-offensive soon takes centre stage, and battles and skirmishes are heard, with short quotations from Mussorgsky’s `Great Gates of Kyiv’ symbolising the defenders’ heroic struggle. All sides are victims of the Dictator’s ambition! The slow central section offer us moments of melancholic beauty and utilises Henry Purcell’s `When I am laid in earth’ (`Dido’s Lament’ from Dido and Aeneas 1688). This music represents the loss of homes, dignity and loved ones. There are occasional hints at better times as the theme of the parading toy tin soldiers is heard from afar, like a distant memory. Here is quote from the tryrant Julius Caesar, which should still give us sleepless nights. To announce the final push, we hear a church bell strike and an air raid siren signalling a ferocious musical counter-attack. After one final rendition of the Purcell theme, Diary of a Madman closes with a mood of triumph over tyranny.

“Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar”.

Watch `DIARY OF A MADMAN’ performed by Hautes-de-Hauts-de-France Brass Band with conductor Luc Vertommen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCB5YltSieo&list=RDmCB5YltSieo&start_radio=1

August 27, 2025

`Outrageous Fortune’ (Symphony for Trombone, Actor and Orchestra) – Receives it’s Premiere at the Trombonanza Festival, Santa Fe, Argentina

Treatro Municipal, Santa Fe, Argentina

OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE (symphony for trombone soloist, actor and symphony orchestra) – PREMIERE

In 2025, Clarke re-imagined his symphony OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE from wind orchestra to symphony orchestra. OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE‘s premiere was given at the Trombonaza Festival in Santa Fe, Argentina, with trombone soloist Brett Baker and the Orquesta Sinfónica Provincial de Santa Fe under the baton of maestro Silvio Viega – Nigel took on the actor’s role for this performance. The premiere was given to a capacity audience in the beautiful Santa Fe’s Opera theatre on the 8 August 2025.

OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE is a melancholic drama, bleak and sardonic in style. It follows programmatically the story of Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. The score is prefaced with the bard’s despairing words: “Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind”.

Hamlet is a tale of conspiracy, betrayal, suicide, revenge and murder, and also a ghost story. Both the trombone soloist and the actor take on the role of the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE reflects the protagonist’s despair, his self-doubt and self-loathing and his advance towards mental breakdown. Hamlet’s character is full of bitterness, but alongside this he shows profound wisdom beyond his years. Nigel set two of Hamlet’s soliloquys to music: “O that this too too sullied flesh would melt” and “To be, or not to be, – that is the question”.

OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE was originally written and dedicated to Brett Baker, Natalie Grady, Reed Thomas and the Middle Tennessee State University Wind Ensemble (MTSU).

Poster outside the Teatro Municpal, Santa Fe

Rehearsal for `Outrageous Fortune’

Rehearsing `Outrageous Fortune’ Silvio Viegas (conductor), Brett Baker (Trombone), Nigel Clarke (composer) and the Orquesta Sinfónica Provincial de Santa Fe

`Outrageous Fortune’ premiere at the Teatro Municpal, Santa Fe 8 August

Brett Baker with Silvio Viegas, Nigel Clarke and the Orquesta Sinfónica Provincial de Santa Fe

Nigel with maestro Silvio Viegas after the concert

Ruben Carighi (Trombonist and Trombonanza Artistic Director), Nigel Clarke (Composer), Silvio Viegas (Conductor), Brett Baker (Trombone Soloist) and James Gourlay (Tuba Soloist in the Concert)

July 7, 2025

Double-Recital at the Tremenheere Sculture Gardens, Penzance

Nigel Clarke attended a double-recital at the Tremenheere Sculture Gardens in Penzance given by the violinist Peter Sheppard Skaerved. The first concert (in the unique and extraordinary James Turrell Skyspace) saw Peter perform Nigel’s Loulan and Epitaph for Edith Cavell. The second concert was performed in the Tremenheere Gallery included music by Georg Philipp Telemann and a new work by Jim Aitchison entitled Apertures. Nigel’s River Landscape & The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day Kermis received their UK premieres – both short pieces were inspired by Brueg[h]el family paintings housed in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium. The Tremenheere Sculture Gardens is located in a very special spot in west Cornwall, in a sheltered valley, overlooking St Michael’s Mount, (with woods, stream and sculptures). Both Peter Sheppard Skaerved’s recitals were performed on a Girolamo Amati violin made in 1629.

Peter Sheppard Skaerved performing Nigel Clarke’s `Loulan’ in the `James Turrell Skyspace’ at the `Tremenheere Sculture Gardens’

Peter Sheppard Skaerved introducing Nigel Clarke’s `The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day Kermis’.

Composers Jim Aitchison, Nigel Clarke and Peter Sheppard Skaerved (violin) Photo by Malene Skaerved Sheppard

Tremenheere Sculture Gardens in Penzance. Photo: Caroline Hager

June 6, 2025

Violin Premiere of `The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day Kermis’ at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Belgium

Nigel Clarke’s solo violin work `The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day Kermis’ was given it’s world premiere by Peter Sheppard Skaerved at The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Belgium (Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique) on 3 June. The occasion was a fund raising dinner for the museum’s patrons. Nigel short work is inspired by the painting `The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day’ painted by a follower of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day after Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique)

Later on in the year Peter Sheppard Skaerved will premiere Brueg[h]el’s Brush, a whole cycle solo violin & viola works by Nigel inspired by the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger.

Maecanas Circle Fund Raising Dinner at at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Belgium

Peter Sheppard Skaerved giving the premiere of Nigel’s The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day Kermis

Nigel Clarke’s solo violin score to `The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day Kermis’

May 16, 2025

The Miraculous Violin in Zagreb 25 years later!

Nigel’s The Miraculous Violin (for violin and string orchestra) was given a breath-taking performance at the University of Zagreb Academy of Music on 8 May this year. The soloist was Peter Sheppard Skaerved violin and 1st year students of the Zagreb Academy. The string orchestra was led by Prof. Anđelko Krpan who was the leader 25 years ago when Nigel’s work was premiered in Zagreb with the Zagrebački solisti. The original commission came from Peter Sheppard Skaerved and the British Council. The Miraculous Violin is recorded on Naxos and can be downloaded from iTunes or Amazon Music and streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, ArkivMusic, Youtube Music, Deeper, Tidal and qobuz. Also on available on CD.

To hear a couple of minutes from the rehearsal click on the link below:

Za https://nigel-clarke.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Zagreb.mov

Nigel with the students at the University of Zagreb Academy of Music (Photo Peter Sheppard Skaerved)

The final rehearsal of The Miraculous Violin (Photo Peter Sheppard Skaerved)

Peter Sheppard Skaerved performing The Miraculous Violin with the students of the University of Zagreb Academy of Music.

April 27, 2025

BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH

Nigel worked with Peter Sheppard Skareved (violin) last Saturday (26 April) on his cycle of miniatures written for solo violin and solo viola entitled BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH. The work is inspired by paintings by the Northern Renaissance artists Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger. The commission is part of a partnership between Nigel, Peter Sheppard Skærved and The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium. The partnership will also be built around historic instruments dating back to the period of the Bruegel family.

The collaboration has additional support from Research England, The Royal Academy of Music London and Knowledge Exchange Violin.

Nigel said: “It is always an exciting, special and unique experience to hear the notes come-off the page for the first time and become real musical-sounds, gestures and expressions. On Saturday I heard for the the first first time much of the slow material from BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH and look forward to hearing the remaining movements soon. Though I have collaborated on many solo violin works, string orchestra works and concertos with Peter, I never tire Peter’s musical insight, intuition and musicality”

A big shout-out goes to Christine Ayoub of The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium for all her help with this project.

More information about this partnership and collaboration will follow soon!

Below the two photographs is a (low-fi) sneak preview of the ninth movement of BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH’ entitled `The Massacre of the Innocents’ for solo viola.

`The Massacre of the Innocents’ [Pieter Brueghel the Younger]’ Photograph courtesy The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium

Peter Sheppard Skærved working with Nigel on BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH. The photo is taken from a screen grab by Peter during the session.

April 27, 2025

Brass Band de la Musique de l’Air et se l’Espace to perform Earthrise

Under the direction of Laurent Daurent, Brass Band de la Musique de l’Air et se l’Espace will perform Nigel’s space epic EARTHRISE on Monday 19 May at the Sibelius Academy d’ Helsinki. Brass Band de la Musique de l’Air et se l’Espace have also recently recorded this work for CD in an all British programme of composers. More new to follow soon on this.

April 10, 2025

A Partnership Project Between Nigel Clarke, The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium and Peter Sheppard Skærved

Peter Sheppard Skærved enjoying the acoustic in the Bruegel Room at The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium, Brussels

Nigel is to compose a cycle of solo violin and solo viola miniatures inspired by paintings by the Northern Renaissance artists Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger. This commission is part of a partnership between Nigel, Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin) and The Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium. The partnership will also be built around historic instruments dating back to the period of the Bruegel family. More information about this partnership and collaboration will follow soon!

Nigel’s composition `BRUEG[H]EL’S BRUSH will consist of 11 short works, each inspired by a painting in the Brueghel room of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium in Brussels.

In addition to the violin miniatures, Nigel is working on a large-scale symphony entitled `BRUEG[H]EL’ for Piccolo/Flute and Symphony Orchestra. The paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger also inspire this work. `BRUEG[H]EL’ will be recorded for the Naxos label in the summer of 2026 under the baton of Neil Thomson and Jennifer M. Gunn (Piccolo/Flute). More information on this project will follow soon.

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