Edward Tait ▪ Composer
Edward Tait is a British composer, currently living in West London. He is studying Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, under the tutelage of Gareth Moorcraft and Louise Drewett. He recently won first-prize in the Composition category of the Berlioz International Music Competition in September 2024. Current projects include a commission from Lloyds Choir, for an upcoming concert in December, and a symphonic tone poem, inspired by native American folklore.
Since being granted a Scholarship by the UK Music and Dance Scheme to study at The Purcell School in 2017, he has studied with acclaimed composers Deborah Pritchard, Brian Elias and Jacques Cohen. He has had a number of orchestral works performed by the Purcell Symphony Orchestra, including Trireme (2019) and Mo Li Hua (2022). Most recently, his orchestral work Fleeting Manhattan was conducted by Nicholas Daniel, alongside both the Purcell School and Orion Orchestras, receving its premiere at St. John’s Smith Square in February 2024. Fleeting Manhattan went on to be shortlisted in the European Recording Orchestra’s 2024 Call for Scores.
Edward has had countless performances in-and-around London, including premieres of two of his compositions at Hatfield House, in October 2019 and September 2022. He has won prizes at a number of well-respected composition competitions, such as the North London Festival, Chesham Arts Festival, and Benslow Music Trust. In March 2023, Edward was fortunate to have his arrangement of Waltzing Matilda performed at Westminster Abbey, at the pre-service to the Commonwealth Day. More recently, his collaborative work Rhapsody for Sextet has been performed numerous times by the London Sinfonietta in 2024, as part of their ‘Sound Out Schools’ outreach project. He has also had his music performed by the Carducci Quartet, the Kucharsky Quartet, and the Chorleywood Orchestra, who premiered another of his orchestral works Crenark Hill in March 2024.
An active musical entrepreneur, he has organized dozens of concerts at the Purcell School and Amersham Free Church. These concerts have seen the premieres of works like Fantasia-Elegy for clarinet, Herbstlied for solo piano, and several settings of Shakespeare songs, for voices. He has also been active as a conductor, serving as the music director of the Purcell School’s outreach trip IMPULSE in 2023, as well as conducting the chamber ensemble Philomel during 2023 and 2024. Upon graduating from Purcell in 2024, Edward was awarded the Tim Stevenson Prize for Outstanding Composition, for his compositional and entrepreneurial work throughout his time at the school.
On top of his concert music, Edward has also written film and electronic music, most notably re-scoring the 1902 silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune, by Georges Melies. He has also done plenty of arranging work, having produced the first complete arrangement of Holst’s The Planets suite, for solo piano, which was premiered in 2023. He is currently in the process of producing a similar arrangement of Debussy’s Trois Nocturnes.
He has a sideline career in web development, building websites on-demand for individuals and small businesses. He also founded the sheet music website NoteWelder, and is currently developing an online debating platform.
In his free time, Edward enjoys creative writing, reading, filmmaking, running, cycling, and playing football.
*Last Updated September 28th 2024*
Click here to skip to Edward's upcoming events.
Edward Stanley Tait was born in 2006, in Ruislip, West London, into a musical family, with his mother being a professional cellist, and his father, a violin teacher. He first got involved with music at the age of 6, while he was at Whiteheath Junior School, initially taking piano lessons with James Kellas. Furthermore, a year later, he began his study of the cello with his mother, who gave him lessons for several years.
He began composing at around age 8, idolising the great composers that he discovered through his instrumental repertoire, including Beethoven, Mahler, Ravel, and Stravinsky. Over the next few years, he began taking lessons in composition and musical theory with Andrew Melvin, extensively growing his knowledge of repertoire and compositional technique. During these years, his school, the Beacon School, began to further his opportunities as both a composer and pianist, giving performances of his music in venues across the Chilterns. He was also the winner of his Middle School category of the Beacon Young Musician of the Year, with a performance of Burgmüller on the piano.
That same year, Edward received a Scholarship to study at the prestigious Purcell School of Music, with his principal study in Composition, giving him the opportunity to study with the acclaimed composers Deborah Pritchard, Brian Elias, and Jacques Cohen. Additionally, at Purcell, he received masterclasses and seminars from Daniel Fardon, Simon Speare, Sylvia Lim, Robert Saxton, Julian Anderson, Judith Weir, Dru Masters, and Errollyn Wallen. As a proactive 2nd study pianist, he developed his pianistic technique under the mentorship of Lidia Amorelli, gaining a Distinction at Grade 8 Piano in 2022. He was also a 3rd study cellist for a couple of years, learning with Julian Metzger.
In concerts run by the Purcell School, Edward has had his music conducted by Nicholas Daniel, Paul Hoskins, and Edward Longstaff, and has received coaching of his compositions by well-established musical groups and ensembles, such as the Carducci Quartet, with his 2023 string quartet Passage of Time, and award-winning violinist Peter Sheppard-Skærved, on his Fantasy for Violin. His orchestral works, Mo Li Hua and Fleeting Manhattan have both received premieres by the Purcell School, in venues as diverse as Hatfield House and St. John’s Smith Square. He has given solo and chamber performances in countless Composers Concerts and Lunchtime Recitals throughout the years, as a pianist, accompanist, as well as a composer. Most recently, he conducted his own choral work Mirabile Mysterium in a lunchtime recital at Purcell, as well as conducting the student-led ensemble Philomel in 2023 and 2024.
Edward has managed and organised his own concerts at the Purcell School and the Amersham Free Church, taking on responsibilities including programming, marketing, presenting, stage managing, and more. As well as having his own music performed, he has performed himself as a pianist and conductor. In particular, he is an acclaimed pianist, having performed publicly at the Amersham Free Church and St. Andrew’s Church, specialising in the music of Ravel and Prokofiev. He is the pianist in the Vigneron Piano Trio, which he founded with students at Purcell, giving their debut performance in April 2024, playing Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 1. He launched the acclaimed concert series Composers Parallels, with their debut recital in July 2024, still ongoing to this day. In July 2024, Edward was awarded the Tim Stevenson Prize for Outstanding Composition by the Purcell School, for his significant compositional and entrepreneurial work throughout his final year at the school.
In the Sixth Form, he was an active member of the Purcell School’s awarding-winning Creative Ensemble. He was made Principal Pianist in the second year, contributing additionally as a conductor and composer, receiving a performance of his Ash Grove by the ensemble, in July 2024. He was also an active member of the Purcell School’s Sixth Form Choir, singing in iconic works like Bach’s Magnificat, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Mozart’s Requiem. He has had the opportunity to conduct movements from the Requiem during rehearsals and masterclasses at school.
Edward is currently studying Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in September 2024, under the tutelage of Gareth Moorcraft and Louise Drewett. During his first few months, he received his first one-to-one masterclass with Eleanor Alberga, and has benefited greatly from seminars with Augusta Read Thomas, Ryan Latimer, and Anna Meredith. He is the founder and musical director of the student-led ensemble Expericademy, which he founded while studying at the Academy. Edward has received commissions from the Carducci Quartet and Lloyds Choir, as well as two separate commissions for Purcell’s annual concert at Hatfield House, in 2019 and 2022. Most recently, his clarinet trio Ballade was commissioned by Steve Crowther, and premiered by the ensemble Amabile at the York Late Music Festival in November 2024. These commissions have led to performances of his music at Hatfield House, York Unitarian Chapel, and Amersham Concert Club.
Edward has won significant prizes at a number of well-respected composition competitions, including the North London Festival, the Chesham Arts Festival, as well as being shortlisted for the Benslow Music Trust. He also recently won first-prize in the Composition category of the Berlioz International Music Competition in September 2024, with his solo piano work Lillibulero. His orchestral work Fleeting Manhattan was shortlisted in the European Recording Orchestra’s 2024 Call for Scores, through which he received masterclasses with esteemed Hollywood composers Conrad Pope and Christopher Young, as well as resident composers of the Film Scoring Academy of Europe, Arthur Brouns and Francisca Rios. In March 2023, he was very fortunate to have his arrangement of Waltzing Matilda performed in the pre-service to the Commonwealth Day Service, at Westminster Abbey. His work in the world of chamber music has led to performances of his music by the Chorleywood Orchestra, the Kucharsky Quartet, and the previously-mentioned Carducci Quartet.
Since 2023, he has been an active member of the Chorleywood Orchestra, predominantly as a percussionist, having performed with them in some great orchestral works, like Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. In March 2024, the Chorleywood Orchestra premiered his orchestral work Crenark Hill, to great acclaim. He also regularly performs on the piano with Chorleywood, having played the piano part in Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and the celeste part in Howard Blake’s iconic soundtrack to The Snowman. His orchestral work with Chorleywood has brought him opportunities to perform the timpani with the Wycombe Festival Orchestra, accompanying some of the cornerstone romantic concertos, including Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
Edward has also done a sizeable amount of outreach work, introducing and nurturing musical development amongst young people in a number of schools across the UK, starting with his first interactive assembly in Bushey Heath Primary School in December 2022. He played a leading role in IMPULSE 2023, an outreach trip across North Norfolk, which he took part in with the Purcell School, in June 2023. During this trip, he was involved in interactive assemblies at schools like Burnham Market, Docking Nursery, and Wells Primary, as well as being involved in concerts at the Yorke Trust, Fulmodeston Christ Church, and the Handa Theatre in Wells Maltings, in which he was the lead conductor. He contributed his composition skills as part of the ‘Sound Out Schools’ outreach project, run by the London Sinfonietta, later receiving a commission for Rhapsody, a short piece using musical material composed by young students at St Ignatius School in Enfield. Rhapsody went on to receive numerous performances by the Sinfonietta throughout May and June.
In addition to his concert music, Edward has also written film and electronic music, notably having re-scored the 1902 silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune, by George Melies, which is currently receiving a studio recording. In 2023, he wrote the first complete solo piano arrangement of Holst’s The Planets suite. The arrangement was premiered at Purcell in December 2023, and is still performed regularly to this day. He is currently working on a similar piano arrangement of Debussy’s Nocturnes.
He has a sideline career in web development, building professional websites for individual and small businesses. Aside from this job, he created the sheet music website NoteWelder, and is the founder of the online debating platform CounterU, still currently in development. He founded the film production company, Eskonfilm in 2024, and directed their debut film Amersham Summer, which was released in November 2024. This is part of an ongoing film series accompanied by musical improvisations. His acting debut came with the leading role of Travis, in Leo Lupascu’s 2024 film Lodus Nollens.
In his free time, Edward enjoys creative writing, reading, filmmaking, running, cycling, and playing football, and is a member of the RAM Football Club.
*Last Updated November 7th 2024*
Composers Platform
6:30pm ▪ November 21st 2024
David Josefowitz Recital Hall, Royal Academy of Music (UK)
Performance of Fantasy for Violin
The Nutcracker (1/2)
2pm ▪ December 8th 2024
Rickmansworth School, Hertfordshire (UK)
Playing Timpani part in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker (2/2)
5pm ▪ December 8th 2024
Rickmansworth School, Hertfordshire (UK)
Playing Timpani part in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker
Lloyds Choir Summer Concert
6:45pm ▪ December 12th 2024
St Katharine Cree Church, London (UK)
Premiere of In the Bleak Midwinter
Expericademy Presents: Project HexRAMeron
1pm ▪ January 13th 2025
Angela Burgess Recital Hall, Royal Academy of Music (UK)
Premiere of HexRAMeron Variation and Fugue
Pictures at an Exhibition
5pm ▪ February 9th 2025
Great Hall, Merchant Taylor’s School (UK)
Playing Percussion part in Rossini’s Thieving Magpie Overture and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition
RAM Sings Concert
6:30pm ▪ February 24th 2025
Duke's Hall, Royal Academy of Music (UK)
Singing Bass part in Bruckner’s Christus Factus Est and Purcell’s Hear My Prayer
Chorleywood Orchestra
April 6th 2025
Venue TBA
Playing Timpani part in Brahms’s Symphony No. 1
Woodside Summer Recital
4pm ▪ June 22nd 2025
Free Church, Amersham (UK)
Playing Piano part in Ravel's Mother Goose Suite
Chorleywood Orchestra
July 6th 2025
Venue TBA
Playing Percussion part in Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and Sibelius’s Karelia Suite
2024
Cello Ensemble Workshop
2pm ▪ November 14th 2024
Sir Charles Mackerras Room, Royal Academy of Music (UK)
Workshop of Developing Phases
York Late Music Festival
7:30pm ▪ November 2nd 2024
Unitarian Chapel, York (UK)
Premiere of Ballade
Amersham Summer YouTube Release
6am ▪ November 1st 2024
Release of Edward’s film Amersham Summer
Lunchtime Concert
1:10pm ▪ October 18th 2024
Constance Pilkington Hall, Purcell School (UK)
Performance of Capriccio
Ode to Joy
7pm ▪ September 28th 2024
St Andrew’s Church, Chorleywood (UK)
Playing Timpani part in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
Amersham Concert Club Launch
7pm ▪ September 14th 2024
Free Church, Amersham (UK)
Performance of Variations on a Theme from Mary Poppins
Beamount Summer Gig
2pm ▪ July 20th 2024
Beaumont Care Home, Chorleywood (UK)
Performing George Gershwin’s Someone to Watch Over Me
Accompanying Marvin Hamlisch’s The Way We Were
Wycombe Festival Orchestra
7:30pm ▪ July 13th 2024
Free Church, Amersham (UK)
Playing Timpani part in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2
Composers Parallels I, Shostakovich
3pm ▪ July 9th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of String Trio No. 1
Playing Piano part in Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 1
Mozart Requiem
11am ▪ July 9th 2024
Constance Pilkington Hall, Purcell School (UK)
Singing Bass part in Mozart’s Requiem
Creative Ensemble Concert
4pm ▪ July 8th 2024
Constance Pilkington Hall, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of Ash Grove
Conducting Yfat Soul Zisso’s Frenzy
Composers Concert
10am ▪ July 8th 2024
Avison Lawn, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of Capriccio
An Evening of Piano Composers
7pm ▪ July 6th 2024
Liszt Room, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of Lillibulero
Performing Natty Purbrick’s Morphological Echo
Choral Conductors Present
1:10pm ▪ July 3rd 2024
Constance Pilkington Hall, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of Mirabile Mysterium
Sound Out Schools Concert (6/6)
1:30pm ▪ June 20th 2024
Dugdale Arts Centre, Enfield (UK)
Performance of Rhapsody for Sextet
Sound Out Schools Concert (5/6)
11am ▪ June 20th 2024
Dugdale Arts Centre, Enfield (UK)
Performance of Rhapsody for Sextet
Sound Out Schools Concert (4/6)
1:30pm ▪ June 19th 2024
Dugdale Arts Centre, Enfield (UK)
Performance of Rhapsody for Sextet
Sound Out Schools Concert (3/6)
11am ▪ June 19th 2024
Dugdale Arts Centre, Enfield (UK)
Performance of Rhapsody for Sextet
Sound Out Schools Concert (2/6)
1:30pm ▪ June 18th 2024
Dugdale Arts Centre, Enfield (UK)
Performance of Rhapsody for Sextet
Lunchtime Concert
1:10pm ▪ June 18th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Performance of Holst’s ‘Jupiter’ from The Planets (arr. Edward Tait)
Sound Out Schools Concert (1/6)
11am ▪ June 18th 2024
Dugdale Arts Centre, Enfield (UK)
Performance of Rhapsody for Sextet
Choral Conducting Masterclass
9am ▪ June 3rd 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Conducting ‘Confutatis’ from Mozart’s Requiem
Nelson Mass Concert
7pm ▪ May 18th 2024
St Andrew's Church, Chorleywood (UK)
Playing Piano part in Copland's Appalachian Spring
Playing Timpani part in Haydn's Nelson Mass
Lunchtime Concert
1:10pm ▪ May 17th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Accompanying Eugene Bozza’s Aria for Saxophone and Piano
Composers Concert
7pm ▪ May 15th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Performance of Eclogue
Conducting Nemunis Jusionis’s Harlequin
Knowledge Exchange Concert
7pm ▪ May 8th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of Fantasy for Violin
Minimalism with the London Sinfonietta
7:30pm ▪ May 3rd 2024
Dugdale Arts Centre, Enfield (UK)
Premiere of Rhapsody for Sextet
A-Level Recital
2:25pm ▪ May 1st 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Performing ‘Menuet’ from Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin and ‘Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum’ from Debussy’s Children's Corner
Performance Class
10:30am ▪ April 27th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Accompanying Eugene Bozza’s Aria for Saxophone and Piano
Around the World
7:15pm ▪ April 25th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Performances of Herbstlied and Alpenhornhymne
Performance Class
10:30am ▪ April 20th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Performing Tchaikovsky’s Dumka
An Easter with Purcell
3:30pm ▪ April 11th 2024
Free Church, Amersham (UK)
Performances of Prelude for Violin and Piano and Herbstlied
Performing ‘Menuet’ from Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin and Tchaikovsky’s Dumka
Accompanying Eugene Bozza’s Aria for Saxophone and Piano
Playing Piano part in Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 1
Spring Serenade
7pm ▪ March 23rd 2024
St Andrew's Church, Chorleywood (UK)
Premiere of Crenark Hill
Spring Recital
7pm ▪ March 14th 2024
Constance Pilkington Hall, Purcell School (UK)
Premieres of Eclogue and Fantasia No. 1 for Piano
Symphonic Wind Orchestra and Choral Concert
7pm ▪ March 13th 2024
Constance Pilkington Hall, Purcell School (UK)
Singing Bass part in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana
Lunchtime Concert
1:10pm ▪ March 4th 2024
Constance Pilkington Hall, Purcell School (UK)
Performance of Prelude for Violin and Piano
Composers Concert
7pm ▪ February 28th 2024
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of Herbstlied
Rhapsody in Blue Centenary Concert
7pm ▪ February 12th 2024
St John's Smith Square, London (UK)
Premiere of Fleeting Manhattan
Orchestral Odyssey
5pm ▪ January 28th 2024
Grand Hall, Merchant Taylor’s School (UK)
Playing Percussion II part in Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade
2023
The Snowman Family Concert (2/2)
5pm ▪ December 9th 2023
Rickmansworth School, Hertfordshire (UK)
Playing Celeste part in Howard Blake’s The Snowman
Playing Percussion I part in Daniel Hogan’s A Young Person's Guide to the Chorleywood Orchestra
The Snowman Family Concert (1/2)
2pm ▪ December 9th 2023
Rickmansworth School, Hertfordshire (UK)
Playing Celeste part in Howard Blake’s The Snowman
Playing Percussion I part in Daniel Hogan’s A Young Person's Guide to the Chorleywood Orchestra
End of Term Assembly
11pm ▪ December 8th 2023
Constance Pilkington Hall, Purcell School (UK)
Singing Bass part in Bach’s Magnificat
The Planets: Reimagined
7pm ▪ December 5th 2023
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of Holst’s The Planets (arr. Edward Tait)
Evening Recital
7pm ▪ November 30th 2023
Recital Room, Purcell School (UK)
Premiere of Allegretto and Fantasia-Elegy
Chorleywood Music Presents
6:30pm ▪ August 25th 2023
St Andrew’s Church, Chorleywood (UK)
Playing Timpani part in Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite No. 2
*No concerts shown before August 1st 2023*
Classical Commissions
Composition commissions for any instrument or voice, and across what is generally considered to be the "classical" genre, from opera and ballet, to solo, chamber and orchestral works. Click here for reviews of his work.
Film & Games Scores
As well as his classical compositions, Edward writes soundtracks for short and feature films, television shows, documentaries, and games, all on commission.
Web Development
Building professional websites, through his Partnership at EYP Websites, on-demand for customers, relating to any industry, product or service.
Either just the one-off charge for building the website, or an additional monthly payment for regular maintenance and updates, based on the number of hours required. Click here to find out more.
Arranging & Copyist Work
Edward offers his skills in using the music notation software Sibelius, including the typing up of music from handwritten scores, and arranging music for any instrument or group of instruments. Over the years, his work has included typing up an entire collection of short cello pieces by Nicola Baxter, onto Sibelius, for publication. Find here an example of his copyist work, a preview of his transcription of the Viola part of Charles Hambourg String Quartet No. 2, into a 3rd Violin part.
Concert Management
Edward also offers his services as a freelance concert manager, having successfully planned, managed, scheduled, booked, and executed a number of concerts over the past few years. Additionally, he can also provide extra concert bsiness services, through his concert team, including poster and programme design, stewarding, stage management, filming, audio recording, and video editing.
Contact Edward through the links to his email, phone or Instagram:
*Online purchases will be available in a couple of months*
2019
Variations on a Theme from Mary Poppins, Op. 1
for Solo Cello
Trireme, Op. 2
for Orchestra
Fantasia for Four Hands, Op. 3
for Four-Hand Piano
2020
Prelude for Violin and Piano, Op. 4
for Violin and Piano
Allegro for Piano, Op. 5
for Solo Piano
Jazz Elegy, Op. 6
for Solo Piano
2021
Alpenhornhymne, Op. 7
for Brass Trio
Prelude in C Minor, Op. 8
for Solo Piano
Passacaglia for Quintet, Op. 9
for Wind Quintet
Mo Li Hua, Op. 10
for Orchestra
Two Sketches Written from the Dartmouth Steam Railway, Op. 11
for Solo Piano
Fugue for String Trio, Op. 12
for String Trio
Caledonian Voyage, Op. 13
(Improvised Soundtrack)
for Solo Piano
2022
Quartet for the End of the Day, Op. 14
for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano
Elegy, Op. 15
for Violin and Guitar
Two Shakespeare Songs, Op. 16
for S.A.T.B. Choir
Le Voyage dans la Lune, Op. 17
(Soundtrack)
for Chamber Orchestra
One Spirit Voice, Op. 18
for Synthesizer
Passage of Time, Op. 19
for String Quartet
2023
Interlude, Op. 20
for Piano Trio
Waltzing Matilda, Op. 21
*Arrangement* for Mixed Ensemble
Fantasia No. 1, Op. 22
for Solo Piano
Herbstlied, Op. 23
for Solo Piano
The Planets, Op. 24
(Arrangement)
for Solo Piano
Hunstanton Prelude, Op. 25
for Mixed Ensemble
String Trio No. 1, Op. 26
for String Trio
Allegretto, Op. 27
for Clarinet and Piano
Crenark Hill, Op. 28
for Orchestra
Viennese Autumn Waltz, Op. 29
for String Quartet
Fantasia-Elegy, Op. 30
for Clarinet and Piano
2024
Fleeting Manhattan, Op. 31
for Orchestra
Eclogue, Op. 32
for Wind Quintet
Empire of the Sun, Op. 33
(Arrangement)
for Violin and Piano
In Memorium Lulu, Op. 34
for Solo Piano
Mirabile Mysterium, Op. 35
for S.S.A.T.B. Choir
Fantasy for Violin, Op. 36
for Solo Violin
EDTA, Op. 37
for Cello, Snare Drum and Piano
Scottish Dances, Op. 38
for Oboe Quartet
Barton Coast, Op. 39
for Saxophone Quartet
Ash Grove, Op. 40
for Mixed Ensemble
Rhapsody for Sextet, Op. 41
(Collaboration)
for Mixed Ensemble
Lillibulero, Op. 42
for Solo Piano
Capriccio, Op. 43
for Two Bassoons
Frühlingslied, Op. 44
for Solo Cello
Sicilliene and Epilogue, Op. 45
for Solo Piano
Symphonic Transcriptions
Edward and several other composers are in the ongoing process of re-imagining and arranging the greatest orchestral works for the accessibility and convenience of the solo piano. They plan to have concerts roughly twice a year, with one concert having already taken place in December 2023.
Click the link here to listen to Edward's arrangement of Holst The Planets for solo piano.
Composers Parallels
One of the great composers is performed, alongside at least two new pieces which have been strongly influenced by this composer in different ways. A recent pairing was the chamber music of Dmitri Shostakovich with two new chamber works by Edward Tait and Antonia Zadrag, near the end of their time at the Purcell School.
Listen to the full recital:
Shostakovich ▪ Piano Trio No. 1
Edward Tait ▪ String Trio No. 1
Antonia Zadrag ▪ Smutki
Shostakovich ▪ String Quartet No. 8
Fortnight
For 14 straight days, a group of composers and instrumentalists, including Edward, each write a 1-minute piece to be played and recorded by one of the other composers on their own instrument. These recordings are uploaded daily to Instagram and TikTok, and eventually, complete recordings of the 14 pieces on YouTube.
Composers:
Edward Tait writing for Yulin Pan (saxophone)
Yulin Pan writing for Edward Tait (piano)
Solo Piano
Claude Debussy: ‘Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum’ from Children's Corner
Maurice Ravel: ‘Menuet’ from Le Tombeau de Couperin
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Dumka
Henry Purcell: Ground in C Minor
Natty Purbrick: Morphological Echo
Modest Mussorgsky: ‘The Old Castle’ from Pictures at an Exhibition
Piano Chamber Repertoire
Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 1
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring (13-part version)
Piano Arrangements
Gustav Holst: ‘Saturn’ from The Planets (arr. Edward Tait)
Gustav Holst: ‘Mars’ from The Planets (arr. Edward Tait)
William Walton: Crown Imperial March (arr. Edward Tait)
Conducting
Gustav Holst: ‘Mars’ from The Planets
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem
Nemunis Jusionis: Harlequin
Georges Bizet: ‘Seguidilla’ from Carmen
Percussion Repertoire
Dmitri Shostakovich: Jazz Suite No. 2
Modest Mussorgsky: Night on a Bare Mountain
Edward Tait: Crenark Hill
Joseph Haydn: Nelson Mass
I always look forward to hearing Edward’s compositions, and once again I liked his Herbstlied, which was a pleasure to learn and perform.
– Yazdi Madon, who premiered his Herbstlied
Everything you write is always very thought through, it feels like everything has its place, and it’s the perfect mix of sounding fresh and contemporary while still being accessible and enjoyable to listen to!
– Tom McDonnell, who premiered his Allegretto, Fantasia-Elegy and Eclogue
Edward is a highly talented, enterprising young composer and has been an invaluable member of The Purcell School’s Composition Department for 7 years. During this time, Edward’s own work has developed and matured in numerous directions, and he has composed a great deal of fascinating original music for the many different creative projects run by the school over the years.
As a member of the sixth form, Edward is also now curating his own concerts, each having a different focus, including not only his own work, but also compositions by other students in the Composition Department. The concerts are carefully organised and very well presented and always give additional opportunities to the school’s young composers and performers.
Edward will be leaving The Purcell School in July 2024 to study in further and higher education. I am confident that he will become one of our future musical entrepreneurs and wish him all the very best for the future.
– Alison Cox OBE, Head of Composition during his time at the Purcell School
A mesmerizing and innovative metamorphosis of one of the most imposing and impenetrable works of symphonic music. Every sonority and musical gesture is preserved, yet reimagined for the piano. Intimate and austere in approach, this transcription breathes new life into a colossal masterpiece and adds a new layer of expression by reinventing it for the piano.
– Leo Lupascu, who premiered his arrangement of The Planets
Edward’s compositions have never failed to amaze me, with his works showing a nostalgic feel reminiscent of the works of great composers such as Britten, yet also showcasing a unique and individual stamp.
– Rhys Stokes, who premiered his Mo Li Hua and Fleeting Manhattan
Performing Edward’s new composition was a great opportunity for me. The orchestra did well to keep up, and I was fond of all the colours that came out of the composition! Always kept on your feet, exciting atmosphere, and I highly recommend you give it a listen.
– Joshua Gearing, on premiering Crenark Hill
Undoubtedly a very exciting upcoming compositional voice. Works with such a strong character and a unique integrity. It was an absolute pleasure for me to hear some of Edward’s early works and I will follow his future career with great interest.
– Samuel Kemp
Ed has an exciting future ahead as a composer, as demonstrated by the excellent craftsmanship shown in Crenark Hill. It’s a very clever piece, both playful and majestic, and was a pleasure to perform.
– Daniel Hogan
His music is one of the most, if not the most, interesting type of music that I have seen in my entire generation, full of creativity, imagination and emotions.
– Herman Cerisha
Chorleywood Orchestra was delighted to premiere Edward Tait’s ‘Crenark Hill’ in a recent concert. The vision of a Scottish band marching across a massive hill was represented by two contrasting themes – introduced separately then later combining and contrasting with harmonic clashes and offsets rhythms to build up to an exciting climax with a surprise ending. Crenark Hill was fun to play and very well-received by the audience. I could see it becoming one of a suite of pieces with a slightly quirky take on folk music from different regions of the UK.
– Andrew McFarlane, review on Crenark Hill
I am glad I had the opportunity to perform Edward’s new composition. His new Prelude for Violin and Piano can bring a challenge to the musicians. The highlight is the use of the pentatonic scale and different modes, which is what makes it so great fun to work on.
– Dominic-Lucian Drutac, review on Prelude for Violin and Piano