Composing

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Commissioning

If you are interested in commissioning Owain to write a piece of music, Kate Johnson at Wise Music Classical would be delighted to hear from you.
kate.johnson@wisemusic.com | +44 (0)7920 197 354 | wisemusicclassical.com

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Scores & sheet music

View a selection of Owain’s pieces on nkoda.

Browse Owain’s complete works on Wise Music Classical, with worldwide sheet music links.

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Catalogue

Works are arranged alphabetically below in the following categories:

• Chorus a cappella
  • Sacred
  • Secular
• Chorus with one instrument
• Upper voices
• Lower voices
• Arrangements for chorus
• Organ solo
• Chamber
• Orchestral

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Chorus a cappella

Sacred

A Babe is Born (2023) – SATB Read More
Setting words from a manuscript in Westminster Abbey Library, A babe is born joyfully exclaims ‘And Jesus is his name’. 
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Recordings: The Oxford Choir
Duration: 01:45

A Gaelic Blessing (2021) – SATB Read More
Commissioned by Louth Choral Society and first performed on 10th April 2022 in St James’s Church, Louth, by Louth Choral Society conducted by Allan Smith.
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 02:30

Above the stars my saviour dwells (2017) – Soprano solo, SATB divisi Read More
A commissioned gift for Wendy Russell
Publisher: Novello • Request a perusal score here
Recording: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 03:45
Programme note
The text of this piece – in rhymed verse recalling the style of George Herbert or John Donne – is known only from Thomas Tomkins’ setting dating from the early or mid-seventeenth century. An ascription to Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich, is not verifiable, and it is possible the text (originally titled ‘An hymne’) was written by Tomkins himself. It’s style is madrigalian, with an almost erotic quality that has been likened to the Song of Solomon, and Park’s setting is essentially a chaste yet voluptuous soprano solo underpinned by floating wordless choral textures in the opening and closing sections; the choir sings the text only for a few bars in the central section. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Ascendit Deus (2019) – SATB Read More
For Ashley Grote and Norwich Cathedral Choir
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 03:00

Ave maris stella (2014) – SSATB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Richard III Society, George Haynes and the St Peter’s Singers
About: This is an original setting of an anonymous plainsong. 
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Gabrieli Consort ‘A Rose Magnificat’ (2018) • The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 04:30
Programme note
The repetitive, slightly jingly metre of this popular medieval hymn presents a challenge to the composer; Park does not attempt to camouflage the insistent metre but instead allows it to propel the music forward, retaining a pleasing simplicity in his melody (he acknowledges Grieg’s setting to be an influence), while clothing it with more sophisticated harmonies that would have delighted Francis Poulenc. The stanzas of the text are prefaced by bell-like repeated notes to the words ‘Ave maris stella’, rising from D via E flat and E natural to a final high G, leading to a luscious final Amen. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Ave Regina Caelorum (2017) – SATB Read More
About: Dating from 2017, this a short work for unaccompanied mixed voices sets the Marian antiphon sung at the Liturgy of the Hours at the close of compline during the period from the Feast of the Presentation through to Maundy Thursday.
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 03:30

Awake my soul (2019) – SATB Read More
Anthem composed for Wells Cathedral Choir, and dedicated to Iain Ball MBE, Chairman of the Wells Cathedral Chorister Trust 2004–2015
Listen | Score
Duration: 04:00

Beati quorum via (2014) – SSATB Read More
Commissioned by Wells Cathedral Chorister Trust for the Countess of Wessex
About: This piece is a setting of Psalm 119, Verse 1.
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton • The Elysian Singers; Sam Laughton
Duration: 04:30
Programme note
Park’s setting, like Stanford’s, is gracious and flowing – the melodic lines appropriately start to wander at the words ‘qui ambulant’ – though, unlike Stanford, he underlines the law of the Lord (‘in lege Domini’) with faster and more rhythmically emphatic music before return to the tranquil mood of the opening. In the closing bars, the sopranos and altos are directed to sing ‘like shimmering silver’. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Caelos ascendit hodie (2017) – SATB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 03:30
Programme note
Appropriately for an Ascensiontide motet, the music has a rhythmically animated, fanfare-like character, never predictable or regular for long – in the first twelve bars there are time signatures to match the joyful rhythms of the text. Much of the harmony is based on simple parallel chords that move up and down, a favourite device of composers to create a festive sound. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Five Carols (2021) – SATBRead More
Programme Note: Adam lay ybounden is a setting of medieval English words, and is perfect as a seasonal introit. The Holy Child and A Winter Bloom are settings of words by contemporary British poets, Georgia Way and Hannah King, which both offer a reflective take on the festive period. Here is the little door was composed for readers of the BBC Music Magazine, and captures the wonder of Frances Chesterton’s text – at first meditative and subdued before becoming more colourful and lively. I Wonder as I Wander is a reworking of an existing piece scored for larger choir (NOV297385). The wistful melody has the character of a folk song, with mellifluous writing for the accompanying voices
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Cambridge Chorale; Owain Park
Duration: 12:00

For the fallen (2016) – SSAATTBB Read More
Commissioned by Joseph Wicks and the Beaufort Singers | Remembrance
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 04:15
Programme note
This richly textured eight-voiced setting of Binyon’s renowned poem is filled with the interplay of voices. It begins with sopranos and altos radiating almost tentaively upwards and downwards in mirror image from a single note, singing a motif spanning just a major third (‘They shall not grow old’), answered by tenors and basses with their own motif (‘as we that are left grow old’), likewise contained within a narrow pitch range. The music gradually expands to fill a wide compass from high soprano to low bass, but thenit progressively becomes simpler, with all voices persistently recalling the music of the opening with its single note and its ‘They shall grow not old’ motif to underline the idea of a memory that can never fade. The scheme of this deeply felt piece could possibly be modelled on Purcell’s Hear my prayer, O Lord, likewise an eight-voiced a cappella anthem which expands from a single voice to a quite passionate climax, subsiding to a tranquil final open-fifth chord (neither major nor minor).” – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Holy is the true light (2018) – SATB divisi Read More
For Nigel Short and Tenebrae
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Tenebrae • The Epiphoni Consort (2020)
Duration: 05:30

I will lift up mine eyes (2011) – SATB Read More
Commissioned by Matthew Owens and Wells Cathedral Choir
Duration: 02:45

I wonder as I wander (2017) – SATB divisi Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 02:30
Programme note
Holst or Warlock might almost have written this charming, tuneful carol – an endearing reminder that for several centuries English composers have had a place in their hearts for the carol genre, a form of folk art still beloved and current. John Jacob Niles originally set the text to his own tune, and for some years this American folk singer of the mid-twentieth century passed off the finished result as an Appalachian folk carol before admitting that both words and music were his own invention. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

It is finished (2020) – SATB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Max Barley, Sarah Colley and the Choir of St Mary’s, Wimbledon, as part of the choir’s “Seven Last Words from the Cross” project.
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Gesualdo Six
Duration: 04:00

Judas mercator pessimus (2014) – SATB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 07:30
Programme note

Justorum Animae (2017) – SSATBB Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 04:30
Programme note
Park’s Justorum Animae embodies an old technique made new: imitative polyphony, where the same melody, with some variation, is passed around from voice to voice in constant interplay. In this case, the melodic line is eventually transformed from the slightly uneasy form in which we hear it as the opening to a beatific tranquility, as the souls of the righteous attain everlasting peace after a journey through travail. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Night Prayer (2020) – SATB Read More
Night Prayer was written by Owain Park during isolation, and is designed to be performed by singers brought together from afar. The music is based on the ancient chant, Te lucis ante terminum (Before the ending of the day), with the melodies set against gently hummed textures and slow-moving harmonies.
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Gesualdo Six; Tenebrae
Duration: 04:30

O magnum mysterium (2019) – Soprano solo with SATB Read More
Commissioned by Rundfunkchor Berlin for its annual Christmas Concert on 21 December 2019, conducted by Benjamin Goodson
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Tenebrae
Duration: 05:00

O send out thy light (2022) – Solo voice with SATB Read More
Composed for The Gesualdo Six’s Epiphany Concert Series in 2022
Recordings: The Gesualdo Six
Duration: 02:30

Phos hilaron (2015) – SATB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton • London Choral Sinfonia; Michael Waldron
Duration: 09:00 (full version); 02:00 (chant version)
Publisher: Novello
Programme note

Preces and responses (2019) – SATB Read More
Commissioned by Alexander Ross for Kirsty Ross. First performed by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Duration: 06:00

Shepherds’ Cradle Song (2013) – SATB divisi or AATBarBB Read More
Dedicated to Bryony MacLeod-Jones
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge ‘Yulefest’ (2015)
Duration: 03:45
Programme note
Owain Park’s Shepherds’ cradle song pays tribute to John Rutter’s influence, alongside Herbert Howells and others in the English school of carol-writing, with its sweet tune passing skilfully from voice to voice. – from notes by © Ted Tregear 2015.

Sweet Day (2010) – SSATB Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Holst Singers
Recordings: The Tallis Scholars (live)
Duration: 04:45

The Lord’s Prayer (2015) – SSAATTBB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Patrick Allies and Siglo di Oro
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton • Siglo de Oro (video)
Duration: 07:00
Programme note
This setting from 2015 of the best-known Christian prayer – notoriously hard to set to music successfully – is a new piece inspired by an old one. In this case the old piece is John Sheppard’s own setting of the Lord’s Prayer, written in the mid-sixteenth century; Park was commissioned to write his reflection on it for the choir Siglo de Oro’s ‘John Sheppard at 500’ celebration. Sheppard’s music is heard at various points in the piece, sometimes in fairly literal form, sometimes fragmentary or distorted as if half-remembered from a dream. The sections which are wholly new are based in part of a technique known as bitonality – used in a not dissimilar way to Elgar’s part-song There is sweet music – where fragments of music (or just single chords) in different keys are juxtaposed or superimposed to create a special effect, in this case an atmospheric and slightly enigmatic one which is wholly the composer’s own. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

The Mother of God (2013) – SSATB Read More
Recordings: Reverie (live)
Duration: 02:45

The Wings of the Wind (2015) – SSAATTBB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 05:00
Programme note
This bright, extrovert piece was written for Trinity College Choir’s 2015 USA tour. A choir on tour, by tradition, is allowed to show off a little, and The wings of the wind has an engagingly ice-breaking, here-we-are-folks character that would have worked well as a recital opener. The text is a collage of individual Psalm verses compiled to invite vivid word painting and an arch-like musical structure with the opening and closing sections fast and rhythmic, and a more reflective central section containing an expressive soprano solo which, perhaps in homage to the choir’s American hosts, seems distantly inspired by Gershwin’s Summertime. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Trinity Fauxbourdons (2017) – SATB divisi Read More
1. Magnificat / 2. Nunc Dimittis
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 08:00
Programme note
A fauxbourdon is a single melody line, often a Gregorian chant, thickened out by other vocal lines added above and/or below it: a technique as old as choral writing itself but still usable today. The single line which forms the basis of Park’s setting of the pair of canticles sung at Anglican Evensong is the ancient chant known as the tonus peregrinus (‘wandering tune’), so called because it strays beyond the normal boundaries of a Psalm chant. Park follows the traditional alternatim practice of presenting successive paris of verses with the first of the pair left plain (with just the chant) followed by a verse elaborated with fauxbourdons, though he plays with this convention by allowing sustained wordless chords to support the chant in the plain verses. The fauxbourdon verses are treated more freely, with the chant itself sometimes elaborated, and the added voices forming chors which belong more to the world of, say, Herbert Howells than to Machaut or Dufay. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (2013) – SATB double choir Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge ‘Yulefest’ (2015)
Duration: 03:30
Programme note
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day, which Trinity commissioned from Owain Park for the 2013 Advent service, is a well known text for choral audiences… This new version is swaggering, fast, rhythmic, but not at all fussy. It is important never to lose sight of the melody. This much easier to listen to that it is to perform. – from notes by © Ted Tregear 2015

Upheld by stillness (2015) – SSSAATTBB Read More
Commissioned by ORA and Suzy Digby
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: ORA ‘Upheld by stillness’ (2016) • The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 03:30
Programme note
Park was one of five composers commissioned in 2014 by Suzi Digby, conductor of the London-based professional chamber choir ORA, to write ‘reflections’ on a movement of Byrd’s Mass for five voices – a genre currently being widely cultivated in choral composition, whereby an old piece is made the basis of a new one. He chose the Sanctus and Benedictus (which counts as a single movement), and it was first performed, along with the other four ‘reflections’ and Byrd’s Mass, at a concert given by ORA in 2016. The music of Upheld by stillness seems to inhabit a floating dream world where fragments of the ‘old’ music drift in and out of the texture. The ‘it’ in the first line of Kathleen Raine’s poem refers to the world. Park writes: I was instantly drawn to Kathleen Raine’s The World when looking for a text for this reflection. Its themes perfectly corresponded with my idea of Byrd’s Sanctus being an expansive, continually evolving work. It is a fascinating poem, manipulating only six ideas but creating an effortless circle of themes, interweaving and inextricably linked. Elements of the poem are reflected in this piece as well as melodic lines from Byrd’s original composition, which are often set against a backdrop of shimmering chords. While composing this piece, I kept the partbooks of the Mass in my sightline as a constant influence on the shapes and contours of the music. There is a sense of travel in the continuous humming, often linking sections as themes are passed around the voices. The ‘Osanna’ section borrows just the open vowels of the original text to create a warm, engulfing sound. This idea is heard twice in the piece, the second time returning elongated and more joyous. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Vinea mea electa (2018) – SATB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Bath Camerata and Benjamin Goodson
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 04:30

Secular

Footsteps (2016) – unaccompanied mixed choirs Read More
Commissioned by Tenebrae and Nigel Short
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Tenebrae
Duration: 17:00
Programme note
The narrative for Footsteps is a fusion of texts by eight different authors, five of whom contribute to the introduction of the work. On Leaving by Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda is a sonnet reflecting on the author’s moving from Cuba to Spain; ‘Sea Pearl’ could be describing the author’s homeland, but here, when fused with ‘the wanderer’s guiding star’ (E Brontë) alludes to the moon. Longer phrases which rise and fall in the upper parts of the semi-chorus are imitated more quickly in the main choir. – from notes by © Owain Park 2017. Full programme note.

For the fallen (2016) – SSAATTBB Read More
Commissioned by Joseph Wicks and the Beaufort Singers | Remembrance
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 04:15
Programme note
This richly textured eight-voiced setting of Binyon’s renowned poem is filled with the interplay of voices. It begins with sopranos and altos radiating almost tentaively upwards and downwards in mirror image from a single note, singing a motif spanning just a major third (‘They shall not grow old’), answered by tenors and basses with their own motif (‘as we that are left grow old’), likewise contained within a narrow pitch range. The music gradually expands to fill a wide compass from high soprano to low bass, but then it progressively becomes simpler, with all voices persistently recalling the music of the opening with its single note and its ‘They shall grow not old’ motif to underline the idea of a memory that can never fade. The scheme of this deeply felt piece could possibly be modelled on Purcell’s Hear my prayer, O Lord, likewise an eight-voiced a cappella anthem which expands from a single voice to a quite passionate climax, subsiding to a tranquil final open-fifth chord (neither major nor minor).” – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Louisa (2014) – SATB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Dominic Pini
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Royal Holloway (live) • The Epiphoni Consort (2020)
Duration: 05:00 

Shakespeare Love Songs (2013) – SATB divisi Read More
1. Love is a Smoke / 2. Love, whose month is ever May / 3. So sweet a kiss / 4. When love speaks
Commissioned by The Maesbury Singers and Iain MacLeod-Jones
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Trinity Consort (live) • The Epiphoni Consort (2020)
Duration: 10:00

Shakespeare Songs of Night-time (2014)– SATB divisi Read More
1. Light thickens / 2. Weary with toil / 3. Now it is the time of night / 4. Let fall the windows of thine eyes / 5. Be not afeard / 6. The Cloud Capp’d Towers
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Holst Singers
Recordings: The Epiphoni Consort (2020)
Duration: 20:00

Sweet Day (2010) – SSATB Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Holst Singers
Recordings: The Tallis Scholars (live)
Duration: 04:45

Upheld by stillness (2015) – SSSAATTBB Read More
Commissioned by ORA and Suzy Digby
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: ORA ‘Upheld by stillness’ (2016) • The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 03:30
Programme note
Park was one of five composers commissioned in 2014 by Suzi Digby, conductor of the London-based professional chamber choir ORA, to write ‘reflections’ on a movement of Byrd’s Mass for five voices – a genre currently being widely cultivated in choral composition, whereby an old piece is made the basis of a new one. He chose the Sanctus and Benedictus (which counts as a single movement), and it was first performed, along with the other four ‘reflections’ and Byrd’s Mass, at a concert given by ORA in 2016. The music of Upheld by stillness seems to inhabit a floating dream world where fragments of the ‘old’ music drift in and out of the texture. The ‘it’ in the first line of Kathleen Raine’s poem refers to the world. Park writes: I was instantly drawn to Kathleen Raine’s The World when looking for a text for this reflection. Its themes perfectly corresponded with my idea of Byrd’s Sanctus being an expansive, continually evolving work. It is a fascinating poem, manipulating only six ideas but creating an effortless circle of themes, interweaving and inextricably linked. Elements of the poem are reflected in this piece as well as melodic lines from Byrd’s original composition, which are often set against a backdrop of shimmering chords. While composing this piece, I kept the partbooks of the Mass in my sightline as a constant influence on the shapes and contours of the music. There is a sense of travel in the continuous humming, often linking sections as themes are passed around the voices. The ‘Osanna’ section borrows just the open vowels of the original text to create a warm, engulfing sound. This idea is heard twice in the piece, the second time returning elongated and more joyous. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

Welcome (2022) – SATB & ATTBarBB choirs Read More
Commissioned by the University of St Andrews for St Salvator’s Chapel Choir. First performed at the McPherson Recital Room on Friday 8 April 2022.
Duration: 05:00

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Chorus with one instrument

A Confirmation Prayer (2008) – SATB with organ Read More
Commissioned by Westbury-on-Trym Parish Church and David Ogden
Recordings: Westbury-on-Trym Parish Church and David Ogden ‘All times and seasons’ (2011)
Duration: 03:00

All this night bright angels sing (2010) – SATB with organ Read More
Recordings: Cadenza and Jenny Sumerling (video)
Duration: 02:30

Antiphon for the Angels (2018) – SSAATTBB with violin solo Read More
Commissioned by Rachel Podger and VOCES8 for ‘A Guardian Angel’ tour, 2018. First performed on March 27, 2018 at St George’s, Bristol, by Rachel Podger and VOCES8.
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 07:30

Cradle Lullaby (2012) – S divisi with piano or organ Read More
Commissioned by Wells Cathedral Chorister Parents Association
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Wells Cathedral Choir (video) • Anna Lapwood & The Pembroke Girls Choir
Duration: 04:00

Gentle Mary laid her child (2017) – SATB with piano Read More
Commissioned by Wimbledon Choral Society and Neil Ferris
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 04:00

God is gone up (2019) – SATB with organRead More
Commissioned by St David’s Cathedral and Oliver Waterer
Duration: 04:00

Let Christians all with Joyful Mirth (2012) – SATB with organ Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Music Sales Choral Sampler (2015)
Duration: 03:00

Mairi’s Wedding (2013) – SATB with piano Read More
Commissioned by Frikki Walker and Bearsden Choir
Text by Sir Hugh S. Robertson
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 04:00

Remember (2018) – SATB with organ Read More
Written for the Choirs of Pembroke College, Cambridge, for performance on the centenary of the Armistice that ended World War 1.
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 07:00

Salisbury Canticles (2020) – SATB with organ Read More
Commissioned by Salisbury Cathedral.
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 08:00

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (2014) – SATB with piano Read More
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Recordings: Oxford University Press Choral Highlights (2015)
Duration: 05:15

Sing to me, windchimes (2018) – SATB with piano Read More
Commissioned by Louth Choral Society in 2017. First performed by St James’s Church, Louth, Lincolnshire, on Sunday 22 April 2018, conducted by Owain Park and accompanied by David Parker. The work sets text by Lyva Marty, A. E. Housman, Stella Benson, Alice Meynell and Sara Teasdale.
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Epiphoni Consort (2020)
Duration: 20:00

St Andrew’s Mass (2011) – SATB with organ Read More
Recordings: Wells Cathedral Choristers, Wells Cathedral School Chapel Choir (live)
Duration: 10:00

Sure on this shining night (2011) – SATB with piano Read More
Recordings: Video
Duration: 05:00

The Gloucester Service (2014) – SATB with organ Read More
Commissioned by David Ogden and RSCM Millennium Youth Choir
Duration: 13:00

The Redcliffe Magnificat (2014) – SATB with organ (Chamber Organ) Read More
Commissioned by Andrew Kirk and the Choir of St Mary Redcliffe
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge (live)
Duration: 04:45

The Spirit Breathes (2017) – SATB with organ Read More
Commissioned by Stephen Layton and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; Stephen Layton
Duration: 06:30
Programme note
The organ part is florid and prominent, the choir part relatively modest and plain. The piece was commissioned by St Mark’s Anglican Church, Niagara-on-the-Lake, to commemorate the congregation’s 225th anniversary and celebrate the arrival of a new organ by Canadian organ builder Gabriel Kney, which they naturally wished to show off. The full range of the organ’s solo colours is utilized, with flutes, diapasons and mutations all called for at different times to illuminate the text, which was specially written by poet and former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams. He prefaces his poem with the words ‘Loud organs his glory’, a phrase from H W Baker’s familiar hymn ‘O praise ye the Lord’, usually sung to Parry’s hymn tune Laudate Dominum. The subject of William’s poem is the unique role of the organ in worship, to pierce these ‘steely hearts … So that praise springs and singing starts’. In keeping the choir part simple, mostly moving at a steady pace with little contrapuntal elaboration, Park is allowing the remarkable text to be clearly heard, while giving the organ freedom to soar, its arabesque-like flute stop figures suggesting the flight of a free spirit. It comes as no surprise that Park quotes some of Parry’s tune in thunderous pedal notes, reminding us of the awe-inspiring power of the king of instruments. – from notes by © John Rutter 2018

The Testimony of St John (2024) – AATTBB with chamber organ Read More
First performed at St John’s Smith Square by The Gesualdo Six & Richard Gowers on organ in May 2024.
Duration: 05:00

The Wells Service (2013) – SATB with string orchestra (or organ) Read More
Commissioned by Wells Cathedral Choir and Matthew Owens
Recordings: Wells Cathedral Choir; Athenaeum Chamber Orchestra of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague (live)
Duration: 11:00

Trinity Te Deum (2019) – SATB with brass, organ and percussion (or organ) Read More
Commissioned by Trinity College Cambridge for the Installation of Dame Sally Davies as Master of Trinity College on Tuesday 8 October 2019. Version for brass first performed at the Installation Ceremony in Trinity College Chapel by The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Trinity Brass, Luke Fitzgerald (organ) and Stephen Layton (conductor).
Listen | Watch
Publisher: Novello
Duration: 6:30

While Shepherds Watched (2010) – SATB with organ (or string quartet) Read More
Commissioned by David Ogden and Holy Trinity Church, Westbury-on-Trym
Recordings: Wells Cathedral School Chapel Choir (video)
Duration: 03:30

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Upper voices

As now the sun’s declining rays (2012) – SS a cappella Read More
Commissioned by Wells Cathedral Choir and Matthew Owens
Duration: 02:00

Away in a manger (2010) – Upper voices with piano Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Mastersingers City of Palms Youth Choir (video)
Duration: 02:30

Preces and Responses (2013) – Upper voices with organ Read More
Commissioned by Diocesan Choirs Association of Wells and Bath
Duration: 04:30

The Poppy Red (2018) – Upper voices and military band Read More
Commissioned by the Military Wives Choirs to commemorate the centenary of 1918, the end of the First World War.
Publisher: Novello
Recording: The Military Wives Choir
Duration: 04:30

The Tyger (2019) – SSA with piano Read More
Commissioned by Graham and Alison Noakes for Farnham Youth Choirs
Publisher: Novello
Recording: Epiphoni Consort
Duration: 04:30

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Lower voices

Fantasia on English Children’s Songs (2013) – ATTBB Read More
Commissioned by Opus Anglicanum and John Rowlands-Pritchard
Recordings: Opus Anglicanum
Duration: 10:00

Lully, lulla (2012) – ATB divisi Read More
Commissioned by Wells Cathedral Choir and Matthew Owens
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Wise Music Classical
Duration: 03:00

On the Infancy of our Saviour (2014) – ATTBB Read More
Commissioned by Opus Anglicanum and John Rowlands-Pritchard
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Gesualdo Six (video)
Duration: 04:30

Prière pour Marie (2023) – AATTBB Read More
Composed for The Gesualdo Six, and first performed in London on 15 June 2023 by the ensemble at Holy Trinity Church, South Kensington.
Recordings: The Gesualdo Six
Duration: 03:30

Sequence: ‘In Parenthesis’ (2015) – ATTBB and Narrator Read More
Commissioned by Opus Anglicanum and John Rowlands-Pritchard
Recordings: The Gesualdo Six
Watch: Sequence: ‘In Parenthesis’
Duration: 13:00
Programme note
In 2014 I was asked by the vocal consort Opus Anglicanum to compose a piece to help them mark the centenary of World War I. Their commemoration was centred around Welsh poet David Jones’s In Parentesis, based on the artist’s experience as a young volunteer soldier in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Words from his long narrative poem are quoted as a stream of consciousness, not always connected to the sung parts but sometimes intertwined in a dream-like sequence,  blurred together. In the vocal lines a repeated, monotonous ‘Men marching’ idea provides a thread between songs derived from village halls, community song books, churches and even those that had drifted over from the trenches. In 2018 we visited Mametz Wood, a site connected to the Battle of the Somme, to film a video of this piece to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice which marked the end of the First World War. It is a quiet place, with lonely corners punctuated by dappled light – haunting in its stillness and the memory of what has gone before. – from notes by © Owain Park 2022

Shepherds’ Cradle Song (2013) – SATB divisi or AATBarBB Read More
Dedicated to Bryony MacLeod-Jones.
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge ‘Yulefest’ (2015)
Duration: 03:45
Programme note
Owain Park’s Shepherds’ cradle song pays tribute to John Rutter’s influence, alongside Herbert Howells and others in the English school of carol-writing, with its sweet tune passing skilfully from voice to voice. – from notes by © Ted Tregear 2015.

There stood in heaven a linden tree (2012) – AATTBB Read More
Duration: 04:00

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Arrangements for chorus

Ain’t that a kick in the head? (2015) (Van Heusen/Cahn) – SSSAATTBBB

Have yourself a merry little Christmas (2013) (Martin/Blane) – SATB divisi Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge ‘Yulefest’ (2015)
Duration: 03:15
Programme note
Owain Park’s Shepherds’ cradle song pays tribute to John Rutter’s influence, alongside Herbert Howells and others in the English school of carol-writing, with its sweet tune passing skilfully from voice to voice. – from notes by © Ted Tregear 2015.

Mairi’s Wedding (2013) – SATB with piano Read More
Commissioned by Frikki Walker and Bearsden Choir
Text by Sir Hugh S. Robertson
Duration: 04:00

Molly Malone (2012) (Traditional) – AATTBB

Mood Indigo (2014) (Ellington/Bigard) – SATB divisi

My Funny Valentine (2015) (Rogers/Hart) – SATB divisi

Shenandoah (2018) – SATB divisi

Silence is Golden (2013) (Crewe/Gaudio) – SSATBB or AATTBB

Step we gaily, on we go (2013) (Trad. Scottish) – SATB divisi with piano

The Very Best Time of Year (2014) (John Rutter) – SATB divisi Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge ‘Yulefest’ (2015) • Cambridge Chorale (2023)
Duration: 02:45
Programme note
The very best time of year is one of John Rutter’s wonderful original carols, arranged thirty years ago by Robert Graham Campbell for Cambridge students to sing in close-harmony groups; Owain Park returned to Rutter’s original scoring for choir and orchestra to imitate some of his orchestral colours. – from notes by © Ted Tregear 2015.

Wither’s Rocking Hymn (2014) (Traditional, from RVW) – SATB divisi

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Organ solo

Hymn to Theotokos (2017) Read More
Commissioned by Sebastian Thomson for Angels of Creation
Duration: 07:00

Images (2015) Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Joseph Wicks (Truro Cathedral)
Duration: 06:30

Macht weit die Pforten in der Welt (2015) Read More
Publisher: Carus-Verlag | Perusal score
Duration: 03:00

Méditation (2011) Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recordings: Owain Park (video)
Duration: 04:00

O Gott, dein Wille schuf die Welt (2017) Read More
Publisher: Carus-Verlag | Perusal score
Recordings: Joseph Wicks (Truro Cathedral)
Duration: 05:00

Prelude on ‘O little town of Bethlehem’ (2014) Read More
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Recordings: Owain Park (live)
Duration: 03:00

Realms of Light (2012) Read More
Duration: 05:00

Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist (2015) Read More
Recordings: Owain Park (live)
Duration: 04:00

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Chamber

18 April (2020) – Mezzo-soprano; Baritone; and piano Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recording: Helen Charlston and Michael Craddock
Duration: 05:30

Battle Cry (2021) – Mezzo-soprano & Theorbo Read More
Commissioned by City Music Foundation, and first performed on 7 September 2021 at the Great Hall, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London by Helen Charlston and Toby Carr.
Publisher: Novello
Recording: Helen Charlston and Toby Carr
Duration: 17:00

Full moon and little Frieda (2011) – Soprano with piano

Midnight Poem (2020) – 2 Sopranos & Theorbo/Viol Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recording: Fair Oriana
Duration: 10:30

Miserere after Allegri (2021) – SATB & Saxophone Quartet Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recording: Corvus Consort & Ferio Saxophone Quartet
Duration: 08:30

Spills (2016) – Wind sextet

The Snow Child (2016) – Chamber Opera

The Erl King (2017) – Chamber Opera

The Whale Sailed (2015) – Piano trio

Tota Pulchra es (after Jean Mouton) (2021) – SSS; TTBB; soprano saxophone Read More
Publisher: Novello
Recording: The Choir of Canterbury Cathedral and Sam Corkin
Duration: 08:30

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Orchestral

Fanfare for Sidney (2015)