Pharaoh (timpani concerto)

The orchestral materials for this work can be hired from the composer. For enquiries go to Orchestral Hires

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PHARAOH

Concerto for Solo Timpani and Orchestra

Dedicated to Larry Reese and Tomomi Nozaki

Commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (Planet Damnation, 2007)and Orchestra Wellington (Pharaoh and The Great Pageant of Thee and Me, 2023)

1. Pharaoh

2. The Great Pageant of Thee and Me

3. Planet Damnation

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I've written a surprising amount of music for Timpani.

I have an above-average love of the instrument.

This is mostly due to the players I've been lucky enough to come into contact with. The first - and primary - instigator of this love affair with timpani is Larry Reese, principal timpanist of the NZSO. When the opportunity arose to write a 10m concert-opener concerto for the NZSO (with a pick of any of the principal players as soloists) I grabbed the timpani option. That resulted in Planet Damnation for Larry.

The other two members of my Timpani Holy Trinity are Diana Loomer and Tomomi Nozaki.

in 2021 Tomomi uploaded a wonderful video of Planet Damnation:

This led to communication between us and the idea of a new full-length timpani concerto. I decided to integrate Planet Damnation as the final movement of a three-part concerto which was eventually titled Pharaoh.

Tomomi travelled to New Zealand to premiere the work in 2023 with Orchestra Wellington, led by Marc Taddei. It was a terrific launch of the work.

One thing I've learnt is that timpani concerti are a very tough pitch to orchestral programmers and conductors. So I've also reworked this concerto for timpani and audio track. It's called Sphinx and was premiered by Tomomi in Tokyo in December 2025. At the time of writing this, I've just finished a new piece for Tomomi for timpani and marimba (no audio track), called Jikan. We are working towards recording an album of my timpani work in 2027 in early 2027.

Tomomi has become one of the very important collaborators in my journey.