List of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle

This is a list of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle (1934–2022), a British composer of contemporary classical music. Birtwistle's music was published by Universal Edition until 1994, and since then by Boosey & Hawkes.

Opera and other dramatised works

 * The Mark of the Goat, children's dramatic cantata for actors, singers, 2 choirs, 3 melody instruments, piano (6 hands), large and small percussion ensembles (1965)
 * Punch and Judy, A tragical comedy or comical tragedy in 1 act (1966–67)
 * Down by the Greenwood Side, A Dramatic Pastoral (1968–69)
 * Pulse Field: Frames, Pulse and Interruptions, ballet, for 6 dancers and 9 musicians (1977)
 * Bow Down, music theatre, for 5 actors and 4 musicians (1977)
 * The Mask of Orpheus, Lyric Tragedy in 3 acts (1973–83)
 * Yan Tan Tethera, A Mechanical Pastoral (1983-84)
 * Gawain, Opera in 2 acts, (1990–91, revised 1994 & 1999)
 * The Second Mrs Kong, Opera in 2 acts (1993–94)
 * The Last Supper, Opera in 1 act (1998–1999)
 * The Io Passion, Chamber Opera (2003)
 * The Minotaur, Opera (2005–07)
 * The Corridor, Scena for two voices and ensemble (2008–09)
 * The Cure, for two singers and ensemble (2014–15)

Orchestra

 * Chorales, for orchestra (1960–63)
 * Nomos, for 4 amplified instruments and orchestra (1967–68)
 * The Triumph of Time, for orchestra (1971–72)
 * Melencolia I, for clarinet, harp and 2 string orchestras (1976)
 * Earth Dances, for orchestra (1985–86)
 * Endless Parade, for trumpet, strings and vibraphone (1986–87)
 * Machaut à ma manière, for orchestra (1988)
 * Gawain's Journey, for orchestra (1991)
 * Antiphonies, for piano and orchestra (1992)
 * The Cry of Anubis, for tuba and orchestra (1994)
 * Panic, for alto saxophone, jazz drummer, wind, brass and percussion (1995)
 * Exody, for orchestra (1997)
 * Sonance Severance 2000, for orchestra (1999)
 * The Shadow of Night, for orchestra (2001)
 * Night’s Black Bird, for orchestra (2004)
 * Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2009–10)
 * Responses, for piano and orchestra (2013-14)
 * Deep Time, for orchestra (2016)
 * Variation IX in Pictured Within: Birthday Variations for M.C.B., for orchestra (2019)

Chamber ensemble without voices

 * The World is Discovered, 6 Instrumental Movements after Heinrich Isaac, for chamber ensemble (1961)
 * 3 Movements with Fanfares, for chamber orchestra (1964)
 * Tragoedia, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, harp and string quartet (1965)
 * Chorale from a Toy Shop, open scoring (1967, later versions 2016-17)
 * Three lessons in a frame, for piano solo, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion. (1967: withdrawn)
 * Medusa, for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion and electronics (1969: withdrawn)
 * Verses for Ensembles, for 3 instrumental ensembles (1968–69)
 * Some Petals from my Twickenham Herbarium, for piccolo, clarinet in Bb, glockenspiel, piano, violin and violoncello (1969)
 * An Imaginary Landscape, for brass, percussion and double basses (1971)
 * Tombeau in memoriam Igor Stravinsky, for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet (1971)
 * Grimethorpe Aria, for brass band (1973)
 * For O, for O, the Hobby-Horse is Forgot, Ceremony, for 6 percussionists (1976)
 * Silbury Air, for chamber ensemble (1977)
 * Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum, for chamber ensemble or orchestra (1977–1978)
 * Mercure: Poses Plastiques (after Erik Satie), arranged for 14 players (1980)
 * Still Movement, for 13 solo strings (1984)
 * Secret Theatre, for chamber ensemble (1984)
 * Fanfare for Will, for brass ensemble (1987: unpublished)
 * Salford Toccata, for brass band (1989)
 * Ritual Fragment, for chamber orchestra (1990)
 * Fanfare for Glyndebourne, for brass ensemble and timpani (1994)
 * Bach Measures, for chamber ensemble (1996)
 * Slow Frieze, for piano and ensemble (1996)
 * Placid Mobile, for 36 trumpets (1998)
 * The Silk House Tattoo, for two trumpets and side drums (1998)
 * Sonance 2000, for brass ensemble (1999)
 * 17 Tate Riffs, for ensemble (2000)
 * Fanfare, for brass and percussion (2001)
 * Tenebrae David, for brass ensemble (2001)
 * Theseus Game, for large ensemble with two conductors (2002)
 * Cantus Iambeus, for thirteen instruments (2004)
 * The Io Passion: Nocturnes, for clarinet and string quartet (2004)
 * Cortege, for 14 musicians (2007: a reworking of Ritual Fragment)
 * Virelai (Sus une fontayne) (after Johannes Ciconia), for 12 players (2008)
 * Crescent Moon over the Irrational, for flute doubling piccolo, clarinet, harp and string quartet (2010)
 * Fantasia upon all the notes for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet, (2011)
 * In Broken Images, for woodwind, brass and percussion (2011-12)
 * Five Lessons in a Frame, for ensemble (2015: the 5 Duets, framed by a new chorale)
 * Sonance for a New Space, for 3 trumpets, 4 trombones and bells (2018)
 * Donum Simoni MMXVIII (2018) for woodwind, brass and percussion

Instrumental groups of 5 or fewer performers, without voices

 * Refrains and Choruses, for wind quintet (1957)
 * Précis, for piano (1960)
 * Verses, for clarinet and piano (1965)
 * Linoi, for basset clarinet in A and piano, or clarinet, piano, tape and dancer; or clarinet, piano and cello (1968)
 * Four Interludes for a Tragedy, for basset clarinet and tape (1968)
 * Ut Heremita Solus (after Ockeghem), for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and glockenspiel (1969)
 * Hoquetus David (after Machaut), for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and glockenspiel (1969)
 * 8 Lessons for Keyboards (1969: unpublished)
 * Signals, for clarinet and tape (1970: unpublished)
 * Dinah and Nick's Love Song, for 3 melody instruments and harp (1970)
 * Sad Song, for piano (1971)
 * Chanson de Geste, for amplified sustaining instrument and tape (1973: withdrawn)
 * Clarinet Quintet, for clarinet and string quartet (1980)
 * Pulse Sampler, for oboe and claves (1981)
 * Duets for Storab, for 2 flutes (1983)
 * Berceuse de Jeanne, for piano (1984)
 * Antiphonies from the Moonkeeper, for trumpet (1985)
 * Hector's Dawn, for piano (1987)
 * An Interrupted Endless Melody, for oboe and piano (1991)
 * 5 Distances for 5 Instruments, for flute, oboe, clarinet in B flat, bassoon and horn in F (1992)
 * Hoquetus Petrus, for two flutes and piccolo trumpet (1995)
 * 9 Movements, for string quartet (1991–1996)
 * Harrison’s Clocks, for piano (1997–98)
 * The Silk House Tattoo, for two trumpets and 3 side drums (1998)
 * Betty Freeman: Her Tango, for piano (2000)
 * Ostinato with Melody, for piano (2000)
 * The Axe Manual, for piano and percussion (2000)
 * Saraband: The King's Farewell, for piano (2001)
 * Crowd, for solo harp (2005)
 * The Io Passion - Aubades and Nocturnes, for basset clarinet and string quartet (2006)
 * Dance of the metro-gnome, for piano (2006)
 * Five Little Antiphonies for Amelia, for two trumpets (2006)
 * Double Hocket, for piano trio (2007)
 * The Tree of Strings, for string quartet (2007)
 * 3 Fugues from The Art of Fugue (after Bach), for string quartet (2008)
 * The Message (Duet 1), for E flat clarinet, trumpet in C and military drum (2008)
 * Bourdon (Duet 2), for violin and viola (2009)
 * Roddy's Reel, for bass clarinet with audience participation (2009)
 * Oboe Quartet (2009–10)
 * Duet 3, for cor anglais and bassoon (2010)
 * Trio, for violin, cello and piano (2010)
 * Gigue Machine, for piano (2011)
 * Beyond the White Hand, for guitar (2013)
 * Variations from the Golden Mountain, for piano (2014)
 * Duet 4, for violin and flute (2014)
 * Duet 5, for horn and trombone (2014)
 * Hoquetus Irvineus, for string quartet (2014)
 * The Silk House Sequences, for string quartet (2015)
 * Intrada, for piano and percussion (2017)
 * Keyboard Engine, for two pianos (2017-18)
 * Duet for Eight Strings, for viola and cello (2018)

Vocal music (with and without instruments)

 * Monody for Corpus Christi, for soprano, flute, violin and horn (1959)
 * Narration: A Description of the Passing of a Year, for a cappella chorus (1963)
 * Music for Sleep, for children's voices, piano and percussion (1963)
 * Entr'actes and Sappho Fragments, for soprano and instruments (1964)
 * Ring a Dumb Carillon, for soprano (+ suspended cymbals), clarinet in B flat and percussion (1964–65)
 * Carmen Paschale, motet for choir and organ (1965)
 * The Visions of Francesco Petrarca (1965-66: withdrawn)
 * Monodrama (1967)
 * Cantata, for soprano and instruments (1969)
 * Nenia: The Death of Orpheus, for soprano, 3 bass clarinets, crotales and piano (1970)
 * Meridian, for mezzosoprano, 2 three-part women's choirs and instruments (1970–71)
 * Prologue, for tenor and 7 instruments (1971)
 * The Fields of Sorrow, for 2 sopranos, 8-part choir and instruments (1972)
 * Epilogue, "Full fathom five", for baritone, horn, 4 trombones and 6 tam-tams (1972)
 * La Plage: 8 Arias of Remembrance, for soprano and 5 instruments (1972)
 * Five Chorale Preludes (after J.S. Bach), for soprano, clarinet, basset horn and bass clarinet (1975)
 * … agm …, for 16 voices and 3 instrumental ensembles (1978–1979)
 * On the Sheer Threshold of the Night, Madrigal, for 4 soloists and 12-voice choir (1980)
 * Deowa, for soprano and clarinet in B flat (1983)
 * Songs by Myself, for soprano and chamber ensemble (1984)
 * Words Overheard, for soprano and chamber orchestra (1985)
 * 4 Songs of Autumn, for soprano and string quartet (1988)
 * An die Musik, for soprano and chamber ensemble (1988)
 * The Wine Merchant Robin of Mere, for male voice and piano (1989)
 * 4 Poems by Jaan Kaplinski, for soprano and 13 instruments (1991)
 * 9 Settings of Celan (may be performed as a set or individually) for soprano, 2 clarinets, viola, cello and double bass (1989–96)
 * Pulse Shadows (the 9 Movements for string quartet interleaved with the 9 Settings of Celan) (1989–96)
 * The Woman and the Hare, for soprano, reciter and ensemble (1998)
 * Love Cries, from the opera The Second Mrs. Kong, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and orchestra (1999)
 * Three Latin Motets, from The Last Supper, for unaccompanied choir (1999)
 * 9 Settings of Lorine Niedecker, for soprano and cello (1998–2000)
 * The Sadness of Komachi, for tenor and prepared piano (2000)
 * The Ring Dance of the Nazarene, for baritone, tombak, choir and ensemble (2003)
 * The Gleam, for unaccompanied choir (2003)
 * 3 Brendel Settings, for baritone and orchestra (2000–04)
 * 3 Arias by Bach, for soprano, countertenor and chamber ensemble (2003–04)
 * 26 Orpheus Elegies, for oboe, harp and countertenor (2003–04)
 * Today Too, for tenor, flute and guitar (2004)
 * Neruda Madrigales, for chorus and ensemble with live electronics (2004–05)
 * The Mouse Felt…, for baritone and piano (2005)
 * Lullaby, for two sopranos, unaccompanied (2006)
 * Song of Myself, for baritone, double bass and percussion (2006)
 * Bogenstrich for baritone, cello and piano (2006-09)
 * Angel Fighter, for chamber chorus, tenor, countertenor and ensemble (2009)
 * From Vanitas, for tenor and piano (2009)
 * Semper Dowland, semper dolens (after Dowland), for tenor and ensemble (2009)
 * 3 Settings of Lorine Niedecker, for soprano and cello (2011)
 * The Moth Requiem, for twelve female voices, three harps and alto flute (2012)
 * Songs from the Same Earth, for tenor and piano (2012-13)
 * Chorale-Prelude, for SATB chorus a capella (2014)
 * Three Songs from The Holy Forest, for soprano and ensemble (2016-17)
 * ...when falling asleep, for soprano, speaker and ensemble (2019)

Electronic music

 * Chronometer, for 2 asynchronous 4-track tapes (1971–72)

National Theatre productions

 * Hamlet (1975)
 * Tamburlaine the Great (1976)
 * Julius Caesar (1977)
 * Volpone (1977)
 * The Country Wife (1977)
 * The Cherry Orchard (1978: with Dominic Muldowney)
 * Brand (1978)
 * The Double Dealer (1978)
 * Herod (1978: with Dominic Muldowney)
 * As You Like It (1979)
 * The Oresteia (1981)
 * The Trojan War Will Not Take Place (1983)
 * Coriolanus (1984)
 * The Tempest (1988)
 * The Winter's Tale (1988)
 * Cymbeline (1988)
 * Bacchai (2002)

Other

 * The Innocents (play by William Archibald) (1976)

Film scores

 * The Offence (1972)