1. Fanfare for Gustav Holst, written for the unveiling ceremony of a portrait sculpture of Holst at Montpelier Gardens, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, 4th April 2008, by the renowned conductor Sir Mark Elder and played by trumpeters from Pate’s Grammar School, Cheltenham.

2. Pae-G-an, a fanfare for the opening of a sculpture by Anish Kapoor at the ancient stone circle called the Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire in 2003 (but not performed). To be played by four players (or more) standing at the four cardinal points and thus forming a circle.

   First performed by the brass of the Music for You summer course, conductor Guy Woolfenden, Herefordshire, 2003.

First performed at the Warwick International Arts Festival, July 2006 by James Barralet (cello) and Sophie Rahman (piano).

Exhilarating. Leamington Courier.

For David Crown and the Somerville College Choir, Oxford. Written in 2014.

Inspired by seeing the solar eclipse of 1999 in the UK when at the moment of total eclipse the corona seemed to shine brighter than ever. The words are the last spoken by Goethe.

First performed by the Morley College Chamber Choir, conductor Dr Robert Hanson, June 2003.

Written for my singing groups who had little or no knowledge of music and little knowledge of singing either! I realised that they would like to hear themselves sing in a Russian style but finding no approriate music around for elementary SATB I wrote this work. It is written in transliterated Russian, and English. Easy but very effective!

First Performance Deddington Church, Oxfordshire 4 December 2011 Choros conducted by Janet Lincé.

"a very moving work"  - audience member.

Available on the CD Advent Calendar by Somerville College Choir under David Crown

The video below is of a performance by Wychwood Chorale conducted by David Crown, 31st March 2012.

For North Cotswold Chamber Choir, conductor Ashley Stafford.

First performed by the Morley College Chamber Choir, conductor Dr Robert Hanson, June 2003.

...profoundly haunting.... Leicester Echo.

First performed by the Birmingham Conservatoire Choir, conductor Julian Pike, at Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham, February 1998.

This is a beautiful and often surprising piece which ought to appeal to the large audience already captured by Taverner and Pärt, yet offers a more complex and thought-provoking experience. Calum MacDonald, Tempo (C.U.P) July 1998.

Dedicated to Michael Dean, Texas, USA.

This piece was inspired by a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, the 19th century American Quaker who became a household name in the US and the UK. Despite all the earthquakes, wind and fire of our minds, if we let it the "still small voice of calm" reappears to soothe us. Essentially this is what happens in the piece: sudden violent interjections are gradually pacified by the quiet authority of the insistent repeated melody.

The video below is of the first performance by Michael Dean (Clarinet) and Dena Kay Jones (Piano) at Orfeo Music Festival, Vitipeno, Italy, 8 July 2018.

First US performance on 27 October 2018 at the University of Texas at El Paso by Dr James Logan and Dena Kay Jones (piano). The audience response was very good: "The contrasts between chaos and peace resonated within people".

For Jane Woolfenden.

Sky Dance requires only conventional techniques but needs a highly developed sense of style and expression. A most welcome addition to the repertoire. Brenda Dykes, Pan: British Flute Society Journal (1997).

First Performed by Christopher Britton, at Holywell Music Room, Oxford, on 20th April 2008.

It is a beautiful poetic meditation ... which stands as a companion piece to his successful and evocative Sky Dance for solo flute. Tempo, October 2008.

First performed at the Stratford International Flute Festival, July 2005.

For Ray Burley.

Dedicated to Raymond Burley and first performed by him on 9th February 2013 in Oxford

All Raymond Head's harpsichord music is available on a Prima Facie ASC Recordings CD PFCD048, together with music by Delius,Holst, H.Howells, Peter Maxwell Davies and Bax.

"It ranges from a Delius work written in 1919 to the ravishing Le Panorama en Rondeau (2013) by Raymond Head. ... It's a lovely CD ..." Alice McVeigh, Music and Vision
 

Excellent pieces. Christopher Hogwood.

"Raymond Head, another composer with a wonderful feel for the harpsichord. Le Mystère is atonal, mysterious, with notes randomly disappearing up higher and higher, until the whole coalesces upon an insistence on a single note. In Le rappel de l'humanité an appealingly offbeat cheekiness alternates with a perpetuum mobile feel."   Alice McVeigh, Music and Vision

Below: Ending of Le Mystère and complete Le Rappel

A solo harpsichord piece dedicated to John Cage which was short listed for a competition organised by the British Harpsichord Society in 2012. Although it is obviously contemporary it has a French inflection and is a very expressive piece. It would work well in any recital of 18th century music. Not difficult.

1st Public Performance 15th April 2014, Christchurch, Woking, Surrey by Penelope Cave.

"This stunning work feels traditional — despite being dedicated to John Cage and in the metre 5:7:3 — yet according to Head it opposes the 'endless desire for change in Western music. Stasis and tranquillity is what I wanted to retrieve; variety is implicit, like ripples on a gentle river'." Alice McVeigh, Music and Vision

This piece was inspired by witnessing the whirling dervish ceremony with its moments of quiet prayer and whirling in Istanbul.

Commissioned by Penelope Cave. First performance in January 2007 at the Stratford on Avon Festival.

"Sema Mevlana was actually written for Penelope Cave. Inspired by whirling dervishes (although Head stresses that 'within the whirling there is a feeling of inner stability') its minimalist wit is answered by moments of near-harplike repose." Alice McVeigh, Music and Vision

Commissioned by the Chipping Norton Youth Theatre, Oxfordshire. Public performances in March 2000.

Commissioned by David Pedder for the Abingdon Chamber Recitals with funds from the Arts Council, Autumn 2001. Words specially written by the Irish poet Bernard O'Donaghue. First Performance at St Nicholas Church Abingdon, September 2001.

For Owen Dennis and Sarah Nicoll. Commissioned by Music Past and Present for performance in London, February 2004.

It is a wonderful piece. The nature of the oboe is incorporated into every note. Intense expression in both the assertive sections and the contemplative moments seem to embrace the qualities of the instrument with so much eloquence and beauty. The dialogue with the piano is very exciting." Edwin Roxburgh (2011), former professor at the RCM and (with Leon Goossens) author of the Yehudi Menuhin Guide to the Oboe.

First performed by Duncan Honeybourne, Magdalen College, Oxford, June 2000.

First performed at the Leominster Festival by the composer, 1997.

The performance below is by Kirsten Johnson.

Commissioned by the Alkan Society, London for a Ronald Smith memorial concert. First performed by Kirsten Johnson, Royal Academy of Music, London, September 2004.

First performed by Duncan Honeybourne, Magdalen College, Oxford, June 2000.

... an exciting and flamboyant work earned a standing ovation for performer (Kirsten Johnson) and composer. Lionel Sainsbury, Tempo, October 2008.

The performance below is by Kirsten Johnson.

Commissioned by Chipping Norton Theatre, Oxfordshire. First performed by Yoshiko Endo, 2001.

Below are extracts from a performance by Kirsten Johnson.

Commissioned by the Lenthall Concerts, Burford, Oxfordshire and performed by the Rogeri Trio in 1998.

Commissioned by Ian Chester and the Manchester Recorder Orchestra. First Performance at Buxton Festival, July 2017.

For Colin Touchin.

Click on these sample pages to enlarge them: .

There is a version for smaller ensemble of this piece which I have called Schauberger’s Dream.

For Ian Chesters and the Manchester Recorder Orchestra 2016.

An easy, jolly piece which should be played with a sense of fun.

First performed by the Heart of England Recorder Orchestra, conductor Colin Touchin, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, 1st December 2007.

This is a version of Recollections of Sun and Water for a smaller ensemble.

First performance 21st April 2012 at All Saints Church, Isleworth, Middlesex by Robert Gibbs (violin) and Oliver Davies ( piano) during Alan Gibbs’ 80th birthday concert.

For Martin Anderson. Written in May 2016 to memorialize the death of Yodit Tekle.

First performance and recording (below) by L,viv Symphony Strings conducted by Paul Mann. To be released on Toccata Classics.

First performed February 5th 2017 at Holywell music Room, Oxford by Arne Richards and Mike Bardsley on 2 harpsichords.

Could be performed on 2 pianos, 2 organs or 2 electronic keyboards.

“exciting and stimulating” (audience member)

Written for a wedding.

First performed by Hertfordshire Wind Sinfonia, conductor Mark Eager, April 201

........Head works with a diatonic harmonic language that will be enjoyable for players and audience alike and the work is certainly attainable for bands of Grade 3 standard..tuttis intersect with the longer chamber music passages... these chamber  music passages are marked solo and will require players to perform with confidence.... Peter Meechan Winds July 2011

First Public Performance at James Allen School, London, 5 November 2007, conductor Mr Leigh O'Hara. Played at the Music For You course held at Bicton College, Sidmouth, Devon in August 2007, conductor Guy Woolfenden.

This work has been admirably tailored to suit the developing player. Winds Magazine, Autumn 2007.

Extract from Scene 3: Dance:

Commissioned by Keith Allen for Birmingham Symphonic Winds. First performance at the CBSO Centre, Birmingham, June 2004. Also performed by the National Youth Wind Orchestra, Birmingham Conservatoire Wind Orchestra conducted by Guy Woolfenden, Hertfordshire County Youth Wind Orchestra and Vestidens Musikkorps, Norway.

An audio CD featuring a performance of this work by the Hertfordshire Wind Sinfonia is available from Prima Facie / ASC records. The performance can be heard on YouTube.

An excellent addition to the repertoire - try it! Robert Parker, Winds Magazine.

The piece was begun when I was interested in the idea of cosmic dust, the primordial source of everything, gradually coalescing to form blocks of matter which became new planets. Orion's Cradle Nebula is one such place where planets are "born". This idea made a deep imaginative impression on me and suggested music which was dance-like, followed by intense movement, juxtaposed with moments of ethereal calm.

"It's a great piece and very evocative of its title." An astrophysicist.

First performed by Cardiff Winds, 13 February 2016. Listen to a recording of this performance here:

This piece was commissioned by Cardiff Winds for performance at RWCMD in Cardiff 2017 but for various reasons was not played. The initial idea for this piece came from seeing water dropping down onto a plant in a cave and then being told that the water had dropped in the 18th century! The idea of time (what is it?) permeates the whole piece. Apparently, it starts in the deserts of the Triassic Period and through various modifications goes into the Jurassic when life became abundant in the seas. But the whole piece is a metaphor for changing times when something new and hopeful is reached.

First performance by Cardiff Winds at the Lion Ballroom, Leominster, Herefordshire on Sunday 16th September 2018. Listen to a recording of this performance here: