The International Anthony Burgess Foundation

skipnav

Piano

Music

List of Music Compositions

This chronological list of Burgess's musical compositions has been compiled by Paul Schuyler Phillips, Music Director and Conductor of the Brown University Orchestra and the leading authority on Burgess's music. As he explains, 'Everything that is asterisked is a work that I have examined personally and know to exist. The non-asterisked titles are the ones thought no longer to exist, listed in This Man and Music and a few other sources.

Up until the early 1970s, we can do little but trust Burgess and his This Man and Music list, but after that, things begin to clarify, since most of the scores are available. Since he compiled the This Man and Music list from his not-always-infallible memory regarding dates and titles, there are discrepancies. Dates and titles given in This Man and Music for 'Song for St. Cecilia's Day,' 'The Brides of Enderby,' 'The Waste Land' and several others pieces from this period are erroneous, and have been corrected in this list. Things are fuzzier with pieces like 'Suite for oboe' and Nocturne for oboe.' There are pieces for oboe written around 1977, the year these are listed in This Man and Music, and which appear in my list, but there are no specific pieces from this period with these titles.

I believe Burgess was making up generic titles for the pieces that do exist, so I omit his titles in favour of the ones for existing pieces. The final listing in This Man and Music, "Homage to Hans Keller for four tubas," is, I think, meant as a gag - Burgess's way of saying that Keller, who wrote a scathing review of Blooms of Dublin, was full of hot air. I do not include it on my list.'

1917-37 Juvenilia

Back To Top

1937-41 Manchester University

Back To Top

1941-43 The Jaypees / Army Educational Corps, England

Back To Top

1943-46 Army Educational Corps, Gibraltar

Back To Top

1946-48 Mid-West School of Education at Brinsford Lodge, near Birmingham

Back To Top

1948-50 Emergency Teacher Training College, Bamber Bridge

Back To Top

1950-54 Banbury Grammar School

Back To Top

1954-59 Malaya

Back To Top

1959-68 Hove - Etchingham - Chiswick

Back To Top

1968-76 Malta - Bracciano - Rome

Back To Top

1976-93 Monte Carlo - Lugano

Back To Top

Notes

Works that are not asterisked no longer exist or their location is unknown. Most of these are mentioned by Burgess himself in his writings.

TMM = This Man and Music; CC = Contemporary Composers; LW = Little Wilson and Big God; VB = A Vision of Battlements

Musical scores exist of the works that are asterisked. All of these are located at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, unless otherwise indicated. Locations are indicated within { } brackets.

{private} = manuscript is in a private collection or owned by an individual

Dates of composition, where given, are the dates signed by Burgess on the manuscript.

Dates in brackets are not signed on the manuscript by Burgess but are otherwise known or estimated.

n.d. = no date

Paul Phillips, May 5th 2004

Back To Top