DAVE DEXTER MUSIC
ORCHESTRAL, CLASSICAL AND CHORAL COMPOSITION
A specially curated portfolio page that bypasses the need for emails stuffed with links. Trimming down my pieces to an "essentials" playlist is pretty wearing, because I like all of them, but if you want to hear everything then it's all here. You can also find video and conductor's scores further down.
< This is where the fanfares live; music to fight and die to.
"Elaborate Revenge Strategies" - the first piece I ever recorded with orchestra. A strong theme passed between horns and trumpets, moving into a mysterious segue of woodwinds before closing with a full crescendo of sinister chords.
"Out of Options" is again led by brass, a rousing theme established before being developed by woodwinds and then counterpointed by strings in an aggressive middle section and a fugal ending.
"Get My Lawyer" - relentless pursuit music, without a theme, that mellows into a dissonant flutter of strings.
"Through the Gravity Well" - unashamedly thematic and uplifting. The ship's about to explode, but it's heavily insured on a planet that just fell into the sun.
< Themes, memorable melodies, emotional moments.
"The Tourist Route" is best described as a condensed score, opening with delicate harp and woodwinds before moving into a relentless but melodic action fanfare. The full weight of the orchestra sweeps into the closing, dying bars.
"Icebreaker" is all about melody, composed to evoke the spirit of exploration and arctic ice. Huge, intimate, and everything in between.
"Last Ship Home" - an elegiac, bittersweet piece using solo trumpet and flute for a militaristic, funereal but oddly uplifting farewell. Trivia: this has my single favourite moment out of all my recordings. God bless musicians.
"Paintings of Clouds" is a sparkling fantasy-adventure piece that still has time for drama and mystery.
< Whimsy, horror and scandal.
"By The Throat" is short, dark, old-school tension and horror. Woodwinds establish a theme enlarged upon by strings and finally joined by brass.
"Concerns of a Small Town" - envisioned as music befitting small-town scandals or the butler relaying gossip, although everyone thinks it's Christmas music.
"Empiricism" - a lively, waltz-timed investigation into giving as many musicians as possible a cool thing to play.
< Traditional forms from the last 500 years.
"I Sing Of A Maiden" is a choral setting of a medieval carol, written to be both joyful and sombre. Deceptively simple movement leading to unexpexted dissonance and harmonies.
"The Long Trick's Over" - a bittersweet piece for string orchestra, making use of very slow movement and evolving note clusters.
"Leaving the House" is the first choral piece I recorded, attempting to deal with the loss of my parents as I left their home for the last time.
"Concordance" is a whimsical string quartet adventure firmly in the vein of the 1800s.
Video from the session for "Sails and Waypoints", a melodic orchestral piece.
You can also click and view the full session scores to "The Tourist Route" and "I Sing Of A Maiden".