ABOUT

“…. it’s such a pleasure to listen to contemporary music which still values all the classical aspects of music making”     Ingmar Lazar

This website is for lovers of classical music, and particularly for those who play the piano. It presents the work of British composer David Pennycuick, and includes news, contact details, and information about some of his recent compositions.

There is now quite a substantial body of work.  The piano pieces are arranged in several books, two of which have been printed.  Other books can be printed individually on demand.   For a limited period complimentary single copies of all these books are available to pianists based in the UK, with the intention that the work will be more widely played and performed.  See other pages of the website for details.

David Pennycuick has been composing for 20 years, mainly but not exclusively for the piano. His style is largely classical and sometimes baroque, but he is also interested in modal composition, and has explored some of Messiaen’s Modes of Limited Transposition. However, he is a firm believer in melody, harmony and rhythm, whether or not his work is in a key.

He has progressed by setting himself tasks, of which one was to compose a set of 24 Preludes for piano, one in each key. Of course this is not an original task but one that has been followed by many eminent composers in the past. Nevertheless it has proved to be worthwhile, and the results are available through this website. As with all David’s work, the intention has been to compose pieces well within the scope of amateur musicians, although naturally professionals are able to make them sound better.  By the way, David does suffer intermittently from insomnia, and many of the ideas for his music come in the middle of the night, so his compositions might be particularly suitable for other insomniacs. However, it is hoped that they will also appeal to a much wider audience.