Twenty-Four Preludes

This work also includes a number of diploma level compositions highly suitable for competition or examination use given their compact size and relatively short duration. The set reveals Burge’s close affinity to the music of Chopin. Equally though, the Preludes of Debussy, with their expressive textural sonorities and colour, can also be considered touchstones, especially… Read more »

Piano Reflections

Piano Reflections is a collection of eight Intermediate and Advanced piano solos. In many ways this collection is a follow-up to Parking an Octatonic Truck in that both books include compositions that were written in the late 1990’s for use as quick-study pieces. Initially this new set was to consist of only six pieces but… Read more »

Ireland’s Most Beautiful Ancient Airs

It has been an immense pleasure creating these arrangements of some of the most beautiful and enduring melodies ever to come from Ireland.  I have treated each melody in a completely different style, but without disturbing the traditional essence of the music.  Whilst I have listened to many interpretations and investigated various sources, I have… Read more »

Causeway Coast Fantasy

The five pieces of Causeway Coast Fantasy are Red Sails at Sunset, Mussenden Temple at Sunrise, Rathlin Island, The Pipes of Finn and Bendhu.  They describe various scenes from along the north coast of Ireland.  The music is at times Celtic, atmospheric, experimental and descriptive.

Strangford Sketchbook

The Ards Peninsula and Strangford Lough have always been one of my favourite parts of Ireland.  These eight pieces explore the expressive and atmospheric ranges of the piano, and also seek to evoke the beauty of the landscape through resonances of Irish music.  The pieces are of moderate difficulty, around grades 7-8 standard.   Each one… Read more »

The Girona Suite

The music of The Girona Suite is a rich mixture of period dances of the day, Spanish resonance and emotional intensity.  The whole suite is interconnected, both by key and thematic material.  The work begins and ends in E flat minor.  The pieces are designed to introduce familiarity and dexterity in keys containing more than… Read more »

Dreams and Dragons

Welcome to the world of Dreams and Dragons – where not everything is as it seems.  The premise for this collection was to take a single musical idea and create from it both a dream and a dragon, presented as a pair of pieces.  But which is the dream and which is the dragon?  Many… Read more »

Magical World

Magical World is a collection of pieces for the intermediate pianist inspired by the titles of poems from When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six by A A Milne.  They are lyrical and atmospheric, as well as playful in character.

Stars

Stars is a collection of pieces for the intermediate player depicting 14 constellations of the night sky.  The pieces are atmospheric musical paintings inspired by their titles:  Unicorn, Great Dog, Queen, Northern Crown, Pegasus, Noah’s Dove, Sails, Phoenix, River, Centaur, Bird of Paradise, Dragon, Chameleon and Swan.

Razzamatazz

Welcome to Razzamatazz! – a collection of jazz and blues inspired pieces with lots of swing and rhythmic drive. Some of the pieces contain a written-out improvisation to give you some ideas to play around with.  You can, of course, also choose to play them just as they are written.  Remember that the ‘groove’ is… Read more »