Ulysses Arts releases Flourish, British composer Nicholas Simpson's album of orchestral world première recordings, on 18 September 2026, with Manchester Camerata conducted by the composer (UA260010). The Violin Concerto, performed by soloist Caroline Pether, is inspired by Scottish bagpiping and fiddle traditions; Absence of Clouds is a Cumbrian Lake District 'Four Seasons'; Flourish is an orchestral showpiece of energy and optimism.
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Nicholas Simpson writes: 'All of Flourish's music has personal connections. The Violin Concerto is written in honour of my late father, who played the bagpipes; his pipe band was one of my earliest musical experiences and I admire Scottish traditional music, particularly fiddle players like John McCusker and Hamish McAndrew. The second movemeent celebrates my father's life, with echoes of 20th century Hibernian favourites like Jimmy Shand and Kenneth McKellar.
Absence of Clouds is a tribute to England's Lake District: it started with a conversation one sunny afternoon c. 2011 in Newfield Inn, Seathwaite, after rehearsing Wagner's Siegfried Idyll. The pun with Seathwaite was too good to lose, and the idea for this Cumbrian 'Four Seasons' was born. It was composed mainly in a remote farm cottage in the Lake District: no one who has seen the working outdoor life in all temperatures and weathers can retain the image of the area as merely a Wordsworthian beauty spot. Flourish started life as a flute and harp duo commissioned by two friends starting their careers, then orchestrated.
The Violin Concerto, first performed by Rachel Stonham and the Athenean Ensemble in Manchester in 2024, has two movements which reflect the division in Scottish traditional music between Ceòl Mor (Gaelic, meaning “big music”) and Ceòl Beg (“little music”). Simpson's Ceòl Mor is an outpouring of loss, the anguish of the opening giving way to a funeral march, succeeded by a numb and listless central section. Only after the cadenza does the soloist express acceptance and tranquillity. The second movement, Ceòl Beg, is a loosely formed “set” of dance-variations in a plain and energetic style, increasing in speed, with slow and quick marches, waltz, strathspey, jig and reel.
Absence of Clouds's four movements pass from Seathwaite in summer to Pengennet Woods, Autumn – rustling leaves and brutal winds. Duddon Sands, Winter evokes the estuary – the river coming down in lumps, and wading birds calling as the tide advances. Finally, spring comes high on Birker Fell - sunshine and warmth are mixed bracingly with April storms and hail.
Flourish evokes the burgeoning energy and optimism of its original young performers t,ranscribed into an orchestral showpiece, first performed in this form by Manchester Beethoven Society Orchestra in 2011.'
Absence of Clouds is a tribute to England's Lake District: it started with a conversation one sunny afternoon c. 2011 in Newfield Inn, Seathwaite, after rehearsing Wagner's Siegfried Idyll. The pun with Seathwaite was too good to lose, and the idea for this Cumbrian 'Four Seasons' was born. It was composed mainly in a remote farm cottage in the Lake District: no one who has seen the working outdoor life in all temperatures and weathers can retain the image of the area as merely a Wordsworthian beauty spot. Flourish started life as a flute and harp duo commissioned by two friends starting their careers, then orchestrated.
The Violin Concerto, first performed by Rachel Stonham and the Athenean Ensemble in Manchester in 2024, has two movements which reflect the division in Scottish traditional music between Ceòl Mor (Gaelic, meaning “big music”) and Ceòl Beg (“little music”). Simpson's Ceòl Mor is an outpouring of loss, the anguish of the opening giving way to a funeral march, succeeded by a numb and listless central section. Only after the cadenza does the soloist express acceptance and tranquillity. The second movement, Ceòl Beg, is a loosely formed “set” of dance-variations in a plain and energetic style, increasing in speed, with slow and quick marches, waltz, strathspey, jig and reel.
Absence of Clouds's four movements pass from Seathwaite in summer to Pengennet Woods, Autumn – rustling leaves and brutal winds. Duddon Sands, Winter evokes the estuary – the river coming down in lumps, and wading birds calling as the tide advances. Finally, spring comes high on Birker Fell - sunshine and warmth are mixed bracingly with April storms and hail.
Flourish evokes the burgeoning energy and optimism of its original young performers t,ranscribed into an orchestral showpiece, first performed in this form by Manchester Beethoven Society Orchestra in 2011.'
Nicholas Simpson (composer and conductor) was born in Manchester. For ten years he played guitar in rock bands before studying with John Tavener at London's Trinity College of Music, where he won the Chappell Prize for composition and the Ricordi Prize for conducting (twice). His music has been played in Europe and USA, including three symphonies, piano and violin concertos, chamber music, an oratorio and Quarantine, an opera based on Jim Crace’s 1995 Booker-shortlisted novel of the same name.
Recent projects include Fastness, Manchester Camerata’s album of his chamber orchestra music, and Ladder to the Stars, his second solo album as a singer/songwriter.
Simpson has conducted many orchestras across north-west England. He is associate conductor of the Huddersfield Philharmonic and co-founder of the Athenean Ensemble in Manchester. He is a member of the band Eminent Hipsters, whose debut album releases in 2026.
Electronic press kit for reviewers and radio producers available from Ulysses Arts.