CLOUD AND MIRRORS

Alan Charlton was a professional composer renowned for his innate musicality and intellectual rigour.  Born in London, he studied composition with Raymond Warren, Peter Maxwell-Davies and Judith Weir. He was also a pianist, cellist, horn player, choral singer, music teacher, examiner and author – including of the bestselling How to Read Music.

Charlton’s works encompassed choral, chamber, orchestral, educational and operatic music. His compositions won many prizes, and have been performed in the UK, Belgium, and around the world, and broadcast on Klara radio and BBC Radio 3. 

After meeting his wife in the London Shostakovich Orchestra in 2011, Charlton moved with her to Brussels in 2013, where their daughter was born. Alan enjoyed musical life in Belgium, becoming composer in residence with Brussels Chamber Choir in 2013. Music was Alan’s life. After being diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in 2016, recording this CD in 2017-18 became vitally important to him, and he ensured it was produced to the highest quality. The disc features a selection of Charlton's best works: a song cycle for soprano and piano, a suite for guitar and cello, two new Christmas carols on traditional texts and as a bonus track, his Fantasy for 3 pianos.