Phil's Musical Compositions

I compose music in my spare time. This page contains some pieces I've composed, and am happy to share with whatever part of the world might be interested. Feel free to use and share the files here. I retain the copyright, but I'm happy for people to enjoy it freely if they like it.

I'm providing score PDFs for the piano pieces (linked from the 'Nopus'), and MP3s for everything listed (linked from the title).

Nopus Title Notes Tech

2025-1 Dance of the Little Yellow Pixies Solo piano, 1:14.
This was my first attempt at using Dorico which resulted in something I was happy to call a piece of music. I was in a silly mood when I chose the name. Dorico Elements 5,
default piano

2025-2 Waltz in F Orchestra, 3:36.
I'm a big fan of Johann Strauss (the Blue Danube guy). This was an attempt at a waltz in a similar kind of style, although unsurprisingly it falls well short. This was my first somewhat reasonable orchestral work (although the strings are a bit dodgy). Dorico Elements 5,
default orchestra

2025-3 Hopscotch Solo piano, 2:11.
I fancied playing around with time signatures. Dorico Elements 5,
default piano

2025-4 Return to Klisje Orchestra, 7:53.
Inspired by the ending of an Amiga tracker mod called 'Klisje paa Klisje' from the early 1990s (by someone calling themselves 'Walkman'). Dorico Elements 5,
default orchestra

2026-1 Bells Across the Valley Orchestra, 3:53.
Inspired by the sound of the church bells on a sunny Sunday morning, heard from my room at a shared house when I was at university. Dorico Elements 5,
Spitfire BBCSO

Nopus	Title	Notes	Tech
2025-1	Dance of the Little Yellow Pixies	Solo piano, 1:14. This was my first attempt at using Dorico which resulted in something I was happy to call a piece of music. I was in a silly mood when I chose the name.	Dorico Elements 5, default piano
2025-2	Waltz in F	Orchestra, 3:36. I'm a big fan of Johann Strauss (the Blue Danube guy). This was an attempt at a waltz in a similar kind of style, although unsurprisingly it falls well short. This was my first somewhat reasonable orchestral work (although the strings are a bit dodgy).	Dorico Elements 5, default orchestra
2025-3	Hopscotch	Solo piano, 2:11. I fancied playing around with time signatures.	Dorico Elements 5, default piano
2025-4	Return to Klisje	Orchestra, 7:53. Inspired by the ending of an Amiga tracker mod called 'Klisje paa Klisje' from the early 1990s (by someone calling themselves 'Walkman').	Dorico Elements 5, default orchestra
2026-1	Bells Across the Valley	Orchestra, 3:53. Inspired by the sound of the church bells on a sunny Sunday morning, heard from my room at a shared house when I was at university.	Dorico Elements 5, Spitfire BBCSO

About the Tech

I currently use Dorico Elements (v5), which I find a really nice way to compose, being heavily score-based. The 'default piano' and 'default orchestra' mentioned in the table above refer to the VSTs that come with Dorico Elements.

The tech listed above comprises the software used for composition (currently always Dorico Elements 5 - 'Elements' is the mid-range version), and the VST(s), which is the software that produces the sounds. The VSTs mentioned above are, specifically:

default piano/orchestra - the standard VST that comes with Dorico Elements. This is Steinberg's HALion Sonic software, with the Iconica Sketch instrument set.
Spitfire BBCSO - This is the BBC Symphony Orchestra library (the 'Core' variant, which is the middle-range offering) from Spitfire.

What's a Nopus?

Naming is hard. Any software engineer will tell you that. A piece of music doesn't necessarily have a real-world inspiration, and so sometimes composers will call a piece "Rondo", or "Waltz" or some other generic term, and identify the piece using an 'Opus'. As none of my works have been published in real books, the use of 'Opus' is closed to me. I instead use 'Nopus', which serves the same purpose but without the need for printing books.

The Nopus scheme consists of the year in which the piece was completed, followed by an number indicating the ordering of piece completion during that year. So the first piece written in 2025 is Nopus '2025-1'.