At the heart of The Nash Ensemble’s identity is an unwavering commitment to expanding the chamber music repertoire. Over six decades, the ensemble has premiered and commissioned hundreds of works, leaving a genuine mark on contemporary classical music.
The ensemble’s commission archive reflects long-running partnerships with many of the UK’s most distinguished composers. Works written specifically for The Nash Ensemble include:
Selected commissions
Harrison Birtwistle
- Nine Settings of Celan
- The Woman and the Hare
- Cantus Iambeus
- Oboe Quartet
- Crescent Moon over the Irrational
- Duet for Eight Strings
- Fantasia upon All the Notes
Mark-Anthony Turnage
- A Constant Obsession
- An Invention on ‘Solitude’
- Bleak Moments
- Eulogy
- Owl Songs
- Slide Stride
- Haul Away
Simon Holt
- Canciones
- Shadow Realm
- Sparrow Night
- all fall down
- the other side of silence
- Bagatelarañas
- Cloud Shadow
- Serra-Sierra
Colin Matthews
- The Great Journey
- A voice to wake…
- 23 Frames for 4 Players
- Seascapes
- C.A.N.O.N..
David Matthews
- The Sleeping Lord
- Terrible Beauty
- Horn Quintet
- A Blackbird Sang
- White Flame
- Serenade and Tango
Julian Anderson
- Poetry Nearing Silence
- Towards Poetry
- Prayer
- Van Gogh Blue
- THUS
- When I Come Back
Peter Maxwell Davies
- Seven Skies of Winter
- The Last Island
- String Sextet
- Nocturne No.2
- String Quintet
- Mishkenot
Alexander Goehr
- around Stravinsky
- Clarinet Quintet Op.79
- Largo Siciliano
- After The Waking
Judith Weir
- Airs from another planet
Richard Rodney Bennett
- Commedia III
- Book of Hours
- Five Sonnets of Louise Labé
- Sonata after Syrinx
Landmark premieres
Beyond commissioned pieces, The Nash Ensemble has been entrusted with the World, European, and UK premieres of groundbreaking chamber works by internationally acclaimed composers. Landmark premieres include major works by Elliott Carter (Mosaic, Gra, Figment IV, Oboe Quartet), Hans Werner Henze (Adagio for piano trio, Five Neapolitan Songs, Drei Lieder über den Schnee), Sofia Gubaidulina (Homage à T.S. Eliot, Zwei Lieder), Alfred Schnittke (Piano Quartet, Dialog), Toru Takemitsu (Quatrain), and Henri Dutilleux (Les Citations).
