Composer Profile
Graeme Wright Denniss
(1954–)
Hometown: Brisbane, Queensland
Living in: Brisbane, Queensland
Graeme Wright Denniss studied French horn and piano double majors with composition and conducting at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, graduating as Student of the Year. His Graduate Diploma thesis was a collection of original compositions for the French horn in many different instrumental combinations, establishing his lifelong interest in enriching the repertoire of the horn. The major work from this thesis, Cellismas, was later orchestrated and performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. While still studying, Graeme gained his first full-time position as Fifth Horn in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, later becoming Acting Principal Third Horn. Later, he held the full-time position of Principal Third Horn in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for fourteen years. During this time, he was active as a composer and chamber musician, playing in the Melbourne Brass Ensemble which toured for Musica Viva and produced a number of CDs, including Tone Stuffs, featuring Australian composers, and another taken from a live ABC FM broadcast. Graeme formed the Nexus Ensemble for horn, violin, and piano in order to perform his own and other contemporary composers’ music, and also received many commissions from the Solitaire Tuba Ensemble and other groups. In 1987, he won the Dorian Le Gallienne award commission with Songs of the Priestess of the Moon, a song cycle which has been performed and broadcast many times in Australia and overseas by soprano Merlyn Quaife. After leaving the MSO, Graeme returned to Brisbane where he completed his PhD in composition in 2004 at the University of Queensland with Philip Bracanin. During this time, he played in the brass quartet BUZZ, which toured for Musica Viva in Schools giving hundreds of school concerts for primary school students. Graeme’s most performed piece, Wa Wa Waltz, was written as a demonstration piece for mutes and special effects for these concerts. This work was later extended for the Best of Brass quintet, where Graeme is Composer in Residence, and became a study piece in the MVIS handbook, as well as being made into an eBook. Wa Wa Waltz is now published by Wirripang. In 2010, he was awarded an honorary Fellowship of the National Academy of Music, Colorado, USA, for his award-winning work for solo horn and piano entitled Bromeliad: The Epic in the International Music Prizes composition competition. This work was later orchestrated and extended to become a concertino for horn and chamber orchestra and was performed by the orchestra Corda Spiritus with Armin Terzer; and the Redland Sinfonia with Lisa Holownia-Conlan, where Graeme is Musical Director. Graeme is also an AMEB examiner and many of his compositions appear on exam syllabi. Over the last four decades, Graeme has written extensively for the horn, with many pieces for horn and piano; solo horn; horn, violin, and piano; brass trios; quartets; quintets; and septets. He has also written music for singers and many different instrumental combinations, including orchestral music. He is published by Allans (later AMPD, now Hal Leonard), AMC, Wirripang, and his own mail order desktop publisher, D:Composition.
Horn Ensemble Works
Diverse Dances | Diverse Dances I. Slippery Little Scherzo II. Sarabande by Night III. The Penultimate Waltz IV. Tango in Tangalooma | 2020 | 4 horns |
Espresso Variations < | Espresso Variations I. Pre-Caffeine II. Instant Coffee III. Vienna Coffee IV. Arabica V. Ground: Coffee VI. Caffe Americano | 2018 | 8 horns |
Pot Pourri for Horn Trio | Pot Pourri for Horn Trio | 1976 | 3 horns |
The Age of Steam | The Age of Steam | 2013 rev. 2017 | 6 horns |
The Hornett's Playbook | The Hornett's Playbook | 2018 | 3 horns |
The Three Horned Cat (9 Pieces f | The Three Horned Cat (9 Pieces for Horn Trio) | 2016 | 3 horns |
Twelve Canons for Two French Hor | Twelve Canons for Two French Horns | 1980 | 2 horns |