Edward Tait

Composer, Pianist & Educator



“An absolutely brilliant composition” — Nicholas Daniel     “Unabashedly expressive ideas with a sure sense of narrative, pace and structure” — The Musical Opinion     “A well-written piece, idiomatically conceived, and both carefully and intelligently structured” — Huw Watkins     “One of our future musical entrepreneurs” — Alison Cox OBE     “Wonderful touches and a very satisfying shape” — London Sinfonietta     “An impressive piece, compositionally coherent and genuine idiomatic writing” — Dr Robert Saxton     “The very best of new music” — York Late Music Festival    

Biography

Edward Tait is a London-based composer, whose music has been performed across the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States, by ensembles like the London Sinfonietta, Carducci Quartet and Orion Orchestra. He is currently collaborating with the Arquia Duo on recording his song cycle Vectis, based on poems by Mollie Mardel. In November, he will receive his debut broadcast on BBC Radio 3, following success in the NCEM Young Composer Award.

Edward studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Gareth Moorcraft and Louise Drewett, and he is artistic director of the MetroLand Music Festival.

Download CV

Recordings

Edward’s cello octet Ecstasio, performed in a workshop by the Royal Academy of Music.



Premiere of Fleeting Manhattan at St John’s Smith Square, conducted by Nicholas Daniel.

Upcoming Events

Solo Recital

2 October 2026 • United Reformed Church, Potter's Bar

Programme of Chopin, Grieg & Ravel

Fridays at One: Solo Recital

23 October 2026 • St Alkmund's Church, Whitchurch

Programme of Chopin, Ravel & Scriabin

my troubled sense doth move — Performed by the Gonzaga Band

27 October 2026 • Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Ashes Beneath the Ice — Performed by Amabile

9 November 2026 • All Saints Church, High Wycombe

Ashes Beneath the Ice — Performed by Harry Jordan & Harry Bowden

18 November 2026 • Angela Burgess Recital Hall, Royal Academy of Music

Fanfare on the A String — Performed by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

13 December 2026 • Lamb and Flag, Oxford

Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 — with Letchworth Sinfonia

23 January 2027 • St Christopher School, Letchworth

Solo repertoire:
Beethoven – Bagatelle Op. 119 No. 1
Brahms – Intermezzo Op. 116 No. 6
Brahms – Scherzo from F-A-E Sonata
Chopin – Ballade No. 1
Debussy – Children's Corner
Grieg – Humoresque Op. 6 No. 2
Liszt – ‘Orage’ from Années de pèlerinage
Ravel – Menuet from Le Tombeau de Couperin
Ravel – Sonatine
D. Scarlatti – Sonata K. 443
R. Schumann – ‘Herberge’ from Waldszenen
Satie – Vexations
Scriabin – Piano Sonata No. 4
Peter Sculthorpe – Snow, Moon and Flowers
Edward Tait – Cloches I, II and V
Tchaikovsky – Dumka

Chamber repertoire:
Elgar – Violin Sonata
Faure – Elegy
Mozart – Violin Sonata No. 24
Shostakovich – Piano Trio No. 1

Concerto/orchestral repertoire:
Copland – Appalachian Spring
Finzi – Eclogue
Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 23
Shostakovich – Piano Concerto No. 2

Organ repertoire:
Elgar – Vesper Voluntary No. 1
Elgar – Vesper Voluntary No. 2
Purcell – Ground in C minor ZD 221
Purcell – Lillibulero
Edward Tait – Vectis Tableau I

NEXT IN PRIORITY
Brahms – Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel
David Bruce – Undula
Liszt – Dante Sonata
Liszt/Stradal – Symphonic Poem No. 4 "Orpheus"
Ravel – ‘Rigaudon’ from Le Tombeau de Couperin
Ravel – ‘Toccata’ from Le Tombeau de Couperin
Schumann – Waldszenen
Scriabin – Vers la flamme BEYOND
Bach – Partita No. 2
Bach – Prelude and Fugue in E major from Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1
Balakirev – Toccata in C-sharp minor
Beethoven/Henselt – Egmont Overture (before deciding to do this version, look/listen to the alternatives transcriptions, through IMSLP, by Buys, Kleinmichel, Ulrich and Weiss)
Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 8 “Pathetique”
Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 18 “The Hunt”
Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 21 “Waldstein"
George Benjamin – Sortileges
Chopin – Ballade No. 3
Chopin – Etude Op. 10 No. 5
Chopin – Prelude Op. 28 No. 1
Chopin – Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4
Chopin – Nocturne Op. 48 No. 1
Chopin – Piano Sonata No. 2
Chopin – Polonaise Op. 53
Chopin – Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61
Chopin – Scherzo No. 2
Henry Cowell – Three Irish Legends
Debussy/Tait – Fetes from Trois Nocturnes
Debussy – L’isle joyeux
Debussy – Passepied
Feinberg – Piano Sonata No. 3
Edward Harris-Brown – Suite from The Daoshi Ballads
Franck – Prelude, Choral et Fugue
Hindemith – Piano Sonata No. 3
Ireland – Piano Sonata
Khachaturian – Toccata
Jonathan Knight – Vacillations
Ligeti – Etude No. 6 “Autumn in Warsaw”
Liszt – Jeux d’eaux a la Villa d’Este
Liszt – Mephisto Waltz No. 1
Liszt – Mephisto Waltz No. 3
Liszt – Sposalizio
Liszt – Sonata in B minor
Liszt – Spanish Fantasy
Joseph Marx – 6 Piano Pieces
Mendelssohn – Caprice in E major Op. 118
Messiaen – ‘Regard de l’Esprit de joie’ from Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jesus
Messiaen – ‘Regard des Anges’ from Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jesus
Gareth Moorcraft – Vida
Mozart/Alkan – Piano Concerto No. 20
Mozart – Piano Sonata No. 8
Mozart/Hummel – Symphony No. 41
Mussorgsky/Chernov – Night on Bald Mountain
Leo Ornstein – A Morning in the Woods SO 106
Prokofiev – March from The Love for Three Oranges
Prokofiev – Piano Sonata No. 6
Prokofiev – Prelude Op. 12 No. 7
Prokofiev – Toccata
Rachmaninov – Elegie Op. 3
Rachmaninov – Etude-tableaux Op. 33 No. 1
Rachmaninov – Etude-tableaux Op. 39 No. 4
Rachmaninov – Etude-tableaux Op. 39 No. 9
Rachmaninov – Piano Sonata No. 2
Ravel – Gaspard de la Nuit
Ravel/Garban – Introduction and Allegro for piano solo
Ravel – Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn
Ravel – Pavane pour une infante defunte
Rossini/Blasser – Overture to The Barber of Seville
Robert Saxton – Piano Sonata
Scarlatti – Sonata in C major K. 159
Schumann/Liszt – Widmung
Scriabin – Etude Op. 8 No. 9
Scriabin – Etude Op. 8 No. 12
Scriabin – Fantaisie in B minor Op. 28
Scriabin – Piano Sonata No. 5
Scriabin – Prelude Op. 11 No. 11
Scriabin – Prelude Op. 11 No. 14
Shostakovich – Piano Sonata No. 2
Sibelius – The Trees Op. 75 No. 5 “Le Sapin”
Sorensen – Walzer, Unter dem Meer
Stravinsky/Agosti – The Firebird (consider arranging the remainder of the full ballet, and then perform as a whole, crediting both myself and Agosti, of course)
Takemitsu – Rain Tree Sketch
Tchaikovsky – Piano Sonata in G major
Wagner/Kocsis – Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg

Contact

For commissions, collaborations or performance enquiries:

edwardtait06@outlook.com



Publisher: NoteWelder Music

YouTube: @edwardtait-06

SoundCloud: edward-tait-composing

Instagram: @ta.ity06

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