All sheet music is available to purchase at: https://ump.co.uk/composer/helen-leach/

A Melrose Rhapsody

Violin and Piano (also published for Violin and Organ) Duration 4:50

'A Melrose Rhapsody' was first performed in February 2022 by Benedict Holland and Simon Leach, in the charming small town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders. This lyrical and melodious piece speaks of the prayerful Read more

'A Melrose Rhapsody' was first performed in February 2022 by Benedict Holland and Simon Leach, in the charming small town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders. This lyrical and melodious piece speaks of the prayerful spirituality of the ancient ruins of Melrose Abbey, together with the beautiful surrounding countryside of the Borderlands, with rolling hills and open skies. The gentle, flowing nine-eight metre reflects the waters of the River Tweed; and the musical contours, exploring the heights and depths of the violin range, depict a landscape that speaks of timelessness and peace. The rhapsody begins with the distant sound of a bell-like piano chord, and the violin emerges, as though through the mist.

“Melrose, where the echo of monks’ bells infuses the flowing waters; Fragrant gardens, laden with fruit, overwhelm the soul with grace; And throughout the centuries, a trinity of Eildon Hills watches over with loving gaze.” HL

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An Edinburgh Farewell (Version for Violin & Piano)

Flute or Violin and Piano - c. (3')

An Edinburgh Farewell was composed in 2021 to pay homage to His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The piece was written for my husband, Simon, to play on the Frobenius Organ of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, Read more

An Edinburgh Farewell was composed in 2021 to pay homage to His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The piece was written for my husband, Simon, to play on the Frobenius Organ of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, for a special Memorial Service, held there on 18th April of that year, the day after the royal funeral in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

I tried to capture the character of the Duke in the piece, with bold salutes, expressive idiosyncratic gestures and hints of nostalgia. Creating an accessible Scottish style, evocative of the glens, the musical landscape is infused with both military-like rhythmic precision and romantic lyricism. A great sense of journeying and purpose propels the music onwards, until the intimacy of the final farewell, which brings peace and rest.

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    An Edinburgh Farewell (Version for Violin & Piano) 0:30
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The Call to Care for Creation

Organ (7')

Growing up the Scottish Borders, with holidays in the midst of the mountains of the Highlands, my childhood was steeped in the beauty of the natural world. Even as I sit at my desk today, my eyes are spotting several Read more

Growing up the Scottish Borders, with holidays in the midst of the mountains of the Highlands, my childhood was steeped in the beauty of the natural world. Even as I sit at my desk today, my eyes are spotting several bullfinches in the swaying branches of the tree outside my study window, and the contour of the hills beyond the garden frequently draws my gaze. But, concomitant with an enduring sense of wonder at the magnificence of the world around us, comes real concerns about climate change. Our time as family recently living in Hawick and witnessing the dramatic and devastating flooding of the River Teviot, has underlined the urgency of the environmental crisis.

I first drafted some musical thoughts for The Call to Care for Creation in September 2021 as Glasgow prepared to host COP26, but it wasn’t until almost exactly a year later, that I made a decision to revisit the drafted motifs and compose the work in its present form. I was busy creating the score the week that Queen Elizabeth II passed away, and it felt appropriate to dedicate the finished work to the new monarch, King Charles III, himself one of the world’s most dedicated ambassadors for the environment.

The opening fanfare passage seeks to portray the majesty and grandeur of creation, whilst insistently giving a message to call for responsible stewardship of the planet. A whirling flute section, redolent of the purity of running water, ushers in an expansive molto cantabile passage, built on the opening fanfare motif: dignified, evocative and full of longing. The Call to Care for Creation closes triumphantly and energetically, with a strong sense of purpose and renewed vision.

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    The Call to Care for Creation 6:57
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Letters from the Owl House

Cello (16')

Inspired by a beautiful supermoon, Syzygy was composed with the huge golden moon profiled in the Tower Studio window. Free and lyrical, this Prelude portrays the timelessness of the beyond, with fluid rhythms and ecstatic Read more

Inspired by a beautiful supermoon, Syzygy was composed with the huge golden moon profiled in the Tower Studio window. Free and lyrical, this Prelude portrays the timelessness of the beyond, with fluid rhythms and ecstatic melodic shapes exploring the spiritual realm as one steps into the wonder of a kairos moment. The lunar cycle is loosely depicted with the cycle of 5ths and, here, we may comprehend 'When' as might owls: waiting quietly and flowing with the rhythm of the universe.

When composing Treasures of Darkness, I imagined the Owl House built with sapphires, emeralds and rubies, and the spread chords in the music depict the unfolding of revelations: perhaps Truth, Wisdom, Strength and Peace, portrayed in a bossa nova style Allemande. In ‘What’ should one place value?

In the Courante, Touch of Heaven, the owls fly, high above, through the spectacular night sky, maybe a meteor in their midst, perhaps the gleam of unknown galaxies. With the slow beat of their strong, broad wings depicted musically as falling arpeggios, in that process of journeying and searching ‘Where’, they are found, soaring in the extravagance of the Divine.

The devastating recent storms, which have brought so much tree damage to Marchmont, raises the hard question of 'Why'. Capturing the feeling of despair when things of seeming permanence are blighted, the desolate, question-like Theme of this Sarabande evolves into a set of Variations with a sense of increasing agitation. The owls visit and revisit the scene of the Broken Oak.

The barn owlets gaze in wonder upon their parents' striking heart-shaped faces in the Owl House. Face of Love has the flavour of a Scot's Air, a lullaby for the owlets in the nest, with the tender simplicity of the opening melody shifting into the minor key for the middle section as the ache of deep love is expressed. Perhaps it is in Love that the question of 'Who' can best be answered.

As the owls wake to bathe in the mystery of the night sky, this playful Gigue, Star Dance, depicts the energy, drama and seeming randomness of the universe, with a roll call for the names of each of the stars in turn spoken across the registers of the 'cello. Awestruck in the face of the majesty of the celestial array, 'How' is expressed as an attitude of wonder, with this stellar dance offering the final word of wisdom in the Letters from the Owl House.

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    Letters from the Owl House: I. Syzygy 0:30
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    Letters from the Owl House: II. Treasures of Darkness 0:30
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    Letters from the Owl House: III. Touch of Heaven 0:30
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    Letters from the Owl House: IV. Broken Oak 0:30
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    Letters from the Owl House: V. Face of Love 0:30
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    Letters from the Owl House: VI. Star Dance 0:30
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Prelude for a Royal Swan (Version for Violin & Piano)

Violin and Piano (or organ) - c. (3.30)

Prelude for a Royal Swan was composed especially for my husband, Simon, to play on the organ, as a reflection at the opening of the morning service at Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, on the 6th February 2022, thus marking the Read more

Prelude for a Royal Swan was composed especially for my husband, Simon, to play on the organ, as a reflection at the opening of the morning service at Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, on the 6th February 2022, thus marking the 70th Anniversary of the Accession to the Throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Canongate Kirk serves Holyrood House and Edinburgh Castle, and the late Queen herself, as well as other members of the royal household, have followed in the footsteps of bygone generations, in attending the Kirk for worship. In August 2023, Prelude for a Royal Swan was played there in the presence of HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and the work has been featured on Radio 3 Breakfast as well as on several occasions on RNZ Concert.

With an undulating accompaniment flowing through different harmonies, the expansive melody seeks to portray the beauty, dignity and unwavering commitment of the late Queen.

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Out of the Depths

Cello and Piano (4:40)

Out of the Depths was composed in July 2022, immediately prior to a residency at Marchmont Estate when I wrote my suite for solo ‘cello, Letters from the Owl House. Composed in memoriam of my dear cousin, cellist Mhairi Read more

Out of the Depths was composed in July 2022, immediately prior to a residency at Marchmont Estate when I wrote my suite for solo ‘cello, Letters from the Owl House. Composed in memoriam of my dear cousin, cellist Mhairi Tessier-Thomson in whose footsteps I so often walked, this elegy is one of my most personal works. Infused with many girlhood memories of her life which had been cut tragically short in 2004, the music in its poignant beauty, is nevertheless uplifting in its expression and expansive in its lyricism.

Emerging from the depths of the 'cello and climbing upwards into the light, a long, expressive melodic line unfolds, soaring high and tenderly. Following a more playful middle section, the opening material returns, before a door opens into the mediant key, bringing a sense of heavenly peace to close.

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    Out of the Depths 0:22
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Song Without Words

Violin and Piano. (4:10)

As I sat down to play the piano at home late one evening in June 2023, I experienced an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the life and generosity of the late Hugo Burge. He was a wonderful artistic philanthropist and Read more

As I sat down to play the piano at home late one evening in June 2023, I experienced an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the life and generosity of the late Hugo Burge. He was a wonderful artistic philanthropist and the inspirational owner and restorer of Marchmont House, Berwickshire, where I have been Composer-in-Residence. A melody began to unfold. It was as though my heart sang, and the music seemed to flow freely, winding its way, with gentleness and affection, through a palette of harmonic colours.

The piece was first performed a month later, at the Summer Serenade concert in the Lorimer Music Room at Marchmont House, by Benedict Holland and Simon Leach.

Full of elegance, charm and sensitivity, the musical conversation between violin and piano speaks, through the gift of music, of matters otherwise inexpressible, and so is, quintessentially, a Song without Words.

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The Black Rood of Scotland

Organ (3:30)

I composed The Black Rood of Scotland at the outset of lockdown in March 2020, in the outhouse of my late father’s cottage in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, where we were staying at the time. Facing the unprecedented Read more

I composed The Black Rood of Scotland at the outset of lockdown in March 2020, in the outhouse of my late father’s cottage in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, where we were staying at the time. Facing the unprecedented turmoil and grief of the pandemic, I wanted to connect with the Christian roots of the country, and, with its stream of melody and rich harmony, the work is a depiction of the love and longing of Christ upon the Cross. Written as a personal devotion for Holy Week, my husband, Simon, gave its first performance later that year, once churches reopened, on the Frobenius Organ of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, for Remembrance Sunday.

The Black Rood of Scotland itself, sadly now lost, was the holy relic from which ‘Holyrood’ took its name. It was brought to the country by Saint Margaret of Scotland (1045-1093), who became a Scottish queen when she married King Malcolm III. It is believed that the young queen clutched this priceless royal treasure on her deathbed in Edinburgh Castle.

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