Rick Westhorpe Music

Rick Westhorpe Music

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Winter Solstice

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Winter Solstice - instrumental music by Rick Westhorpe

This started life as a mandolin piece I composed in 1981. I’ve tried to keep some of that mandolin-y feel to it whilst widening the palette considerably, into guitar and piano sounds as well as tuned percussion.

The inspiration of the Winter Solstice is probably my version of a Christmas song – the turning point at the end of the year always feels very poignant and significant to me. I no longer have any firm religious beliefs, but if I did, this is where they would be – in the dead of night, dreaming of light and warmth as the snowflakes come down.

Download ‘Winter Solstice’

Winter-Solstice.mp3 (3 MB)

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Do you still walk? (2012)

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Bench made from wood from St Peter's Church bell tower in Wisbech

Written in the months after my mother’s death. I haven’t created much since we moved here, but sometimes things need to be written, so it was back to the computer and keyboard.

Download Do you still walk?

do_you_still_walk.mp3 (4 MB)

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The rain song (2015)

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The rain song by Rick Westhorpe

This is the Rain Song, created at the beginning of the year when it was raining … a LOT. Actually I dreamed it – woke up with it rattling round my head.

I actually don’t mind the rain, although some times it can be pretty relentless around here. That said, being on the side of a hill we do get off lightly, however hard it rains, unlike other parts of the UK. January and February 2014 were a particular nightmare for some folks. Despite the flippant tone of The Rain Song we’re not forgetting that here.

Download ‘The rain song’

the_rain_song.mp3 (4 MB)

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A View from a Hill

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Rick Westhorpe - View from a Hill

Originally written for ‘The Time Now Standing” a community theatre production in Exmouth, back in 1995. When I used to work for Exeter and Devon Arts Center. We were creating story snapshots from our own lives, one of which was of a women who used to walk her dogs on a hill near Exmouth, giving her time to reflect, re-energise and escape. The story was worked into the play, with an earlier version of this music.

Twenty years later I am living on my own hill and I find the music has returned as I walk my own dog, reflect and re-energise (not escaping though). The hill lies east of Talog, near Carmarthen in West Wales and we look north-west over the village and the Cywyn valley. The music is simpler despite being asked to stand on its own with no words, unlike the earlier version.

Download ‘A View from a Hill’

A-View-from-a-Hill.mp3 (3 MB)

Dedicated to Liz, her dogs, and hill-lovers everywhere.

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Cherry Blossom

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So I felt I needed to capture the moment. It was the end of March 2020, and the country had just gone into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic …
The tune is one I have used before (well why not?), but the lyrics are pretty much spur of the moment – the stuff that was going through my head at that time. Lockdown here has not been hard – we have a field and a bit of woodland to walk in. I’ve never taken them for granted, but right now they seem like sheer magic.
I had thought my singing(?) days were over – it’s just so hard trying to mix music when you’re half deaf, and vocal tracks really stretch me at the best of times, but hey ho, this song needed it, so I bite the bullet …

 

Download ‘Cherry Blossom’

 

Cherry-Blossom.mp3 (6 MB)

 

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