Composers and Authors

   

Richard Hallas [1969]

[Hallas’s Bax editions] are a model in the class of Howard Ferguson’s editions of early music.

Eric Parkin (pianist)

Your work is very, very accurate… thank you for taking so much time and trouble over this job; I have enjoyed the correspondence with a fellow purist!

Carey Blyton (composer; personal editor to Benjamin Britten at Faber Music, 1963–71)

…you’re one of the most meticulous people using the program [Sibelius].

Jonathan Finn (original author of Sibelius)

Richard Hallas was born in Huddersfield but went to school in Wakefield, where he gained a place in the Cathedral Choir and eventually became Head Chorister. After his voice broke he continued to sing there as a countertenor, and remained a member for 21 years. A three-year stint at Lancaster University resulted in a Music degree, and this was followed three years later by a further degree, this time in Computational Mathematics from the Open University. Still later on, he gained yet another degree in a third subject: this time a Master’s in the History of Science and Technology from Manchester University.

Richard has long had an interest in typesetting music, and was closely involved with the development of several different computer-based systems in the early days of computerised music typesetting from the late 1980s onwards. An underlying interest in musical notation led to early experience with typesetting software while a student at Lancaster. After graduation in 1990, Richard set up KeyNote – Music Typesetting and General Desktop Publishing, which has continued in parallel with other activities ever since. Richard pursues a range of interests, however, from graphic design to software programming, and has designed a wide range of material from concert posters to typefaces to computer interfaces. He also started writing for computer magazines as a paid hobby in the early 1990s, and eventually spent a decade or so editing a couple of them (both on paper and, later, on CD-ROM). These days he’ll edit almost anything, though in recent times a lot of his editing work has taken the form of academic books.

As KeyNote, Richard got involved with Fand Music Press in the early 1990s and produced many music editions and other printed materials. Richard eventually took over as Fand’s Webmaster in 2010, which led to the creation of the current website (a bespoke content management system hand-written in PHP and MySQL) and the coordination of Fand’s style of presentation between the worlds of digital publishing and traditional print. Other websites for which Richard is responsible include The Huddersfield Singers, Orchestral Concert CDs and the ‘composer websites’ for Carey Blyton (a large, complex site) and Peter Thompson (just a single-page overview).

Richard has always loved choral singing, and for many years enjoyed being the sole countertenor in (among others) The Huddersfield Singers (a chamber choir) and the world-famous Huddersfield Choral Society. He would never dream of calling himself a composer, but likes to dabble with arranging things from time to time.

Composer…

		Composer	Work	Duration	Published	Price
		Richard Hallas	The Yorkshire Shepherds A setting of the carol “While Shepherds Watched their Flocks” based on Yorkshire regional melodies for choir (SATB) and piano or organ	3 mins	3rd July 2016	Purchase options Score only: £4.50Parts only: £1.50
		Words: Nahum Tate Forces: Choir (SATB), Piano, Organ

Arranger…

		Attribution	Work	Duration	Published	Price
		arr. Richard Hallas, Traditional Welsh	Suo Gân Traditional Welsh lullaby arranged for choir (SATB) and piano with optional soprano solo	4½ mins	3rd July 2016	Purchase options Score only: £4.50Parts only: £1.50
		Translated by Richard Hallas• Words: Welsh traditional Forces: Soprano, Choir (SATB), Piano

Editor…

		Attribution	Work	Vocal range	Duration	Published	Price
		Sir Arnold Bax	Four Pieces for piano		18¼ mins	1998	£12.45
		Edited by Richard Hallas Forces: Piano
		Reginald Spofforth	Hail, Smiling Morn Glee arranged for three voices with optional piano accompaniment		2¼ mins	27th May 2015	£0.75
		Edited by Richard Hallas Forces: Choir (SA[T+B]), Piano
		Sir Arnold Bax	In the Night Passacaglia for piano		7 mins	1995	£7.45
		Edited by Richard Hallas Forces: Piano
		Sir Arnold Bax	Legend (Legends no 1) for piano		8 mins	1995	£8.45
		Edited by Richard Hallas Forces: Piano
		Carey Blyton	The Christmas Spirit Three Carols arranged for SATB and piano		4½ mins	5th July 2011	£5.95
		Edited by Richard Hallas• Words: Peter Westmore Forces: Choir (SATB), Piano
		arr. Carey Blyton, Traditional Welsh	Three Welsh Folk Songs arranged for Voice and Harp (or Piano)	,A to F'	7 mins	1st January 2022	£8.50
		Edited by Richard Hallas• Words: Welsh traditional Forces: Voice, Harp, Piano