Putney Composer To Release His Debut Symphony


Marc Harris's Shifting Sands is performed by the Northern Film Orchestra


Marc Harris

Putney born and bred composer Marc Harris is releasing his debut Symphony, 'Shifting Sands' later this month.

It is performed by the Northern Film Orchestra and will be available from 25 March.

Marc began working on the Symphony in Putney in 2020 during the first lockdown, when his travel company collapsed. The destruction of Marc’s previously thriving travel business provided him with the time and space to explore writing classical music for the first time having previously been a blues pianist.

Whilst travel was halted, Marc used ‘Shifting Sands’ as a vessel to return to some of the world’s most enchanting locations once again, and as such the symphony aims to conjure up visions of the wild steppes of Asia, the rainforests of Central and South America, and the shifting sands of Arabia.

Most of Marc’s adult life has been dedicated his tour operating business to some of the most wonderful and obscure parts of the world. Prior to collapse of the firm, Marc hadn’t written a note in his life and he feels strongly that it represents what can be achieved with the right degree of tenacity and the right teacher to guide and encourage.

He says Shifting Sands draws on a wide range of classical influences including Mozart (Confutatis from the Requiem), Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring) , Mussorgsky (Night on a Bare Mountain), Rimsky-Korsakov (Scheherazade), Holst (Mars and Mercury), Dukas (the Sorcerer’s Apprentice), Prokofiev (Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet) as well as popular influences such as John Williams (Star Wars), Pink Floyd (The Wall), King Crimson (Moonchild), and film music such as Midnight Express, Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia.

The text for the score is written in Latin, for which Marc recruited a scholar to ensure the utmost accuracy.

You can listen to Shifting Sands here.

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March 18, 2022