• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Works
    • Upcoming performances
    • Past performances
  • Recordings
  • Listen
  • Gallery
  • News & Views
    • Articles
  • Contact

Colin Matthews

Composer

It is fascinating how Matthews can use, almost entirely, dark and subtly shifting colours …

— David Denton, Tempo

Pig songs at Magdalen Farm

17 April, 2016

Magdalen Farm Strings 2016
Magdalen Farm Strings 2016

I’ve been writing pieces for the remarkable Magdalen Farm String Course, which takes place each Easter near Winsham in Dorset, since 2009. This year, as last, I set some of Wendy Cope’s ‘Traditional Prize County Pig’ poems, and was delighted to find that Magdalen Farm houses a Cornish Lop-Eared Pig, who ‘doesn’t know the world is big/And beautiful. He doesn’t try/To wander. He’s an easy pig,/Content to stay within his sty.’

A picture of a lop eared pig in its sty

Primary Sidebar

Search Works & Recordings

Latest News & Views

Around 25 musicians and composers line up to take a bow on stage at the Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Britten Pears Arts Composition and Performance 2026

16 September, 2026

Hans Werner Henze poses for a photo between Colin and Belinda Matthews. Another man (Olly Knussen) is just visible next to Colin.

Hans Werne Henze

1 July, 2026

CM, Michael Tilson Thomas & Joshua Robison posing outside next to a car door

Michael Tilson Thomas

24 April, 2026

Upcoming Performances

Click on the date and title of the performance to view venue and booking details in a new window.

6 November, 2026 - Five Songs (Sibelius/Matthews)
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen (Conductor), Johanna Rusanen (Soprano)
Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore

12 November, 2026 - Nicht zu Schnell (Mahler/Matthews)
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno (Conductor)
Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada

14 November, 2026 - Nicht zu Schnell (Mahler/Matthews(
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno (Conductor)
Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada

14 November, 2026 - La cathédrale engloutie / Ondine / La fille aux cheveux de lin / La Puerta del Vino (Debussy/Matthews)
Fulham Symphony Orchestra, Marc Dooley (Conductor)
Smith Square Hall, London

22 November, 2026 - Estrangement
Emmanuel Choir
Emmanuel Church, Baltimore

View all performances

Useful Links

Faber Music
NMC Recordings
The Holst Foundation

© 2026 Colin Matthews · Website by Bookswarm

Menu
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Works
    • Upcoming performances
    • Past performances
  • Recordings
  • Listen
  • Gallery
  • News & Views
    • Articles
  • Contact