British composer Debbie Wiseman is perhaps best known worldwide for her music for the hit BBC tv series Wolf Hall and its sequel The Mirror and the Light.
Wiseman has enjoyed a decade of prolific composition and collaboration that has produced some of her most creative and varied works. From album commissions to special anthems for memorable occasions via successful soundtracks and single pieces reflecting the natural world, she has composed and performed music which has topped the UK Classical Album charts and has written music especially for landmark public moments of our time, including the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the Coronation in May 2023. During this period, she was also Classic FM’s ‘Composer in Residence’.
Debbie Wiseman
‘Ten’, Wiseman’s new album, released on Silva Screen records, represents a significant retrospective, showcasing a piece composed during each of the past ten years (hence its title), and presenting brand-new arrangements of some of her most distinctive and varied compositions, each reimagined for solo piano and performed by Wiseman herself. In addition, there are two bonus tracks, including a new composition ‘A Day May Come’, performed by Voces8 and written by Debbie Wiseman to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of VE Day in May 2025.
With this album release, Debbie Wiseman looks back at some of her most successful works and repositions them in these new arrangements for solo piano. The album opens with ‘The Traveller’, a piece written in 2017 which reflects on the themes of exploration and discovery found on river and ocean journeys, inspired by one of Debbie’s own voyages. Music from her highly-successful Winter album, ‘Jack Frost-A Winter Story’ and from the blockbuster TV series, ‘Wolf Hall’ follows, alongside ‘Together’, written to encourage amateur pianists during the pandemic; the Celtic-influenced ‘A Lustre to this Day’; ‘Elizabeth Remembered’, heard across the nation and around the world following the death in 2022 of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as well as ‘Alleluia (O Clap Your Hands)’ commissioned for the Coronation in May 2023 of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
The pieces on this album are melodic and flowing, elegantly performed by Wiseman. Many are somewhat minimalist in style and are likely to appeal to listeners who enjoy simple but tuneful pieces. By reimagining some of her best-known works for solo piano, ‘Ten’ allows listeners to experience Wiseman’s music in their most intimate form, and on the instrument from where Wiseman’s creativity originally springs.
Ten Years Forward (Solo piano)
“Over the past ten years I’ve had the privilege of composing music for significant moments in the nation’s history, such as the King’s Coronation and the late Queen’s funeral, as well as music for the landmark drama ‘Wolf Hall’ and my albums ‘Jack Frost’ and ‘The Glorious Garden’”, says Debbie Wiseman. “This is a return to the roots of all of that music: solo recordings on the instrument where all my music begins – the piano.”
Ten: Memories for solo piano
In addition to the album, Faber Music have published an anthology Ten: Memories for solo piano, suitable for intermediate level pianists. It’s a very nicely produced book, with clear engraving on high-quality paper. As the piano remains one of the world’s most popular and accessible instruments, the beauty and simplicity of these imaginative works in their new arrangements ensure a broad, universal appeal and celebrate Wiseman’s musical achievements over the past decade.
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