Welcome to the Peter Tranchell website
This website is a source of information about Peter Tranchell (aka "PAT"), 1922-1993, composer, Precentor of Gonville and Caius College and Lecturer in Music, University of Cambridge.
The site is authored and managed by a group of enthusiasts (some of whom were friends and pupils of PAT), and will be enhanced continually as material becomes available. Our aims are to make Peter Tranchell's music and writings available to a wide audience free or at minimal cost, to provide accurate information about his life and works, both musical and literary, and to maintain the site as a sustainable on-line resource for the future.
Making PAT's music available is time-consuming work, involving finding and researching the manuscripts, copying/scanning, transcribing into digital notation, proofreading and publishing. We have limited time and resources available, and would welcome contributions of all kinds from anyone who knew PAT or who appreciates the magnificence and subtlety of his music. If you can contribute scores, funds, recordings, anecdotes, writings or similar please contact us here.
We are also maintaining a calendar of performances of Tranchell's music, both sacred and secular - please contact us with details if you know of any.
2022: the Peter Tranchell Centenary year
Peter Tranchell was born on 14 July 1922, so 2022 is the centenary year of his birth. To mark this, a group of friends and ex-pupils are working to promote and publicise performances, broadcasts and recordings of his work throughout 2022. Find out more about the the Peter Tranchell Centenary year.
Music
Tranchell's music, composed over a period of almost 60 years, covered many genres, from song cycles to psalms, and from organ sonatas to "detective cantatas". Find out more...
Archive
The Tranchell archive is held by Cambridge University Library, and may be searched using their "iDiscover" system. Find out more...
What's new
To find out what's been happening on the Peter Tranchell website, check out the site blog.
Writings
Tranchell was a prolific writer of letters, reviews, verse etc. Find out more...