MIKE BATT: A SYMPHONY

Aim

Raised funds to record my "Ukraine" Symphony in solidarity with Ukraine. Also thereafter to help Ukrainian and other humanitarian causes.

This project is conceived in solidarity with the people of Ukraine  - and those involved in other current world conflicts

 WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Thanks for your support for this project. The symphony was recordeded by the LSO in London on November 1st, 2025.  

When I launched this campaign, my plan was to travel to Kyiv and record the Symphony with the Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra. That would have brought income to Ukrainian musicians and carried strong symbolic weight at this moment in history.

However, as the security situation in Ukraine  became  increasingly unpredictable, and The UK Government advised  against travel to Kyiv, citing the risk of missile and drone attacks, curfews, and disruption to basic infrastructure, and indeed to the work we would be doing. In the end, I felt it would be irresponsible to disregard that official advice.

The Symphony is dedicated to, and is my/your gift to the Ukrainian people and includes quotations from their national anthem.

I hope this will be regarded as music that acknowledges the tragedy of cruel and ruthless conflict while also affirming life and hope.

A bit about me and my work: 

There will be some of you who know quite a lot about me and some who know nothing, often depending on where in the world you live. It's easy enough to google me, but you'll see (or already know) that I have worked in multiple genres from the various hit songs I've written, arranged and produced to the film and classical work I've done.

If you aren't familiar with my classical work - a quick reference would be my album "A Classical Tale" on Spotify or via my website at www.mikebatt.com. It contains a  selection of my more melodic "classical-style" work (my "spikier" orchestral style, is, oddly, more evident in my rock-based solo albums such as SCHIZOPHONIA and TAROT SUITE); My work as a conductor most easily referenced by searching Spotify for "Holst: The Planets Suite For Large Orchestra -  Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor: Mike Batt".  

Recent memoir

For further familiarisation with me and/or (the range of)  my work, - my memoir "The Closest Thing To Crazy" has just been published by Bonnier Books (available from many booksellers - but obviously Amazon.co.uk, even if you are outside UK). You will see that my range of musical activities is very eclectic.  For those who know me and my work well, my apologies for telling you what you already know!

WHY A SYMPHONY,  AND WHY "UKRAINE"?

The piece is inspired by the tragic ongoing events of the war in Ukraine, - and incidentally,  the dark current events happening elsewhere - the United States, The Middle East, etc. It is passionate, but not depressing in a musical sense. I hope it will be enjoyable to listen to, despite the serious source of my inspiration. Indeed, please note the current graphic/album cover used on this page (and any merch) is already out of date, as the subject matter of the piece is not celebratory and carnivalesque. We are trying various new designs but it's something that will grow and change as the music emerges.

My greatest love is writing for the orchestra; and over the years, as a non-academic, self-taught musician, there has been a large scale work brewing inside me.  I am  "limiting" myself solely to the traditional orchestra (whereas many of my works combine instrumentation from the pop/rock/world music and other genres, such as guitars and drum kit) and  that limitation to traditional symphonic instrumentation, like many limitations in art, is actually a super-charger. Essentially,- in sonic instrumentation terms only -  I am doing the opposite of what "modern" classical composers are doing. They generally (and rightly) look for new sounds and textures to express progress. After (nearly) a lifetime's work doing that - restricting myself to the familar voices within a traditional symphonic line-up will be a melodic/harmonic adventure rather than a quest to shock or progress. 

It is written in four, eight-to-ten-minute movements. 

Recently, it has occurred to me to make a sneaky, experimental  additional recording, using synths and other sounds  triggered by the score   - as an experiment to give a completely different account of the compositional ideas. Watch this space for more on this idea  as I "get it"! But it won't replace the symphonic studio recording.

This project successfully funded on 18th November 2025