Harrison Birtwistle

Sir Harrison Birtwistle Paul, CH ( born July 15, 1934 in Accrington, Lancashire ) is an English composer and is generally considered one of the most significant modern composers of England.

Life and career

Birtwistle studied from 1952 clarinet and composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Together with the composer Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr, John Ogdon and Elgar Howarth, he founded the New Music Manchester, a community of composers and musicians, the performance of serial and other contemporary music devoted himself.

Birtwistle worked as a music teacher and continued his studies in the U.S. continues. In 1975 he became musical director of the newly founded Royal National Theatre in London and was in that position until 1988. From 1994 to 2001 he was Professor Henry Purcell Professor for Composition at King's College London, where he was replaced by George Benjamin.

Compositional style

Birtwistle composed in a complex, modernist style. His early works are influenced by Igor Stravinsky and Olivier Messiaen, and his juxtaposition of blocks of sound is compared with compositions Edgar Varèse.

Awards

Birtwistle has received numerous awards, including the Grawemeyer Award in 1986, the Siemens Music Prize in 1995 and the British Order of the Companions of Honour in 2001. 1986 he was et des Lettres and Chevalier des Arts 1988 raised to the British peerage. In 2003 he received the prestigious Music Award of the Royal Philharmonic Society in London. The University of Cambridge awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2010.

Works

  • Orchestral works The Triumph of Time (1971 )
  • Earth Dances (1986 )
  • Panic ( 1995)
  • Operas Punch and Judy (1967 )
  • The Mask of Orpheus ( 1984, 1987 awarded the Grawemeyer Award)
  • Gawain (1990 )
  • The second Mrs. Kong ' (1994 )
  • The Last Supper (2000)
  • The Io Passion (2004 premiere at the Aldeburgh Almeida Opera)
  • Minotaur (2008)
  • Film Music The Offence ( His life in my power, directed by Sidney Lumet, 1972)
  • Other works Refrains and Choruses ( wind quintet, 1957)
  • Tragoedia for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, harp and string quartet (1965 ) for the Melos Ensemble
  • Harrison 's Clocks ( Pieces for Piano, 1998)
  • Nine Settings of Celan ( 1989-96 ) for soprano, two clarinets, viola, cello, double bass
George Benjamin (composer) Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Knight Bachelor Bibliography of Music Literature Rudolf Serkin Elliott Carter Gidon Kremer Peter Schreier Hans Werner Henze Heinz Holliger H. C. Robbins Landon Maurizio Pollini Helmut Lachenmann Mauricio Kagel Reinhold Brinkmann Alfred Brendel Henri Dutilleux Daniel Barenboim Brian Ferneyhough Klaus Huber Michael Gielen Aribert Reimann Integrated Authority File
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