Richard Rodney Bennett

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett CBE ( born March 29, 1936 in Broadstairs, Kent, † December 24, 2012 in New York City ) was a British pianist and composer.

Life and work

Bennett came from a musical family. His mother was a musician and studied with Gustav Holst 1953 he got a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London and began to compose. Inspired by Elisabeth Lutyens, he began to be interested in new music. From 1955 to 1958, he frequently stayed in Darmstadt, where he worked together with avant-garde musicians. This period also marked the beginning of cooperation with Pierre Boulez in Paris fell. Together with pianist Susan Bradshaw, he developed a translation of the theoretical writings of Pierre Boulez into English and made ​​a few years together with her a piano.

In 1958 he wrote the music for Stanley Donen film Indiscreet. In the 1960s he composed great operas: The Mines of Sulphur (sulfur mines ) and Victory. The Mines of Sulphur was performed in November 2005 in New York with great success again. In the Anglo -Saxon and his frequently mentioned children's opera All the King's Men is very popular.

In addition, Bennett wrote in the 1960s and 1970s music for a number of other genres: works for chorus and orchestra, choral works a cappella as well as orchestral and solo pieces for an enormous range of different individual instruments. They include the symphonic poem Aubade and the opera A Penny for a Song ( Napoleon comes ) in Munich under the direction of Christoph von Dohnányi with Ingeborg Hallstein and Martha Mödl in the lead roles had its German premiere in 1968.

Bennett's incidental music for various film works, including Murder on the Orient Express (1974 ), he described himself as a musical journalism. This work earned him a hand, a number of awards, on the other hand the financial independence that allowed him to make the music that was close to his heart.

For some meetings with the legendary guitarist Julian Bream fascinating works such as the " Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra", a long " Sonata for Solo Guitar" originated etc. Today they form an important part in contemporary guitar repertoire.

In recent years, he focused primarily on jazz and was back to a more tonal style of composition, but still serial and chromatic expressions einbezog with. He also accompanied the singers Mary Cleere Haran and Marian Montgomery.

Richard Rodney Bennett in 1977 was honored with the Order of the British Empire. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1999. Critics call him one of the most versatile contemporary composers.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Various Grammy and Emmy nominations as well as

  • Three Oscar nominations - 1975: Murder on the Orient Express; 1973: Nicholas and Alexandra; 1968: The Madding Crowd
  • 1995 - ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards for Four Weddings and a Funeral
  • 1975 - BAFTA Awards: Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for Murder on the Orient Express
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