David Fanshawe
Encyclopedia
David Arthur Fanshawe was an English composer
, ethnomusicologist
and self-styled explorer. His work is situated at the crossroads of traditional
and modern music. His best-known composition is the 1972 choral work African Sanctus
.
in Devon
in 1942. His father was a successful officer in the Royal Artillery
who played a central role in the planning of D-Day
. His stories of military service in India
fired his son's enthusiasm for travel and adventure. David Fanshawe's first ambition was to be an explorer but when he attended St George's School, Windsor Castle
and Stowe School
he discovered a love of music. However, his severe dyslexia
prevented him from reading a musical score and becoming a chorister.
At Stowe School he spent much of his spare time learning to play the piano, and when he was 17 he was discovered by the mother of a schoolfriend, a French baroness
, who tutored him in the piano even after he left the school in 1959. He started his adult career as a musician and film editor for a small production company in Wimbledon
in London
who made documentary films. In 1965 Fanshawe won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music
, where he studied composition under John Lambert
. During his holidays he continued to travel widely in Europe
and the Middle East
. During a summer spent hitchhiking
in Afghanistan
he heard Islamic music
for the first time and was immediately attracted to its beauty. During further travels in Iraq
and Bahrain
he recorded the traditional music he heard.
On completing his studies in 1969 Fanshawe travelled up the Nile
from the Mediterranean Sea
, visiting Egypt
, Sudan
, Uganda
and Kenya
over a three year period before finally reaching Lake Victoria
. Taking with him a small stereo tape recorder, he would persuade local musicians to play for him.
Returning to the United Kingdom
in 1972 with several hundreds of hours of recordings made during his travels, Fanshawe used the material to compose what became his best known work, African Sanctus
. After this work he became widely known for the composition of choral works. Besides vocal pieces, he also composed the score for more than 50 films and TV productions, including the BBC's When the Boat Comes In
and Softly Softly - Task Force and ITV
's Flambards
and Rank
's Tarka the Otter
. His ethnic field recordings have featured in countless TV documentaries, including Musical Mariner and Tropical Beat. They have also been used in various feature films including Mountains of the Moon
, How to Make an American Quilt
, Gangs of New York
and Seven Years in Tibet
.
During a ten-year odyssey across the islands of the Pacific Ocean
begun in 1978, he collected several thousand hours of indigenous music, and documented the music and oral traditions of Polynesia
, Micronesia
and Melanesia
in journals and photographs. These form the core of the Fanshawe Collection, an archive of 2,000 hours of world music and 60,000 images. In 2007 a movement based on this material, Pacific Song, was given its premiere at Miami. This was the first completed section of Pacific Odyssey, a new choral work which Fanshawe conceived on an even more epic scale than African Sanctus
, but it was not completed by the time of his death.
Fanshawe was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music
by the University of the West of England
in 2007 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to bringing music from around the world into the lives of people who neither read nor write music and to his pursuit of musical excellence. He was the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship and received a nomination for an Ivor Novello Award for the recording of African Sanctus.
David Fanshawe married Judith Croasdell Grant in 1971; they had two children together, Alexander and Rebecca. The marriage was dissolved in 1985. He married his second wife Jane in 1985, with whom he had a daughter, Rachel. His younger brother is James
, an ex-naval officer.
He lived near Ramsbury
in Wiltshire
in England
, and died on 5 July 2010 from a stroke
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, ethnomusicologist
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
and self-styled explorer. His work is situated at the crossroads of traditional
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and modern music. His best-known composition is the 1972 choral work African Sanctus
African Sanctus
African Sanctus is a 1972 choral Mass and is the best-known work of British composer and ethnomusicologist David Fanshawe.In African Sanctus the Latin Mass is juxtaposed with live recordings of traditional African music, which the composer had recorded himself between 1969 to 1975 during a journey...
.
Life
Fanshawe was born in PaigntonPaignton
Paignton is a coastal town in Devon in England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton's population in the United Kingdom Census of 2001 was 48,251. It has...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
in 1942. His father was a successful officer in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
who played a central role in the planning of D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. His stories of military service in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
fired his son's enthusiasm for travel and adventure. David Fanshawe's first ambition was to be an explorer but when he attended St George's School, Windsor Castle
St George's School, Windsor Castle
St George's School, Windsor Castle is a coeducational independent Preparatory School of some 410 children, aged from 3 to 13, in Windsor, near London....
and Stowe School
Stowe School
Stowe School is an independent school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire. It was founded on 11 May 1923 by J. F. Roxburgh, initially with 99 male pupils. It is a member of the Rugby Group and Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group...
he discovered a love of music. However, his severe dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
prevented him from reading a musical score and becoming a chorister.
At Stowe School he spent much of his spare time learning to play the piano, and when he was 17 he was discovered by the mother of a schoolfriend, a French baroness
Baroness
Baroness is the female equivalent of the nobility title Baron.Baroness or The Baroness may also refer to:* Baroness , a metal band from Savannah, Georgia* Baroness , a fictional villain in the G.I...
, who tutored him in the piano even after he left the school in 1959. He started his adult career as a musician and film editor for a small production company in Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
who made documentary films. In 1965 Fanshawe won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, where he studied composition under John Lambert
John Lambert (composer)
-Biography:John Arthur Neil Lambert was born at Maidenhead. After obtaining a post at the Royal College of Music, he lived at Brighton for the rest of his life, where he shared a house with organist Timothy Bond. He died at Brighton, a victim of liver cancer....
. During his holidays he continued to travel widely in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. During a summer spent hitchhiking
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
he heard Islamic music
Islamic music
Islamic music is Muslim religious music, as sung or played in public services or private devotions. The classic heartland of Islam is the Middle East, North Africa, Iran, Central Asia, Horn of Africa and South Asia. Due to Islam being a multi-ethnic religion, the musical expression of its adherents...
for the first time and was immediately attracted to its beauty. During further travels in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
he recorded the traditional music he heard.
On completing his studies in 1969 Fanshawe travelled up the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
from the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, visiting Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
over a three year period before finally reaching Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
. Taking with him a small stereo tape recorder, he would persuade local musicians to play for him.
Returning to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1972 with several hundreds of hours of recordings made during his travels, Fanshawe used the material to compose what became his best known work, African Sanctus
African Sanctus
African Sanctus is a 1972 choral Mass and is the best-known work of British composer and ethnomusicologist David Fanshawe.In African Sanctus the Latin Mass is juxtaposed with live recordings of traditional African music, which the composer had recorded himself between 1969 to 1975 during a journey...
. After this work he became widely known for the composition of choral works. Besides vocal pieces, he also composed the score for more than 50 films and TV productions, including the BBC's When the Boat Comes In
When the Boat Comes In
When the Boat Comes In is a British television period-drama produced by the BBC between 1976 and 1981.The series stars James Bolam as Jack Ford, a First World War veteran who returns to his poverty-stricken town of Gallowshield in the North East of England in the 1920s.The memorable traditional...
and Softly Softly - Task Force and ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Flambards
Flambards (TV series)
Flambards was a television series of 13 episodes which was broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1979 and in the United States in 1980. The series was based on the three Flambards novels of English author K. M...
and Rank
Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company formed during 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities....
's Tarka the Otter
Tarka the Otter (1979 film)
Tarka the Otter is a film made in 1979, based on the novel of the same name by Henry Williamson. In the summer of 1976, Peter Talbot was asked by film producers David Cobham and Bill Travers to hand raise a baby otter called Spade, specifically for the film...
. His ethnic field recordings have featured in countless TV documentaries, including Musical Mariner and Tropical Beat. They have also been used in various feature films including Mountains of the Moon
Mountains of the Moon (film)
Mountains of the Moon is a 1990 theatrical film depicting the 1857-58 journey of Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke in their expedition to central Africa — the project that culminated in Speke's discovery of the source of the Nile River. The expedition led to a bitter rivalry between the...
, How to Make an American Quilt
How to Make an American Quilt
How to Make an American Quilt is a 1995 movie which was directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and stars Winona Ryder, Maya Angelou, Ellen Burstyn and Anne Bancroft...
, Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
and Seven Years in Tibet
Seven Years in Tibet (1997 film)
Seven Years in Tibet is a 1997 film based on the book of the same name written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer on his experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War, the interim period, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army's invasion of Tibet in 1950. The film...
.
During a ten-year odyssey across the islands of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
begun in 1978, he collected several thousand hours of indigenous music, and documented the music and oral traditions of Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
, Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
and Melanesia
Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...
in journals and photographs. These form the core of the Fanshawe Collection, an archive of 2,000 hours of world music and 60,000 images. In 2007 a movement based on this material, Pacific Song, was given its premiere at Miami. This was the first completed section of Pacific Odyssey, a new choral work which Fanshawe conceived on an even more epic scale than African Sanctus
African Sanctus
African Sanctus is a 1972 choral Mass and is the best-known work of British composer and ethnomusicologist David Fanshawe.In African Sanctus the Latin Mass is juxtaposed with live recordings of traditional African music, which the composer had recorded himself between 1969 to 1975 during a journey...
, but it was not completed by the time of his death.
Fanshawe was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music
Doctor of Music
The Doctor of Music degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. The D.Mus. is intended for musicians and composers who wish to combine the highest attainments in their area of specialization with doctoral-level academic study in music...
by the University of the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...
in 2007 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to bringing music from around the world into the lives of people who neither read nor write music and to his pursuit of musical excellence. He was the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship and received a nomination for an Ivor Novello Award for the recording of African Sanctus.
David Fanshawe married Judith Croasdell Grant in 1971; they had two children together, Alexander and Rebecca. The marriage was dissolved in 1985. He married his second wife Jane in 1985, with whom he had a daughter, Rachel. His younger brother is James
James Fanshawe (Royal Navy officer)
Commodore James Fanshawe CBE is a retired Royal Navy officer. Fanshawe has been Chairman of numerous organisations since his retirement in 2005.-Naval career:...
, an ex-naval officer.
He lived near Ramsbury
Ramsbury
Ramsbury is a village in Ramsbury and Axford civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about east and Marlborough about west. The much larger town of Swindon is about to the north.The civil...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and died on 5 July 2010 from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.
Works (selection)
- African SanctusAfrican SanctusAfrican Sanctus is a 1972 choral Mass and is the best-known work of British composer and ethnomusicologist David Fanshawe.In African Sanctus the Latin Mass is juxtaposed with live recordings of traditional African music, which the composer had recorded himself between 1969 to 1975 during a journey...
, a work for soprano alto tenor and bass choir, soloists, percussion and tapes- from which The Lord's Prayer is also performed separately
- When the Boat Comes InWhen the Boat Comes InWhen the Boat Comes In is a British television period-drama produced by the BBC between 1976 and 1981.The series stars James Bolam as Jack Ford, a First World War veteran who returns to his poverty-stricken town of Gallowshield in the North East of England in the 1920s.The memorable traditional...
- television score - FlambardsFlambards (TV series)Flambards was a television series of 13 episodes which was broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1979 and in the United States in 1980. The series was based on the three Flambards novels of English author K. M...
- television score - The Feathered SerpentThe Feathered Serpent (UK TV series)The Feathered Serpent is a British children's television series. Set in Aztec Mexico and starring former Doctor Who Patrick Troughton as the scheming High Priest Nasca, two series were made for ITV by Thames Television and transmitted in 1976 and 1978....
- television score - Dona Nobis Pacem - A Hymn for World Peace
- Dover Castle
- Requiem for the Children of AberfanAberfanThe Aberfan disaster was a catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip that occurred in the Welsh village of Aberfan on Friday 21 October 1966, killing 116 children and 28 adults.-Mining debris:...
- The Awakening for cello or viola and piano
- Planet Earth - Fanfare and March
- Serenata
- Pacific Song - Chants from the Kingdom of Tonga
External links
- Composer's website
- African Sanctus website
- Biography of Fanshawe
- Official tribute website of David Fanshawe
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/7890995/David-Fanshawe.htmlObituary in The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
14 July 2010] - Obituary in the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, 15 July 2010