Graham Fitkin
Encyclopedia
Graham Fitkin is a British
composer
, pianist
and conductor
. His compositions fall broadly into the minimalist
and postminimalist
genres. Described by The Independent
in 1998 as "one of the most important of our younger composers", he is particularly known for his works for solo and multiple pianos, as well as for music accompanying dance.
in west Cornwall
on 19 April 1963. His mother, a piano
teacher, encouraged his early studies on that instrument. He participated in numerous local ensembles during his childhood, and recalls starting to compose at the piano aged around 8. In 1981–4, he attended the University of Nottingham
, where he studied with composer Nigel Osborne
, among others. He later went to the Netherlands to study with the minimalist composer and pianist Louis Andriessen
at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague
. In 1987, he moved to London.
Fitkin returned to Cornwall in 1991 and, as of 2010, lives in Treen
. His partner is harpist Ruth Wall, with whom he collaborates in Fitkin Wall.
and postminimalist
. His works are tonal
and frequently complex. Much of his writing is for the piano, including solo and multiple player works. Fitkin lists his early classical influences as Igor Stravinsky
, Anton Webern
, Pierre Boulez
and the American minimalist Steve Reich
, and also acknowledges a broad range of influences outside the field of classical music, from jazz
musicians Keith Jarrett
, Muggsy Spanier
and Miles Davis
, and popular singer Frank Sinatra
, to modern pop groups such as The Smiths
, Wire
and the Pet Shop Boys
. Subsequent influences include Louis Andriessen
, Gavin Bryars
and Laurence Crane
.
Fitkin's earliest compositions were for piano, including From Yellow to Yellow and The Cone Gatherers. The Nanquidno group, which he co-founded in 1985, consisted of four pianists using two keyboards. Several of his early works, including Log, Line and Loud, were composed for the six-piano ensemble, Piano Circus. He has also written several works for pianist Kathryn Stott
, including Circuit for two pianos and orchestra, which was composed for Stott and Noriko Ogawa
in 2002 to a commission from the BBC
.
The success of his early compositions for piano, particularly The Cone Gatherers, led to Fitkin being commissioned to write his first ensemble work, Cud, for jazz orchestra. Cud and Fitkin's other early ensemble works including Hook and Stub often make use of electronic instruments and percussion, and are influenced by jazz and rock
. A more recent work for electronic instruments is the album Kaplan, which was inspired by the character George Kaplan from Alfred Hitchcock
's film, North by Northwest
. In 1994–96, Fitkin was the composer-in-residence at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and during the mid-to-late 1990s he composed twelve orchestral pieces including a clarinet concerto. He has composed several works for musical theatre
, including the short opera
Ghosts, and has also written or adapted several pieces for contemporary dance
, including Huoah.
Recent projects include Still Warm, a work for multiple harp
s, which was composed for the Eden Project
in 2006. The sextet Sinew, written for the Fibonacci Sequence, was first performed in 2009. The BBC commission PK was premiered at the 2010 Proms
. Graham's most recent project Fitkin, a group comprising 9 virtuoso musicians has been touring the UK since early 2010. In December 2010, it was announced that Fitkin had been selected as one of twenty composers to participate in the New Music 20x12 project as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Fitkin will compose a new work for the London Chamber Orchestra
to be premiered in 2012.
In 1996, he formed the Graham Fitkin Group. His work has been released by Decca
's Argo
label, Sanctuary's Black Box label, BIS Records
and Factory Classical
. He founded a personal label, GFR, to release Still Warm.
Piano and orchestra
Orchestral
Ensemble
Other
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...
composer
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...
, pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
. His compositions fall broadly into the minimalist
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
and postminimalist
Postminimalism
Postminimalism is an art term coined by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971 used in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by, or attempts to develop and go beyond, the aesthetic of minimalism...
genres. Described by The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
in 1998 as "one of the most important of our younger composers", he is particularly known for his works for solo and multiple pianos, as well as for music accompanying dance.
Biography
Fitkin was born at Crows-an-WraCrows-an-Wra
Crows-an-Wra is a hamlet in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated in the civil parish of St Buryan approximately four miles northeast of Land's End....
in west Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
on 19 April 1963. His mother, a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
teacher, encouraged his early studies on that instrument. He participated in numerous local ensembles during his childhood, and recalls starting to compose at the piano aged around 8. In 1981–4, he attended the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
, where he studied with composer Nigel Osborne
Nigel Osborne
Nigel Osborne MBE, FRCM is a British composer.He serves as Reid Professor of music at the University of Edinburgh and has been teaching at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.He studied composition with Kenneth Leighton ,...
, among others. He later went to the Netherlands to study with the minimalist composer and pianist Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen is a Dutch composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. He teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague...
at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague
Royal Conservatory of The Hague
The Royal Conservatory of The Hague is a conservatorium of music, providing higher education in music and dance, it is located in The Hague, Netherlands.-The Conservatory:...
. In 1987, he moved to London.
Fitkin returned to Cornwall in 1991 and, as of 2010, lives in Treen
Treen, Cornwall
Treen is a small village in the parish of St Levan, in the far west of Cornwall, United Kingdom and situated approximately inland from Land's End on a short unclassified spur road from the B3315. Treen overlooks the Penberth Valley and sits about inland from Treryn Dinas, an Iron Age promontory...
. His partner is harpist Ruth Wall, with whom he collaborates in Fitkin Wall.
Music
Fitkin's work is broadly classified as minimalistMinimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
and postminimalist
Postminimalism
Postminimalism is an art term coined by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971 used in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by, or attempts to develop and go beyond, the aesthetic of minimalism...
. His works are tonal
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
and frequently complex. Much of his writing is for the piano, including solo and multiple player works. Fitkin lists his early classical influences as Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and the American minimalist Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
, and also acknowledges a broad range of influences outside the field of classical music, from jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
, Muggsy Spanier
Muggsy Spanier
Francis Joseph Julian "Muggsy" Spanier was a prominent cornet player based in Chicago. He was renowned as the best trumpet/cornet in Chicago until Bix Beiderbecke entered the scene....
and Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, and popular singer Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, to modern pop groups such as The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
, Wire
Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
and the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
. Subsequent influences include Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen is a Dutch composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. He teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague...
, Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars
Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism.-Early life and career:Born in Goole, East...
and Laurence Crane
Laurence Crane
Laurence Crane is a composer of contemporary classical music.He studied at Nottingham University with Peter Nelson and Nigel Osborne....
.
Fitkin's earliest compositions were for piano, including From Yellow to Yellow and The Cone Gatherers. The Nanquidno group, which he co-founded in 1985, consisted of four pianists using two keyboards. Several of his early works, including Log, Line and Loud, were composed for the six-piano ensemble, Piano Circus. He has also written several works for pianist Kathryn Stott
Kathryn Stott
Kathryn Stott is a British classical pianist who performs as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Her specialities include the English and French classical repertoire, contemporary classical music and the tango...
, including Circuit for two pianos and orchestra, which was composed for Stott and Noriko Ogawa
Noriko Ogawa (pianist)
is a Japanese classical pianist.Born in Kawasaki, Ogawa studied at the Tokyo College of Music and the Juilliard School in New York , and later with Benjamin Kaplan. After coming second in a Japanese music competition in 1984, she gained third prize in the 1987 Leeds International Piano...
in 2002 to a commission from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
The success of his early compositions for piano, particularly The Cone Gatherers, led to Fitkin being commissioned to write his first ensemble work, Cud, for jazz orchestra. Cud and Fitkin's other early ensemble works including Hook and Stub often make use of electronic instruments and percussion, and are influenced by jazz and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. A more recent work for electronic instruments is the album Kaplan, which was inspired by the character George Kaplan from Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's film, North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
. In 1994–96, Fitkin was the composer-in-residence at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and during the mid-to-late 1990s he composed twelve orchestral pieces including a clarinet concerto. He has composed several works for musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, including the short opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Ghosts, and has also written or adapted several pieces for contemporary dance
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...
, including Huoah.
Recent projects include Still Warm, a work for multiple harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s, which was composed for the Eden Project
Eden Project
The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, including the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world....
in 2006. The sextet Sinew, written for the Fibonacci Sequence, was first performed in 2009. The BBC commission PK was premiered at the 2010 Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
. Graham's most recent project Fitkin, a group comprising 9 virtuoso musicians has been touring the UK since early 2010. In December 2010, it was announced that Fitkin had been selected as one of twenty composers to participate in the New Music 20x12 project as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Fitkin will compose a new work for the London Chamber Orchestra
London Chamber Orchestra
The London Chamber Orchestra ' is the longest established professional chamber orchestra in the UK. Based in London, LCO has a residency at St John's Smith Square in Westminster.-History:...
to be premiered in 2012.
In 1996, he formed the Graham Fitkin Group. His work has been released by Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
's Argo
Argo Records (UK)
Argo Records was a record label founded in 1951 by Harley Usill , and musicologist Cyril Clarke with £500 capital, initially as a company specialising in "British music played by British artists" , but it quickly became a company primarily specialising in spoken-word recordings and other esoteric ...
label, Sanctuary's Black Box label, BIS Records
BIS Records
BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden.BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recordings....
and Factory Classical
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
. He founded a personal label, GFR, to release Still Warm.
Awards
In 1994, Fitkin won the International Grand Prix Music for Dance Video Award. Fitkin's Reel (2008) won the Stage Works category of the British Composer Awards in 2009.Selected works
Solo and multiple pianos- From Yellow to Yellow (1985)
- The Cone Gatherers (1987)
- Loud (1989), for six pianos
- Flak (1989), for two pianos/eight hands
- Log (1990), for six pianos
- Line (1991), for six pianos
- Fervent (1992–94)
- Piano Pieces 93 (1993)
- Relent (1998)
Piano and orchestra
- Granite (1995)
- Circuit (2002)
- Ruse (2009)
Orchestral
- Cud (1988)
- Length (1994)
- Bebeto (1995)
- Henry (1995)
- Metal (1995)
- Clarinet Concerto (1998)
- Reel (2008)
Ensemble
- Ironic (1997)
- Bed (1998)
- Beethoven 7 (2000)
Other
- Huoah (1988), for brass band; rewritten as ballet score (1995)
- Slow (1990), for string quartetString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
and two keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Hook (1991), for percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
quartet - Skirting (2001), for solo guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Lens (2003), for piano trio
- Pawn (2004), for string quartet
- Geography (2004), for computers and video
- Kaplan (2004), multimedia
- Still Warm (2006), for electronically manipulated harps
- Sinew (2009), sextet for violin, viola, cello, clarinet, horn and piano
Partial discography
- Skirting, Jim and Pam and Pam and Jim on The Uncommon Harp (compilation) – Ruth Wall
- Ironic, and other ensemble works – Graham Fitkin Group
- Granite – Peter Donohoe (piano), Petr AltrichterPetr AltrichterPetr Altrichter is a Czech conductor. He studied French horn and conducting at the Conservatory of Music in Ostrava. He also studied at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts...
and Graham Fitkin (conductors), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic - Flak, and other piano works – various (Factory Classical; 1991)
- Slow, Huoah, Frame – Smith QuartetSmith QuartetThe Smith Quartet is a UK based string quartet founded in 1988 that specializes in the performance of contemporary classical music, and is actively performing worldwide and recording . They have premiered over 100 works by composers such as Kevin Volans, Graham Fitkin, Michael Nyman, Karl Jenkins,...
(Argo; 1992) - Log, Line, Loud – Piano Circus (Argo; 1992)
- Hook, Mesh, Stub, Cud – various (Argo; 1993)
- Kaplan – Graham Fitkin and Ruth Wall (Black Box; 2003)
- Hook, Mesh, Stub, Cud, Log, Line, Loud, Hard Fairy – various (Decca; 2004)
- Still Warm – Fitkin Wall (GFR; 2007)
- Circuit, Relent, Carnal, and other piano works – Noriko OgawaNoriko Ogawa (pianist)is a Japanese classical pianist.Born in Kawasaki, Ogawa studied at the Tokyo College of Music and the Juilliard School in New York , and later with Benjamin Kaplan. After coming second in a Japanese music competition in 1984, she gained third prize in the 1987 Leeds International Piano...
and Kathryn StottKathryn StottKathryn Stott is a British classical pianist who performs as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Her specialities include the English and French classical repertoire, contemporary classical music and the tango...
(piano), Naoto Otomo (conductor), Tokyo Symphony OrchestraTokyo Symphony OrchestraThe , or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra . It assumed its present name in 1951.Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as the pit ensemble for some productions at New National Theatre, Tokyo, the city's leading opera house...
(BIS Records; 2010)