Patrick Harrex
Encyclopedia
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
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...
based in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
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Harrex studied Music & Education at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
and won first prize in the 1968 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...
Composers’ Competition. His Sonata for female voice, flute and percussion, published by Schott was written in 1966 and in 1968 he was commissioned by the Decca Record Company to write a work for children (Narnian Suite) for ‘Voices’, recorded on the Argo label
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 ...
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Early success came when "Antiphonies", written for the Portia Ensemble, was premiered at the Purcell Room
Purcell Room
The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats....
in November 1967, with the composer conducting. In 1968 he was featured in BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
’s ‘Youth at the Helm’.
Whilst at York he was also a founder member of Gentle Firehttp://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/09611210152780683, which became one of the leading groups performing experimental and live electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
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Harrex was awarded a French Government Scholarship, which enabled him to spend a year in Paris after graduating from York in 1968; here he attended Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
’s composition class at the Conservatoire and studied privately with Gilbert Amy. Prior to this, during the summer of 1967, he had attended a brief course in composition given by the Belgian composer Henri Pousseur
Henri Pousseur
Henri Pousseur was a Belgian composer.-Biography:Pousseur studied at the Academies of Music in Liège and in Brussels from 1947 to 1953. He was closely associated with Pierre Froidebise and André Souris...
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Harrex has twice been a shortlisted composer with SPNM (The Society for the Promotion of New Music
Society for the Promotion of New Music
The Society for the Promotion of New Music was founded in London in 1943 with the intention of promoting the creation, performance and appreciation of new music...
) and in 2003 won second prize in the Luxembourg International Composition Prize with Hauptweg und Nebenwege.
His works are performed widely, live and on radio, and commercially recorded not only in the UK but also in continental Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.
Harrex is also involved in encouraging interest in new music by young people and amateur musicians – he currently holds positions as Composer in Residence at two schools in Sussex, and in 2005 he established the Sussex branch of CoMA (Contemporary Music Making for Amateurs). He was a founder member and is a past chairman of New Music Brightonhttp://www.newmusicbrighton.co.uk, a collective of composers living or working in the Sussex area. He is co-founder, with Claudia Molitor, and Chair of Trustees of Soundwaves Festival.
Discography
- Sonata for female voice, flute and percussion: CBC Radio Canada SM148 (recording of live broadcast; Mary Morrison, soprano, Robert Aitken, flute, John Wyre, percussion)
- Narnian Suite: Argo Record Co. DA91 – performed by children from Heslington Primary School and students of the University of York, conducted by the composer.
- Sampler: New Music Brighton NMBCD001 – on ‘new piano music from a Sussex shore’ performed by Stephanie Cant
- Hauptweg und Nebenwege: Editions LGNM No 403, recording of a live performance by the Luxembourg SinfoniettaLuxembourg SinfoniettaThe Luxembourg Sinfonietta is an orchestral ensemble for contemporary music in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Initially it consisted of 10 to 15 instruments, including tuba, accordion, mandolin and harpsichord but now typically extends to clarinet, clarinet bass, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone,...
conducted by Marcel WenglerMarcel WenglerMarcel Wengler is a Luxembourg composer and conductor. He also plays the guitar and the mandolin. From 1972–1997, he headed the Conservatoire de Luxembourg. Since 2000, he has been director of the Luxembourg Music Information Centre...
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