Richard Watkins
Encyclopedia
Richard Watkins is a concerto
soloist and chamber music
player. He was Principal Horn of the Philharmonia
from 1985 to 1996, a position he relinquished to devote more time to his solo career.
He has appeared as soloist in the Royal Festival Hall
, at the Barbican Centre
and abroad with conductors such as Carlo Maria Giulini
, Wolfgang Sawallisch
, Leonard Slatkin
, Giuseppe Sinopoli
, Andrew Davis
and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky. He is in great demand as a chamber musician and recitalist and has worked closely with pianists such as Barry Douglas
, Peter Donohoe, Pascal Rogé
, Barry Scott
and Martin Roscoe
. He is a member of the Nash Ensemble
.
His recordings include Sir Malcolm Arnold's two Horn Concertos for Conifer, to great critical acclaim, and Mozart
's Sinfonia Concertante
with the Philharmonia and Giuseppe Sinopoli
for Deutsche Grammophon; other recordings include the Mozart Horn Concertos with Richard Hickox
for Pickwick and chamber music recordings, both as soloist and as a chamber musician, for a variety of labels. Recent releases include Glière
's rarely performed Horn Concerto with Sir Edward Downes
and the Concerto for Horn and Violin by Dame Ethel Smyth
for Chandos.
Richard Watkins is closely associated with promoting contemporary music for horn; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
wrote 'Sea Eagle' (solo horn) for him in 1983 and since then, Richard Watkins has given the world premiere of David Matthews
' 'Capriccio' in a concert at the Wigmore Hall
to commemorate Dennis Brain
's 70th Anniversary and Nigel Osborne
's 'The Sun of Venice' with the Philharmonia. Further projects included the premiere of Colin Matthews
' Horn Concerto with Esa-Pekka Salonen
at the Royal Festival Hall during the 2001 season and a Horn Concerto by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He recorded Michael Nyman
's music for La Sept
with the Michael Nyman Band
in 1989. In June 2007, he was horn soloist in the first performance of Matthew King
's epic forest piece, King's Wood Symphony
.
Richard Watkins is in great demand for master classes both in the UK and abroad. At present he is a guest teacher in the Royal College of Music
and he is holder of the Dennis Brain Chair in the Royal Academy of Music
.
He has a son called Alexei Watkins who currently attends Hampton School
and plays the horn. Alexei is currently in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
soloist and chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
player. He was Principal Horn of the Philharmonia
Philharmonia
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
from 1985 to 1996, a position he relinquished to devote more time to his solo career.
He has appeared as soloist in the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, at the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
and abroad with conductors such as Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...
, Wolfgang Sawallisch
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Wolfgang Sawallisch is a retired German conductor and pianist.-Biography:Sawallisch was born in Munich, and studied composition and pianoforte there privately: at the conclusion of the war, in 1946 he continued his studies at the Munich High School for Music and passed his final examination for...
, Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Giuseppe Sinopoli
-Biography:Sinopoli was born in Venice, Italy, and later studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice under Ernesto Rubin de Cervin and at Darmstadt, including being mentored in composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen...
, Andrew Davis
Andrew Davis (conductor)
Sir Andrew Frank Davis CBE is a British conductor.Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire to Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence J. née Badminton, Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Watford. Davis attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied classics in his sixth form years...
and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky. He is in great demand as a chamber musician and recitalist and has worked closely with pianists such as Barry Douglas
Barry Douglas
Barry Douglas OBE is a classical pianist and conductor. He studied piano, cello, clarinet and organ while growing up in Belfast. He first studied in Belfast while attending Methodist College Belfast and, at 16, had lessons with Felicitas LeWinter, a pupil of Emil von Sauer and grand-pupil of...
, Peter Donohoe, Pascal Rogé
Pascal Rogé
Pascal Rogé is a French pianist. His playing includes the works of compatriot composers Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, Satie, and Poulenc, among others. However, his repertoire also covers the German masters Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven.- Biography :Rogé first appeared in public in...
, Barry Scott
Barry Scott
Barry Scott is an American DJ, author and voice artist.For over 25 years Barry Scott has hosted the radio show The Lost 45s, which features Top 40 charted records from the late 1960s to the late 1980s....
and Martin Roscoe
Martin Roscoe
Martin Roscoe is an English classical pianist. He teaches piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the Department of Keyboard Studies. He performs as a concerto soloist, as a recitalist and as a chamber musician....
. He is a member of the Nash Ensemble
Nash Ensemble
The Nash Ensemble of London is an acclaimed English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman in 1964, while she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around the Academy...
.
His recordings include Sir Malcolm Arnold's two Horn Concertos for Conifer, to great critical acclaim, and Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Sinfonia Concertante
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
The Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E-flat major, K. 364 , was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.At the time of its composition in 1779, Mozart was on a tour of Europe that included Mannheim and Paris...
with the Philharmonia and Giuseppe Sinopoli
Giuseppe Sinopoli
-Biography:Sinopoli was born in Venice, Italy, and later studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice under Ernesto Rubin de Cervin and at Darmstadt, including being mentored in composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen...
for Deutsche Grammophon; other recordings include the Mozart Horn Concertos with Richard Hickox
Richard Hickox
Richard Sidney Hickox CBE was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.-Early life:Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family...
for Pickwick and chamber music recordings, both as soloist and as a chamber musician, for a variety of labels. Recent releases include Glière
Reinhold Glière
Reinhold Moritzevich Glière was a Russian and Soviet composer of German–Polish descent.- Biography :Glière was born in Kiev, Ukraine...
's rarely performed Horn Concerto with Sir Edward Downes
Edward Downes
Sir Edward Thomas "Ted" Downes, CBE was an English conductor, specialising in opera.He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for his long working relationship with the BBC Philharmonic and for working with the Netherlands...
and the Concerto for Horn and Violin by Dame Ethel Smyth
Ethel Smyth
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, DBE was an English composer and a leader of the women's suffrage movement.- Early career :...
for Chandos.
Richard Watkins is closely associated with promoting contemporary music for horn; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
wrote 'Sea Eagle' (solo horn) for him in 1983 and since then, Richard Watkins has given the world premiere of David Matthews
David Matthews (composer)
David Matthews is an English composer of mainly orchestral, chamber, vocal and piano works.- Life :He was born in London into a family that was 'not especially' musical; the desire to compose did not manifest itself until he was sixteen, and for a time he and his younger brother Colin Matthews,...
' 'Capriccio' in a concert at the Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
to commemorate Dennis Brain
Dennis Brain
Dennis Brain was a British virtuoso horn player and was largely credited for popularizing the horn as a solo classical instrument with the post-war British public...
's 70th Anniversary and 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 ,...
's 'The Sun of Venice' with the Philharmonia. Further projects included the premiere of Colin Matthews
Colin Matthews
Colin Matthews OBE is an English composer of classical music.-Early life and education:Matthews was born in London in 1946; his older brother is the composer David Matthews. He read classics at the University of Nottingham, and then studied composition there with Arnold Whittall, and with Nicholas...
' Horn Concerto with Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.-Early career:...
at the Royal Festival Hall during the 2001 season and a Horn Concerto by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He recorded Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
's music for La Sept
La Sept
La Sept was a French television broadcaster and production company created on 23 February 1986 to develop cultural and educational programming for transmission via the TDF 1 satellite...
with the Michael Nyman Band
Michael Nyman Band
The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, Il Campiello directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic...
in 1989. In June 2007, he was horn soloist in the first performance of Matthew King
Matthew King (composer)
Matthew King is a British composer and pianist. His works include opera, piano and chamber music, choral and orchestral pieces.-Career:...
's epic forest piece, King's Wood Symphony
King's Wood Symphony
King's Wood Symphony is a musical composition by Matthew King, specifically designed to be performed in a large open, outdoor space and lasting approximately an hour. The original scoring is for a minimum of 19 french horns with electronics, percussion and wind-up gramophones...
.
Richard Watkins is in great demand for master classes both in the UK and abroad. At present he is a guest teacher in 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...
and he is holder of the Dennis Brain Chair in the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
.
He has a son called Alexei Watkins who currently attends Hampton School
Hampton School
Hampton School is an independent boys' day school in Hampton, London, England.-History:In 1556, Robert Hammond, a wealthy brewer who had acquired property in Hampton, left in his will provision for the maintenance of a 'free scole' and to build a small schoolhouse 'with seates in yt' in the...
and plays the horn. Alexei is currently in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.