Robert Saxton
Encyclopedia
Biography
After early advice and encouragement from Benjamin BrittenBenjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, Robert Saxton took private composition lessons with Elisabeth Lutyens
Elisabeth Lutyens
Elisabeth Lutyens, CBE was a significant English composer.- Early life and education :She was one of the five children of architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and his wife Emily, who was profoundly involved in the Theosophical Movement...
. He went on to study with Robin Holloway
Robin Holloway
Robin Greville Holloway is an English composer.-Early life:From 1952 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral...
at Cambridge University, with Robert Sherlaw Johnson
Robert Sherlaw Johnson
Robert Sherlaw Johnson , was a British composer, pianist and music scholar. Sherlaw Johnson was one of that group of post-war British musicians whose work reflected wider European interests in new ideas, techniques and aesthetics...
as a post-graduate at Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, and later with Berio. His music is intellectual and complex, texturally intricate, yet earthy and immediate. It draws on many influences including the English visionary tradition and his own Jewish heritage. Saxton is also a distinguished teacher; he has been Head of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
and 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...
and is currently a Lecturer, Fellow and Tutor in Music at Worcester College, Oxford. He is married to soprano Teresa Cahill.
He has written commissioned works for: the LSO, the Fires of London, the London Sinfonietta, the LPO, the English Chamber Orchestra, 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...
, BBC (Radio, TV and the Proms), the Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Harrogate and Lichfield festivals and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival/Opera North and the Chilingirian String Quartet. He has also written works for: Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
, Teresa Cahill, Steven Isserlis
Steven Isserlis
Steven Isserlis CBE is a British cellist. He is distinguished for his diverse repertoire, distinctive sound and total command of phrasing. He studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and was much influenced by the great iconoclast of Russian cello playing, Daniil Shafran...
, Leon Fleisher
Leon Fleisher
Leon Fleisher is an American pianist and conductor.-Early life and studies:Fleisher was born in San Francisco, where he started studying the piano at age four...
, Paul Silverthorne
Paul Silverthorne
Paul Silverthorne is an English viola soloist and principal violist of the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta.-Biography:...
and John Wallace. His music has been recorded by: Collins Classics, EMI, Sony Classical, Hyperion and NMC. http://www.chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=2&composerId_2905=1376
Recent works include Ring Time (1994), A Yardstick to the Stars (1995), Canticum Luminis (1995), Music for St Catharine for organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
(1998), a sonata for solo cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
(2000) and Five Motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s (2003).
Career highlights
- 1975 — first prize at Gaudeamus Music Week in Holland for What Does the Song Hope For?.
- 1977 — premiere of Echoes of the Glass Bead Game at Wigmore HallWigmore HallWigmore 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...
, London. - 1986 — Fulbright Fellowship at Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. - 1991 — premiere of Caritas by Opera NorthOpera NorthOpera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
at Wakefield Opera House, Huddersfield Contemporary Music FestivalHuddersfield Contemporary Music FestivalThe Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival is held in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has a repertoire of cutting-edge jazz, orchestral, choral and electroacoustic performances, along with film, dance and music theatre...
. - 1993 — Mstislav RostropovichMstislav RostropovichMstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
and the London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
premiere Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. - 1997 — Prayer before Sleep premiered at the BarbicanBarbicanA barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from...
, London.
Works
- Processions and Dances (1981; large chamber ensemble)
- The Ring of Eternity (1983, orchestra)
- Concerto for Orchestra (1984)
- The Sentinel of the Rainbow (1984; chamber ensemble)
- Chamber Symphony: The Circles of Light (1985–6)
- Viola Concerto (1986)
- Violin Concerto (1989)
- Caritas (1991; opera)
- Invocation, Dance and Meditation (1991, viola, piano)
- Cello Concerto (1993)
- Songs, Dances and Ellipses (1997, string quartet)
- Five Motets (2003, choir)
- The Wandering Jew (2010, radio opera)
- Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis (2010, choir)
Selected recordings
- link Caritas; Music to Celebrate the Resurrection of Christ; I Will Awake the Dawn; In the Beginning; Violin Concerto — NMC-Ancora NMC D102
- Chacony — Sony Classical SK48081
- Concerto for Orchestra; The Ring of Eternity; The Sentinel of the Rainbow; Chamber Symphony:The Circles of Light — EMI Classics CDM5665302
Publications
- Saxton, Robert: The Process of Composition from Detection to Confection in Thomas, W. (ed.), Composition - Performance - Reception: Studies in the Creative Process in Music, AshgateAshgateAshgate is an area in northeast Derbyshire, England, west of the town of Chesterfield. It is close to the town centre and local amenities.A leading place of interest in the area is the Inkerman playing fields, formerly a Victorian swimming baths and a former area of pottery, most notably...
, 1998, ISBN 1 85928 325 X