Simon Standage
Encyclopedia
Simon Andrew Thomas Standage (born 8 November 1941 in High Wycombe
, Buckinghamshire
) is an English violin
ist and conductor
best known for playing and conducting music of the baroque
and classical eras on original instruments.
, Cambridge University, following which he spent four years in the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
under Szymon Goldberg. He won a Harkness Fellowship
to study with Ivan Galamian
in New York City
from 1967 to 1969.
After a 1972 Wigmore Hall
debut, he became a founding member of Trevor Pinnock
's period-instrument ensemble The English Concert
. He was first violinist of The English Concert from 1972 to 1991. In this time, he performed and recorded violin concerto
s by Bach
(the single and double concertos, and the Brandenburg Concertos
), Vivaldi (The complete op.3 l'estro armonico, op.4 la stravaganza and op.8 il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, and Le quattro stagioni
a celebrated second time), Haydn and others. He was also the first concertino violin in the concerti grossi of Corelli
, Handel
and others. During this time, he was sub-leader of the English Chamber Orchestra
from 1974 to 1978 and led the City of London Sinfonia
(the successor of the Richard Hickox Orchestra) from 1980 to 1989.
In 1981 he was a founder of the Salomon Quartet
(with Micaela Comberti, violin II, Trevor Jones, viola
, and Jennifer Ward Clarke, cello
), a period-performance string quartet
specialising in the classical repertory, performing and recording works by Mozart
, Haydn
, and lesser known composers.
He played regularly with The Academy of Ancient Music throughout the 1980s, often as first violin, and recorded Vivaldi's op.9 la cetra, and the complete violin concertos of Mozart. He later became associate director of the AAM from 1991 to 1995. In 1990, he and Richard Hickox
founded the group Collegium Musicum 90
, a period-performance group varying in size from two musicians to full orchestra and chorus with which he has made many recordings as both conductor and violin soloist, of works by Telemann, Vivaldi, Leclair
, Marcello
, Albinoni, Arne
, Boyce, and others. He has also made regular collaboration with Collegium Musicum Telemann in Osaka
and Haydn Sinfonietta in Vienna
. He plays in period-instrument chamber group The Music Collection with Susan Alexander-Max
(fortepiano
) and Jennifer Ward Clarke (cello).
at the Royal Academy of Music
since 1983, and taught baroque violin and conducting
at the Akademie für Alte Musik Oberlausitz in Görlitz
since 1993. He is also president of the Early music society, Music by the Commons
, based in Wimbledon
, South West London
.
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
) is an English violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist 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...
best known for playing and conducting music of the baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
and classical eras on original instruments.
Biography and career
He studied music at King's CollegeKing's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, Cambridge University, following which he spent four years in the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The NKO is part of the Stichting Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest , along with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra . The core of the NKO is a group of at least 20 string instrumentalists...
under Szymon Goldberg. He won a Harkness Fellowship
Harkness Fellowship
The Harkness Fellowships are a programme run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. They were established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several countries to spend time studying in the United States...
to study with Ivan Galamian
Ivan Galamian
Ivan Alexander Galamian was an influential Armenian violin teacher of the twentieth century.He was born in Tabriz, Iran, but his family soon emigrated to Moscow, Russia. Galamian studied violin at the School of the Philharmonic Society there with Konstantin Mostras until his graduation in 1919...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from 1967 to 1969.
After a 1972 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...
debut, he became a founding member of Trevor Pinnock
Trevor Pinnock
Trevor David Pinnock CBE is an English conductor, harpsichordist, and occasional organist and pianist.He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert which he helped found and directed from the keyboard for over 30 years in baroque and early classical...
's period-instrument ensemble The English Concert
The English Concert
The English Concert is a baroque orchestra playing on period instruments based in London. Founded in 1972 and directed from the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock for 30 years, it is now directed by harpsichordist Harry Bicket...
. He was first violinist of The English Concert from 1972 to 1991. In this time, he performed and recorded violin concerto
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
s by Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
(the single and double concertos, and the Brandenburg Concertos
Brandenburg concertos
The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 . They are widely regarded as among the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era...
), Vivaldi (The complete op.3 l'estro armonico, op.4 la stravaganza and op.8 il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, and Le quattro stagioni
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season...
a celebrated second time), Haydn and others. He was also the first concertino violin in the concerti grossi of Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...
, Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
and others. During this time, he was sub-leader of the English Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra
The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...
from 1974 to 1978 and led the City of London Sinfonia
City of London Sinfonia
The City of London Sinfonia is an English chamber orchestra based in London. In London, the CLS performs regularly at Cadogan Hall and St Paul's Cathedral. It is also the resident orchestra at Opera Holland Park. The CLS has annual residencies in four towns in Southern England: Ipswich, King's...
(the successor of the Richard Hickox Orchestra) from 1980 to 1989.
In 1981 he was a founder of the Salomon Quartet
Salomon Quartet
The Salomon Quartet was formed in 1982 as one of the first string quartets playing music of the classical period on authentic instruments and informed by historical scholarship. The quartet originally comprised Simon Standage, , Micaela Comberti †, , Trevor Jones, , and Jennifer Ward Clarke,...
(with Micaela Comberti, violin II, Trevor Jones, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, and Jennifer Ward Clarke, 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...
), a period-performance string quartet
String quartet
A 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...
specialising in the classical repertory, performing and recording works by 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...
, Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, and lesser known composers.
He played regularly with The Academy of Ancient Music throughout the 1980s, often as first violin, and recorded Vivaldi's op.9 la cetra, and the complete violin concertos of Mozart. He later became associate director of the AAM from 1991 to 1995. In 1990, he and 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...
founded the group Collegium Musicum 90
Collegium Musicum 90
Collegium Musicum 90 is an English baroque orchestra playing on period instruments. It was founded by violinist Simon Standage and conductor Richard Hickox in 1990 and was jointly directed by them until the death of Hickox in November 2008.Collegium Musicum means something like musical guild and...
, a period-performance group varying in size from two musicians to full orchestra and chorus with which he has made many recordings as both conductor and violin soloist, of works by Telemann, Vivaldi, Leclair
Jean-Marie Leclair
Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné, also known as Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder, was a Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school...
, Marcello
Benedetto Marcello
Benedetto Marcello was a Venetian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher.-Life:...
, Albinoni, Arne
Thomas Augustine Arne
Thomas Augustine Arne was a British composer, best known for the patriotic song Rule, Britannia!. He also wrote a version of God Save the King, which was to become the British national anthem, and the song A-Hunting We Will Go...
, Boyce, and others. He has also made regular collaboration with Collegium Musicum Telemann in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
and Haydn Sinfonietta in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He plays in period-instrument chamber group The Music Collection with Susan Alexander-Max
Susan Alexander-Max
Susan Alexander-Max is an American-born British fortepianist best known for her period performances of baroque and classical music. She graduated from the Juilliard School of Music and later studied with Ilona Kabos in London. She is a member of the period-instrument chamber group The Music...
(fortepiano
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
) and Jennifer Ward Clarke (cello).
Appointments
Standage has been a professor of baroque violinBaroque violin
A baroque violin is, in common usage, any violin whose neck, fingerboard, bridge, and tailpiece are of the type used during the baroque period. Such an instrument may be an original built during the baroque and never changed to modern form; or a modern replica built as a baroque violin; or an...
at 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...
since 1983, and taught baroque violin and conducting
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...
at the Akademie für Alte Musik Oberlausitz in Görlitz
Görlitz
Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...
since 1993. He is also president of the Early music society, Music by the Commons
Music by the Commons
Music by the Commons is an Early music society which organises regular concerts in Wimbledon, South West London, England. It mainly features music written before 1830.The music is performed on authentic musical instruments.-Representatives:...
, based 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...
, South West 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...
.