Stephen Oliver
Encyclopedia
Stephen Michael Harding Oliver (10 March 1950 – 29 April 1992) was an English composer
, best known for his opera
s.
Born in Chester
, Oliver was educated at St Paul's Cathedral
, Ardingly College
and at Worcester College, Oxford
, where he read music under Kenneth Leighton
and Robert Sherlaw Johnson
. His first opera, The Duchess of Malfi
(1971), was staged while he was still at Oxford. Later works include incidental music for the Royal Shakespeare Company
(including The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
). a musical, Blondel
(1983; with Tim Rice
), and over forty operas, including Tom Jones (1975), Beauty and the Beast (1984), Lady Jane (1986) and Timon of Athens
(1991). Oliver also wrote music for television, including several of the BBC's Shakespeare productions (Timon among those), and some chamber and instrumental music.
He was a good friend of Simon Callow
who commissioned the piece Ricercare No4 for Cantabile
.
He also composed the score for the thirteen-hour radio dramatization of Tolkien's
The Lord of the Rings
, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4
in 1981. The work combined a main theme with many sub-themes, all composed within the English pastoral tradition.
Oliver was a frequent guest on BBC Radio 4
's light discussion programme Stop The Week
. He died of AIDS
-related complications in London.
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...
, best known for his 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...
s.
Born in Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Oliver was educated at St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
, Ardingly College
Ardingly College
Ardingly College is a selective independent co-educational boarding and day school, founded in 1858 by Canon Nathaniel Woodard, included in the Tatler list of top public schools. The college is located in the village of Ardingly near Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England, having moved to its present...
and at Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
, where he read music under Kenneth Leighton
Kenneth Leighton
Kenneth Leighton was a British composer and pianist. His compositions include much Anglican church music, and many pieces for choir and for piano as well as concertos, symphonies, much chamber music and an opera. He wrote a well-known setting of the Coventry Carol...
and 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...
. His first opera, The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi (opera)
The Duchess of Malfi is an opera in three acts by the British composer Stephen Oliver, based on the eponymous play by John Webster. Oliver originally wrote this opera, his ninth in 1971, at age 21, for a production at the Oxford Playhouse on commission from the Oxford University Opera Club...
(1971), was staged while he was still at Oxford. Later works include incidental music for the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
(including The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (play)
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is an eight-hour stage play, presented over two performances, adapted from the Charles Dickens novel of the same name by David Edgar. Directed by John Caird and Trevor Nunn, it opened on 5 June 1980 at the Aldwych Theatre in London. The music and lyrics...
). a musical, Blondel
Blondel (musical)
Blondel, a rock opera musical by Tim Rice and Stephen Oliver , was inspired by, and very loosely based on, the life of the eponymous French troubadour...
(1983; with Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
), and over forty operas, including Tom Jones (1975), Beauty and the Beast (1984), Lady Jane (1986) and Timon of Athens
Timon of Athens
The Life of Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon , generally regarded as one of his most obscure and difficult works...
(1991). Oliver also wrote music for television, including several of the BBC's Shakespeare productions (Timon among those), and some chamber and instrumental music.
He was a good friend of Simon Callow
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...
who commissioned the piece Ricercare No4 for Cantabile
Cantabile (group)
Cantabile - The London Quartet is a British a cappella vocal quartet.-Biography:They were formed as a student group whilst studying at Cambridge University in 1977...
.
He also composed the score for the thirteen-hour radio dramatization of Tolkien's
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in 1981. The work combined a main theme with many sub-themes, all composed within the English pastoral tradition.
Oliver was a frequent guest on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's light discussion programme Stop The Week
Stop The Week
Stop the Week was a long running BBC Radio 4 discussion programme chaired by Robert Robinson which ran from 1974–1992-Origins:The BBC Radio's Current Affairs Department decided that it wanted a programme that would act as a bookend to Monday morning's Start the Week with Richard Baker, which had...
. He died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related complications in London.
Further reading
"Friendships in Constant Repair": perspectives on the life and work of Stephen Oliver. ISBN: 978-184876-534-4External links
- Composer page at ChesterNovello.com
- BBC Shakespeare
- StephenOliver.org