Terry Oldfield
Encyclopedia
Terence "Terry" Oldfield (born 12 August 1949, in Palmers Green
, North London
) is an English
composer. He is brother to well-known music composers and performers Sally
and Mike Oldfield
.
, England
and spent his childhood partly in Dublin and partly in Reading, Berkshire
. He later attended a Benedictine
Monastery School and also spent a few futile terms at the Oratory School
in Woodcote
, Oxfordshire
. His earliest musical experiences were in the myriad of folk clubs that sprung-up in the UK during the late 60s and early 70s, listening to the songs of Leonard Cohen
, Bert Jansch
, John Renbourn
, and Bob Dylan
.
Terry left school at 16 to travel the world and worked as a roadie for various bands including the Byrds
, setting-up stage and sound mixing systems. During an extended stay on the Greek island of Hydra
, he took up his first musical instrument, the flute
. "I think it was learning to play in this way, with no formal guidance, that allowed me to develop the ability to compose music. I spent many happy days improvising tunes and discovering scales and arpeggios for myself, and soon started to teach myself to write these things down". Terry's only formal music training was in Agra
, India where he spent some time learning to play the Tabla
.
In the early 1970s, Terry and his brother Mike formed a band called 'Barefoot' playing rock'n'roll at colleges and clubs throughout the UK. Mike later went on to record the highly successful Tubular Bells
and later Terry played the flute in the famous live performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
, London.
Programme Large Group Awareness Training course. Terry recorded a piece of flute music which was used to accompany the last section of the course.
Terry's career began in earnest when he was asked by the BBC to compose music for a series called Great Railway Journeys of the World. Since then Terry has composed music for over 50 film and TV productions, receiving two Emmy nominations for Land of the Tiger and Twilight of the Dreamtime and a BAFTA nomination for the BBC series Kingdom of the Ice Bear. He also worked on Meerkats United, which in a recent National Television Poll was voted 'Best Wildlife Film Ever'.
Terry had a relationship with New World Music, one of the world's leading 'World' music labels, for over 10 years and has a back catalogue of over 15 recordings. In 2001, Terry signed a multi-record contract with New Earth Records
in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His work contains an enormous range of ideas and influences and has sold over 1 million units worldwide.
Currently Terry has been looking at new directions to take his music. "Recently I have found the advent of Global music very inspiring. Especially the Amnesty International Concerts". In 2001, Terry Oldfield moved to Australia
.
Palmers Green
Palmers Green is a place in the London Borough of Enfield. It is a suburban area situated 7.6 miles north of Charing Cross. Postally, it is in London N13...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
composer. He is brother to well-known music composers and performers Sally
Sally Oldfield
Sally Oldfield is a singer-songwriter, and the sister of the composers Mike Oldfield and Terry Oldfield.-Early life:...
and Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
.
Early life
Terry and his siblings were raised in the Roman Catholic faith of their mother, Maureen. Terry Oldfield was born in LondonLondon
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...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and spent his childhood partly in Dublin and partly in Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
. He later attended a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
Monastery School and also spent a few futile terms at the Oratory School
Oratory School
An Oratory School is any of several schools founded or initially operated by the Oratorians , a congregation of Catholic priests.-List of Oratory Schools:...
in Woodcote
Woodcote
Woodcote is a village in the civil parish in South Oxfordshire, about southeast of Wallingford and about northwest of Reading, Berkshire. It is in the Chiltern Hills, and the highest part of the village is above sea level....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. His earliest musical experiences were in the myriad of folk clubs that sprung-up in the UK during the late 60s and early 70s, listening to the songs of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch
Herbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
, John Renbourn
John Renbourn
John Renbourn is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence .While most commonly labelled a...
, and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
.
Terry left school at 16 to travel the world and worked as a roadie for various bands including the Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, setting-up stage and sound mixing systems. During an extended stay on the Greek island of Hydra
Hydra, Saronic Islands
Hydra is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea between the Saronic Gulf and the Argolic Gulf. It is separated from the Peloponnese by narrow strip of water...
, he took up his first musical instrument, the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
. "I think it was learning to play in this way, with no formal guidance, that allowed me to develop the ability to compose music. I spent many happy days improvising tunes and discovering scales and arpeggios for myself, and soon started to teach myself to write these things down". Terry's only formal music training was in Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
, India where he spent some time learning to play the Tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
.
In the early 1970s, Terry and his brother Mike formed a band called 'Barefoot' playing rock'n'roll at colleges and clubs throughout the UK. Mike later went on to record the highly successful Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
and later Terry played the flute in the famous live performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
, London.
Solo career
Terry, his brother Mike and his sister Sally all completed the ExegesisExegesis (group)
Exegesis, an alternative therapy programme, operated in the United Kingdom in the later 1970s and early 1980s.Exegesis was founded by Robert D'Aubigny, a former actor, in 1976 as Infinity Training, offering "englightenment and personal transformation" through a course of paid seminars...
Programme Large Group Awareness Training course. Terry recorded a piece of flute music which was used to accompany the last section of the course.
Terry's career began in earnest when he was asked by the BBC to compose music for a series called Great Railway Journeys of the World. Since then Terry has composed music for over 50 film and TV productions, receiving two Emmy nominations for Land of the Tiger and Twilight of the Dreamtime and a BAFTA nomination for the BBC series Kingdom of the Ice Bear. He also worked on Meerkats United, which in a recent National Television Poll was voted 'Best Wildlife Film Ever'.
Terry had a relationship with New World Music, one of the world's leading 'World' music labels, for over 10 years and has a back catalogue of over 15 recordings. In 2001, Terry signed a multi-record contract with New Earth Records
New Earth Records
New Earth Records is an independent record label focusing primarily on New Age Music and World Music. It was founded in 1990 in Munich, Germany, by European entrepreneurs Bhikkhu Schober and Waduda Paradiso under the auspices of the spiritual teacher known as Osho...
in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His work contains an enormous range of ideas and influences and has sold over 1 million units worldwide.
Currently Terry has been looking at new directions to take his music. "Recently I have found the advent of Global music very inspiring. Especially the Amnesty International Concerts". In 2001, Terry Oldfield moved to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Albums
- Sunshine Holidays – 1983
- In Search of the Trojan War – 1985
- Cascade – 1986
- Reverence – 1986
- Return to Treasure Island – 1987
- In the Presence of Light – 1987
- Resonance – 1988
- Star of Heaven – 1989
- Spirit of the Rainforest – 1990
- Angel – 1990
- Zen – 1991
- Illumination – 1992
- Spiral Waves – 1992
- Out of the Depths – 1993
- Spirit of Africa – 1993
- Australia – 1994
- Spirit of Tibet – 1994
- Earth Spirit – 1995
- Icon – 1995
- Theme for the Telford Time Machine – 1996
- Spirit of India – 1996
- South East Asia – 1997
- All The Rivers Gold – 1999
- Music for Wildlife – 2000
- Reflections - The Best of Terry Oldfield 1985-1995 – 2000
- Across the Universe – 2000
- Spirit of the World – 2000
- Turning Point 2002
- A Time for Peace – 2003
- Yoga Harmony – 2004
- Celt – 2004
- De Profundis / Out of the Depths II – 2005
- Ethereal – 2005
- Reiki Harmony – 2006
- Labrynth – 2007
- Healing Sound Journey (with Soraya Saraswati) – 2011