Paul Patterson (composer)

Paul Patterson (born June 15, 1947 in Chesterfield ) is an English composer.

Patterson joined the Topsham Silver Band while at school in Exeter , where he played the trombone. From 1964 he studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Sidney Langston (trombone) and Richard Stoker . In 1966 his Opus 1, Rebecca (for speaker and instrumental ensemble), premiered at the Dartington Summer School . He was subsequently promoted here by Elizabeth Lutyens , Harrison Birtwistle and Hans Keller . With a wind quintet he won the South West Arts Competition , from whose juror Richard Rodney Bennett he received lessons between 1968 and 1970.

From 1968 Patterson worked as a professional trombonist and composer. Between 1971 and 1974 he gave lectures in modern music at the Royal Academy and was responsible for the electronics studio. Until 1980 he played electronic music (tape, amplifier, synthesizer) with the London Sinfonietta in performances by David Atherton , Pierre Boulez , Karlheinz Stockhausen , Hans Werner Henze and Luciano Berio . During this time he also composed several works for tape.

At the Royal Academy he also built a library of contemporary composers with a focus on Polish composers such as Witold Lutosławski and Krzysztof Penderecki . In 1972 his most successful work to date was Timepiece , which had been performed about one thousand five hundred times by 1990.

From 1975 to 1981 Patterson was director of contemporary music at the University of Warwick . His Requiem for Choir and Orchestra, written to mark the tenth anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy , premiered in 1975 in Coventry Cathedral .

During his time as composer in residence at The King's School in Canterbury , another important choral work was his Canterbury Psalms . From 1987 to 1997 Patterson was Rector of Contemporary Music and Composition at the Royal Academy. One of his composition students is the British-Israeli composer Nimrod Borenstein . He was also artistic director of the Exeter Festival between 1991 and 1997 . He later worked as composer in residence with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain .

For promoting Polish music in Great Britain, Patterson received the Medal of Honor from the Polish Ministry of Culture in 1987, and in 1996 he received the Leslie Boosey Award from the Performing Rights Society and the Royal Philharmonic Society for his outstanding contributions to contemporary music.

Works

• Rebecca for speaker and ensemble, 1966
• Wind Quintet , 1967
• Wind Trio , 1968
• Trumpet Concerto , 1968
• Intrada for organ, 1970
• Monologue for solo oboe, 1970
• Jubilate for organ, 1970
• Partita for chamber orchestra, 1970
• Horn Concerto , 1971
• Piccola Sinsonia for chamber orchestra, 1971
• Visions for organ, 1971
• Time Piece for six male voices, 1972
• Interlude for organ, 1972
• Comedy for Five Winds , 1972
• Kyrie for choir and piano, 1972
• Fiesta Sinfonica for symphony orchestra, 1972
• Fluorescence for organ, 1973
• Gloria for choir and piano, 1973
• Intersections for chamber ensemble, 1973
• Requiem for choir and orchestra, 1973
• Abode of the Dead , 1973
• Sonors for symphony orchestra, 1973
• Floating Music for chamber ensemble, 1974
• Conversations for clarinet and piano, 1974
• Chromascope for wind band, 1974
• Fusions for symphony orchestra and electronics, 1974
• Circular Ruins for symphony orchestra, 1975
• Cataclysm for wind band, 1975
• Strange Meeting for symphony orchestra, 1975
• Count Down for Brass Band, 1975
• Shadows for solo clarinet, 1975
• Fanfares for Great Occasions for wind ensemble, 1976
• Clarinet Concerto , 1976
• Wildfire for symphony orchestra and electronics, 1976
• Diversions for saxophone quartet, 1976
• Cracowian Counterpoints for large ensemble, 1977
• Games for Organ, 1977
• Vampirees for six male voices, 1977
• Spare parts for choir, 1977
• Brain Storm for choir and live electronics, 1978
• Voices of Sleep for choir and chamber orchestra, 1979
• Deception Pass for wind ensemble, 1980
• At the still Point of the Turning World for mixed ensemble, 1980
• The Canterbury Psalms for choir and orchestra, 1981
• Sinfonia for Strings , 1982
• Concerto for Orchestra , 1982
• Spiders for harp solo, 1983
• Mass of the Sea for choir and orchestra, 1983
• Christ is the King for a cappella choir, 1984
• Luslawice Variations for violin solo, 1984
• Duologue for oboe and piano, 1984
• Upside-Down-Under-Variations for symphony orchestra, 1985
• Europhony for chamber orchestra, 1985
• Missa Brevis for a cappella choir, 1985
• Mean Time for wind quintet, 1985
• Memories of Quiberville for trombone quartet, 1986
• Magnificat & Nunc Dimittus for choir and organ, 1986
• String Quartet , 1986
• Stabat Mater for choir and orchestra, 1986
• The Sorriest Cow of Capricorn for soprano and piano, 1987
• Suite for Cello , 1987
• Propositions for harmonica and strings, 1987
• Te Deum for choir and orchestra, 1988
• Tides of Mananan for viola solo, 1988
• The End for a cappella choir, 1989
• White Shadows on the Dark Horizon for symphony orchestra, 1989
• A Tunnel of Time for piano, 1989
• Fanfare for the Future for large wind ensemble, 1990
• The Mighty Voice for symphonic wind orchestra, 1991
• O Be Joyful for choir and organ, 1991
• Violin Concerto , 1992
• Festivo for symphony orchestra, 1993
• Little Red Riding Hood for symphony orchestra, 1993
• Little Red Riding Hood Song Book for female choir and piano, 1994
• The Royal Eurostar for wind ensemble, 1994
• Magnificat for choir and wind ensemble, 1994
• Soliloquy for solo clarinet, 1995
• Overture: Songs of the West for symphony orchestra, 1995
• Four Rustic Sketches for symphony orchestra, 1997
• On first looking into Chapman's Homer for female choir, 1998
• Hell's Angels for choir and ensemble, 1998
• Millennium Mass for choir and orchestra, 1999
• Westerly Winds for wind quintet, 1999
• Gloria for choir and orchestra, 1999
• The City Within for symphony orchestra, 2000
• Deviations for string octet, 2001
• Cello Concerto , 2002
• Jubilee Dances for symphony orchestra, 2002
• Bugs for harp solo, 2003
• The Three Little Pigs for symphony orchestra and narrator (Text: Roald Dahl , Donald Sturrock ), 2003
• Tate Modern Mobiles for Large Ensemble, 2003
• Orchestra on Parade for symphony orchestra, 2004
• Harpomaniac for harp solo, 2004
• Aguecheek's Antics for violin and piano, 2005
• Elegiac Blues for cello (or viola) and piano, 2005
• The Fifth Continent for choir and wind ensemble, 2005
• Tsunami for organ, 2005
• Westerly Winds for symphonic wind ensemble, 2006

Web links

• Homepage of Paul Patterson