Howard Ferguson (composer)

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Howard Ferguson (born October 21, 1908 in Belfast , † October 31, 1999 in Cambridge ) was an Irish composer.

The son of a banker had piano and violin lessons as a child. While taking part in a piano competition in 1922, he was discovered by its director Harold Samuel , who brought him to London as a student. From 1924 he studied at the Royal College of Music composition with RO Morris and Ralph Vaughan Williams and conducting with Malcolm Sargent ; he also took private piano lessons from Samuel.

Ferguson had been friends with the composer Gerald Finzi since the early 1930s ; their correspondence was published in 2001 under the title Letters of Gerald Finzi and Howard Ferguson . During this time a number of chamber music works were created, including the first violin sonata and an octet. Since the beginning of the Second World War he has assisted Myra Hess in organizing the National Gallery Concerts , during which nearly 1,700 programs were performed.

After the war, Ferguson turned back to composition. He also began a successful career as the musical partner of the pianist Denis Matthews and the violinist Yfrah Neaman . From 1948 to 1963 he taught at the Royal Academy of Music , where Susan Bradshaw , Richard Rodney Bennett and Cornelius Cardew were among his students.

Ferguson was also active as a musicologist since the late 1950s, producing a number of editions of early piano music. In 1978/79 his complete edition of Schubert's piano sonatas was published .

Works

  • Five Irish Folktunes for cello or viola and piano, 1927
  • Two Ballads for baritone and orchestra, 1928–32
  • Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano, 1931
  • Three Sketches for flute , 1932
  • Three Medieval Carols for voice and piano, 1932–33
  • Four Short Pieces for clarinet and piano, 1932–36
  • Octet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet and double bass, 1933
  • Five Pipe Pieces , 1934-35
  • Partita for two pianos, 1935–36
  • Partita for orchestra, 1937
  • Sonata in F minor for piano, 1938–40
  • Four Diversions on Ulster Airs for orchestra, 1939–42
  • Five Bagatelles for piano, 1944
  • Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano, 1946
  • Chauntecleer , ballet, 1948
  • Concerto for piano and string orchestra , 1950–51
  • Discovery , song cycle, 1951 (recording with Kathleen Ferrier )
  • Two Fanfares for four trumpets and three trombones, 1952
  • Overture for an Occasion , 1952-53
  • Lovely Armoy for four-part mixed choir, 1954
  • Amore langueo for tenor, choir and orchestra, 1955–56
  • Five Irish Folksongs for voice and piano , 1956
  • The Dream of the Rood for soprano, choir and orchestra, 1958
  • Love and Reason for countertenor and piano, 1958, 1993

Fonts

  • with RO Morris: Preparatory exercises in score-reading , London, Oxford University Press, 1931
  • with Denise Lassimonne : Myra Hess: by her friends , London, Hamish Hamilton, 1966
  • Keyboard interpretation from the 14th to the 19th century: an introduction , London, Oxford University Press, 1975
  • Entertaining solo: a cookbook for the single host Cambridge, H. Ferguson, 1995
  • Music, Friends and Places: A Memoir , London, Thames, 1997.
  • Letters of Gerald Finzi and Howard Ferguson , Woodbridge, Boydell & Brewer, 2001

Web links