James Helmets Sutcliffe

James Helme Sutcliffe (born November 26, 1929 in Suzhou , China, † December 11, 2000 in Berlin ) was an American composer and music critic .

Career

Born in 1929 in Suzhou, China, James Helme Sutcliffe fled to Australia with his parents in 1941 after the Japanese attack on China, where he received his first musical training (piano, viola and theory at Geelong College with George Logie Smith and later at the Melbourne Conservatory with Roy Shepherd ). After moving to the United States, he studied piano and composition at the Juilliard School in New York (Bachelor of Science Degree in May 1953) and at the Eastman School of Music . After four years of teaching at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, he continued his studies in Europe from 1961, first as a répétiteur in Zurich, and later in Bayreuth and Cologne.

Since 1963 he lived permanently in Berlin and in addition to his work as a composer and piano, composition and theory teacher, worked primarily as a music critic for the Herald Tribune and for important opera magazines such as Opera , Opera News , Opera Canada , Musical America and Opernwelt . Performance of his works by musicians such as Steven Isserlis and Wolfgang Boettcher .

Works (selection)

• Introduction and Allegro for String Orchestra
• Preludium and Chorale for Orchestra , 1957
• Sinfonietta , 1958
• Academic Festival March , 1965, UA 1967 for the inauguration of Dean W. Colvard as Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, since 1992 part of this work has been declared the official hymn (alma mater) of the university and can be heard on all festive occasions
• The dance master for string orchestra, 1993
• Avatar for violoncello and piano, 1994, premiere 1997 in London by Steven Isserlis
• Five Haiku for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra
• Chorale Variations, In Memoriam Wolf Lange for organ, 1996
• Sonatina for piano, 2000
• Two Entertainments for piano, 2000

as well as numerous arrangements of folk and Christmas carols for various line-ups.

literature

• James Helme Sutcliffe, A Life for Music Benjamin Britten: A Biographical Sketch in: The Opera Quarterly 1986/4, Oxford 1986.
• James Helme Sutcliffe, Die Bühnenwerke Benjamin Brittens , Berlin 1986.
• James Helme Sutcliffe, Multicultural 'Oedipe' in Berlin in: International Herald Tribune, February 21, 1996
• Paula Best (ed.), Master Series 1, Autumn 1997 , Wigmore Hall, London, 1997, pp. 9 and 11.

Web links

• Necrology 2000. Washington University at St. Louis, archived from the original on February 17, 2005 ; Retrieved March 24, 2008 . 
• Welcome Christèmas, CD 108. ARSIS Audio, accessed March 24, 2008 . 
• The University of North Carolina. UNC Charlotte, archived from the original on May 19, 2009 ; Retrieved November 21, 2008 .