Michael Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton

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Michael Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton

Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton CBE (born May 29, 1948 ) is a British composer who became a life peer member of the House of Lords in 2013 through the proposal of the House of Lords Appointments Commission .

Life

Studies and first major compositions in the 1980s

Berkeley, eldest son of the composer Lennox Berkeley and a godchild of the composer, conductor and pianist Benjamin Britten , completed his school education at The Oratory School in Woodcote and the Choir School of Westminster Cathedral , where he also sang as a choirboy. He later began studying composition , singing and piano at the Royal Academy of Music before focusing on composition in the mid-1970s under the influence of Richard Rodney Bennett and winning the 1977 Guinness Prize for Composition . In 1979 he became co-composer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra , the chamber orchestra of Scotland , and has since composed numerous compositions that have been performed worldwide.

His best-known compositions of the 1980s include Gregorian Variations (1982), which were performed in England and the USA under the direction of André Previn , and the oratorio Or Shall We Die ?, composed in 1982 based on a text specially written by Ian McEwan . which was filmed by Richard Eyre for Channel 4 . He created compositions for soprano Heather Harper such as For the Savage Messiah (1985) and Songs of Awakening Love , which were performed at the Proms in 1988 .

In addition, he also created film music such as for the first time for Captive (1986) by Paul Mayersberg with Oliver Reed and Irina Brook , where he worked with The Edge from U2 .

In addition to the Concerto for Organ , he composed Keening for saxophonist John Harle , while Fierce Tears I and Fierce Tears II were specially created for oboist Nicholas Daniel . Other well-known works from this period included Quartet Study and Coronach and Gethsemane Fragment , two pieces for string orchestra .

1990s

In the early 1990s, Berkeley created the expressionist Concerto for Clarinet for the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, while his first opera, Baa Baa Black Sheep , based on the early days of Rudyard Kipling , with a libretto by David Malouf, enjoyed great audiences and success in 1993 Review premiered at the Cheltenham Festival . Shortly thereafter, it was broadcast on the BBC radio and television and recorded on CD by the Chandos Records label .

His other scores included Goldeneye : The Secret Life of Ian Fleming, 1989, a biopic about Ian Fleming , by Don Boyd with Charles Dance , and also directed by Don Boyd Film Twenty One (1991) with Patsy Kensit and Rufus Sewell . He was also a visiting professor at the University of Huddersfield from 1991 and 1994 .

In 1995 Berkeley himself became artistic director of the Cheltenham International Festival of Music and worked there until 2004. During this time there were premieres of over a hundred works and advocated the inclusion of contemporary works in the festival programs. For many years he presented the program Private Sessions on BBC Radio 3 , for which he received the 1996 Broadcasting Press Guild's Radio Program of the Year Award.

Under the direction of Colin Davis , Secret Garden premiered in 1997 by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and then played on tours, while The Garden of Earthly Delights, composed for the BBC Proms by the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain under the direction of Mstislaw Leopoldowitsch Rostropowitsch was premiered.

2000s and member of the House of Lords

In addition, between 2000 and 2003, together with Judith Weir and Anthony Payne, he created the musical entertainment program for the Sydney Film Festival , but also for the festival in Spitalfields . He also worked as a composer for the New York Philharmusica. Berkeley has also served on the Royal Ballet's Board of Governors since 2001 and served as its chairman between 2003 and 2012.

During his work as a composer for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales he wrote three other compositions, the second work, Concerto for Orchestra , premiered at the 2005 Proms. This work, like most of his works, was recorded by Chandos Records. While serving with the National Orchestra of Wales, he also worked with Richard Hickox . His second opera, Jane Eyre (2000), also with a libretto by David Malouf, has been performed in Great Britain, Australia and the USA. His third opera, For You (2008), was composed for a libretto by Ian McEwan for the Music Theater Wales and performed in Great Britain. This work, recorded for the record label in 2010, was also performed in Italy in 2010 .

This was followed by works such as the oboe quintet Into the Ravine (2012) for Nicholas Daniel and the Carducci String Quartet, but also Three Rilke Sonnets (2013) for Claire Booth and the Nash Ensemble. He then worked on a hymn for the enthronement of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury on March 21, 2013.

By a letters patent dated March 26, 2013, Berkeley, who already became Commander of the Order of the British Empire on June 16, 2012, was named a Life Peer under the Life Peerages Act 1958 on the proposal of the House of Lords Appointments Commission Baron Berkeley of Knighton , of Knighton in the County of Powys , was raised to the nobility and has been a member of the House of Lords ever since. In the upper house he joined the group of so-called Crossbenchers .

Most recently he worked on some cabaret songs for Barbara Hannigan and Angela Hewitt , which premiered in Italy in July 2013.

Publications

  • The Music Pack , 1994

Compositions

  • Meditations , 1977
  • Primavera , 1979
  • Uprising , 1980
  • Graves , 1981
  • Or Shall We Die? , 1982
  • Music from Chaucer , 1983
  • Tears , 1984
  • Pas de Deux , 1985
  • Songs of Awakening Love , 1986
  • Organ Concerto , 1987
  • The Red Macula , 1989
  • Gethsemane Fragment , 1990
  • Clarinet Concerto , 1991
  • Baa Baa Black Sheep , 1993
  • Viola Concerto , 1994
  • Magnetic Field , 1995
  • Winter Fragments , 1996
  • Torque and Velocity , 1997
  • Secret Garden , 1997
  • The Garden of Earthly Delights , 1998
  • Tristessa , 2003
  • Jane Eyre , 2000
  • Concerto for Orchestra , 2005
  • For You , 2008
  • Show Down , 2008
  • Gabriel's Lament , 2009

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HOLAC Appointments
  2. ^ The London Gazette : No. 60462, p. 6195 , March 28, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Berkeley, Michael, Baron Berkeley of Knighton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berkeley, Michael Fitzhardinge, Baron Berkeley of Knighton (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British composer
DATE OF BIRTH May 29, 1948