Richard Barrett (composer)

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Richard Barrett in June 2015

Richard Barrett (born November 7, 1959 in Swansea , Wales ) is a British composer who is also active as an improvisation musician .

Act

Barrett began studying music in earnest only after graduating from University College London with a degree in genetics and microbiology in 1980 (Warnaby 2001). Influenced by Iannis Xenakis , Helmut Lachenmann and Hans-Joachim Hespos (Anderson 1997, 55; Freeman 1994, 42–43), he is assigned to the British composers of the so-called New Complexity .

Barrett's compositions are often grouped into series of works and refer to non-musical influences, namely the writers Samuel Beckett and Paul Celan or the Chilean painter Roberto Matta . Barrett's composition technique often uses higher mathematics, which is why he often resorted to the help of a computer when composing (Warnaby 2001).

As a live electronics technician, Barrett has been working in the Duo Furt with Paul Obermayer since 1986 , but also with the vocalist Ute Wassermann ( Pollen , 2007). Keith Rowe brought him to the international improvisation ensemble MIMEO in 1997, with whom he gave numerous concerts and recorded several albums. He has also recorded records with Evan Parker , Jon Rose / Meinrad Kneer and the Trokaan Project . As an interpreter of his own works, he can be heard on the albums Opening of the Mouth (1999) and Dark Matter (2012).

From 1989 to 1992 he taught composition at Middlesex University . In 1996 he was appointed Professor of Electronic Composition at the Sonology Institute of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague , where he taught for six years. From 2002 to 2006 he lived in Berlin and since 2005 has been a professor at the Brunel University Music Faculty in London .

Barrett is the recipient of the 1986 Kranichstein Music Prize of the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music and in 1989 he received the Gaudeamus Foundation's Composition Prize .

literature

  • Julian Anderson , "Richard Barrett: Vanity ; Michael Finnissy: Red Earth ; Anthony Payne: Time's Arrow ". In: Tempo , new series, No. 201 (July), 1997, pp. 55–57.
  • Christopher Fox : British Music at Darmstadt, 1982–1992 . In: Tempo , new series, No. 186 (September), 1993, pp. 21-25
  • Christopher Fox: Music as Fiction: A Consideration of the Work of Richard Barrett . In: Contemporary Music Review . Volume 13, 1995, No. 1 ("Aspects of Complexity in Recent British Music"), pp. 147-57.
  • Robin Freeman: Richard Barrett, compositeur maudit manqué . In: Tempo , new series, No. 190 (September), 1994, pp. 41-46
  • Ivan Hewitt: Fail Worse, Fail Better . In: Musical Times 135, No. 1813 (March), 1994, pp. 148-151.
  • Tom Service; Just say no . In: The Guardian . February 10, 2005.
  • Richard Toop : Four Facets of the 'New Complexity' . In: Contact No. 32, 1988, pp. 4-8
  • Richard Toop: Richard Barrett in an interview . In: Sounds Australian , No. 29, 1991, pp. 27-31
  • John Warnaby: Barrett, Richard . In: S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell (Eds.): The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . Macmillan, London 2001

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Barrett, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British composer and improvisation musician
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Swansea , Wales