William Wordsworth (composer)

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William Brocklesby Wordsworth (born December 17, 1908 in London , † March 10, 1988 in Kingussie ) was an English composer .

Life

William Wordsworth was the descendant of a brother of the English poet William Wordsworth of the same name . He came from a family of theologians: the great-grandfather was the Bishop of Lincoln , and both grandfather and father were clergymen. For health reasons, he received lessons at home and did not attend a public school. After taking piano lessons, George Oldroyd , choir conductor, composer and organist at St. Michel's in Croydon , became his music teacher and mentor for about ten years. Wordsworth's first published composition, Three Hymn-tune Preludes , dates from 1932. From 1934 he studied music with Donald Francis Tovey at Edinburgh University for about 3 years , but left the university without an academic degree. Since then he has devoted himself exclusively to composition, financially independent.

Wordsworth first became known to a wider public with his 1st String Quartet , which received the Clements Memorial Prize in 1941. From the late 1940s onwards, several orchestral works by him were premiered and also broadcast repeatedly on the BBC . A great oratorio, Dies Domini , was applauded by Vaughan Williams , but was never performed. The 2nd symphony won 1st prize at the Edinburgh Festival in 1950 against broad, global competition. In 1955 Wordsworth became a member of the governing committee of the Composer's Guild; as its director for a year, he traveled to the Soviet Union in 1959 , where he met Shostakovich . In 1961 he moved from Hindhead in Surrey , where he had lived for a long time, to Kincraig in Inverness-shire with his family . There he helped set up the Society of Scottish Composers and became its honorary president. In the meantime, he continued to compose without being able to build on the successes of the immediate post-war period.

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Wordsworth wrote compositions for numerous different ensembles, including 6 string quartets and 8 symphonies: No. 1 in F minor (1944), No. 2 in D (1947-48), No. 3 in C (1951), No. 4 in E flat (1953), No. 5 in A minor (1959-60), No. 6 with solos and choir Elegiaca (1977), No. 7 Cosmos (1980), No. 8 Pax Hominibus (premiered in 1986). Although his musical language remains committed to tonality, it is more dissonant than that of Sibelius or Vaughan Williams, whose role model is sometimes recognizable. Wordsworth's technique of logical development from thematic fragments refers to Bartók , whom he greatly admired.

Apart from a CD recording of his 2nd and 3rd symphonies on the English label Lyrita from 1990, Wordsworth's music is barely present on sound carriers. In 2014, also by Lyrita, recordings of his 1st and 5th symphonies were released. The world premiere recordings of the 4th and 8th symphonies on the British label Toccata Classics followed in 2018.

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  • Jürgen Schaarwächter:  Wordsworth, William. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 17 (Vina - Zykan). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-7618-1137-5  ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  • Richard DC Noble: CD supplement for Lyrita SRCD.207 (2nd / 3rd symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite)