John Rutter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sir John Rutter CBE
Born	John Milford Rutter (1945-09-24) 24 September 1945 (age 79) London, England
Alma mater	Clare College, Cambridge
Occupation	Composer conductor
Known for	Founding the Cambridge Singers

Sir John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is a famous English composer and conductor. He is best known for his beautiful choral music. Choral music is written for a choir, which is a group of singers. Sir John also works as an editor, arranger, and record producer.

About John Rutter

John Rutter was born in London, England, on September 24, 1945. He grew up above a pub in London. He went to Highgate School, where he was a chorister. A chorister is a singer in a choir, often in a church. While there, he sang in the first recording of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.

After school, he studied music at Clare College, Cambridge. He was also part of the choir there. His first songs were published when he was still a student. One of these was the "Shepherd's Pipe Carol". From 1975 to 1979, he was the director of music at Clare College. He helped the choir become very well-known around the world.

In 1981, John Rutter started his own choir called the Cambridge Singers. He leads this choir himself. They have recorded many albums of sacred choral music, including his own works. They release these recordings on his own record label, Collegium Records. He lives in Cambridgeshire, England, and often conducts choirs and orchestras globally.

From 1985 to 1992, John Rutter had a health condition called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This made him very tired and limited how much music he could write. Because of this, he stopped taking new music requests after 1985. He could not promise to finish them on time.

John Rutter also arranges and edits music. When he was younger, he worked with Sir David Willcocks. They created five popular books called Carols for Choirs. These books contain many Christmas carols.

He has received many honors for his work. In 1985, he became a National Patron of Delta Omicron, a music group. He is also a Vice-President of the Joyful Company of Singers. He is the President of The Bach Choir and the Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD).

John Rutter's Music

John Rutter mostly writes music for choirs. His works include Christmas carols, anthems, and longer pieces. Some of his most famous longer works are the Gloria, the Requiem, and the Magnificat.

His Requiem was first performed in Illinois in 1985. He also created an important version of Fauré's Requiem. In 2002, he wrote a song based on Psalm 150 for the Queen's Golden Jubilee. This song was performed at a special service in St Paul's Cathedral in London.

In 2011, he wrote a new anthem called "This is the day" for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. It was performed during the service at Westminster Abbey. More recently, his arrangements were sung at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving in 2022. Six of his arrangements were also performed at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla in 2023.

His music is published by Oxford University Press. Many choirs have recorded his works. However, he usually conducts his own recordings on his label, Collegium Records.

Musical Style and Inspiration

John Rutter's music is a mix of different styles. It shows influences from French and English choral music from the early 1900s. It also has touches of light music and classic American songs. Many of his choral pieces can be played with a full orchestra. He uses different instruments like strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.

Even though he writes a lot of religious music, John Rutter said in 2003 that he is not very religious. However, he feels deeply spiritual and is inspired by sacred words and prayers. In 2003, a TV show called 60 Minutes featured him. They talked about how popular his music is with choirs around the world. They also discussed his piece Mass of the Children. He wrote this after his son Christopher passed away while studying at Clare College, Cambridge.

In an interview in 2009, Rutter talked about "genius." He believes that true genius can change lives, whether it's in music or other areas. He compared the pureness of music to mathematics. He mentioned how ancient Greeks discovered that musical notes relate to each other using simple number patterns.

Awards and Honors

John Rutter has received many awards for his contributions to music.

• In 1980, he became an honorary fellow of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
• In 1988, he became a fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians.
• In 1996, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave him a special music degree. This was to honor his important work in church music.
• He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2007.
• He was knighted in 2024 for his services to music. This means he can now be called "Sir John Rutter."
• In 2008, he became an honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple.
• In 2023, he became a Fellow of The Ivors Academy. This is the highest honor given by this group of music creators. He received an Ivor Novello Award for this.

List of Compositions and Arrangements

Extended Compositions

• Suite for Strings (1973)
• Gloria (1974)
• Bang! (opera, 1975)
• Partita for orchestra (1976)
• The Beatles Concerto (1977)
• Suite Antique (1979)
• Requiem (1985)
• Magnificat (1990)
• Te Deum (1990)
• Mass of the Children (2003)
• Suite Lyrique (2011)
• The Gift of Life: Six Canticles of Creation (2015)
• Visions (2016)

Carols

Other Anthems

Choral Works

Anthems and Other Compositions

Most of these works are original songs. Some are new musical versions of well-known texts. Others are arrangements of traditional hymns.

Music with Narration

• Setting of The Wind in the Willows for narrator, SATB chorus and chamber orchestra
• Brother Heinrich's Christmas
• The Reluctant Dragon

Piano Music

• The John Rutter Piano Album: arrangements of eight of his most popular choral pieces for solo piano.
• The John Rutter Christmas Piano Album: eight piano arrangements of Christmas pieces composed by Rutter.

See also

In Spanish: John Rutter para niños