Julian Anderson facts for kids

Julian Anderson CBE (born 6 April 1967) is a British composer and teacher. He creates music for orchestras, choirs, and smaller groups of instruments.

Biography

Julian Anderson was born in London. He studied music at several famous schools. These included the Royal College of Music and Cambridge University. He also learned from important composers like Olivier Messiaen and György Ligeti.

From 2000 to 2004, he was the Head of Composition at the Royal College of Music. This meant he led the department where students learn to write music. Later, he taught music at Harvard University in the United States.

Currently, he is a Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He is also the Composer in Residence there. This means he is a special composer who works closely with the school.

Anderson also worked with big orchestras. He was the Composer-in-Association with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2005. He also worked with the Cleveland Orchestra. From 2002 to 2011, he was in charge of the 'Music of Today' concert series for the Philharmonia Orchestra in London.

In 2021, Julian Anderson received a special award. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This award is given for great service to music.

Music

Julian Anderson's music is known for its fresh melodies and lively rhythms. He uses many different sounds and textures. He is very interested in traditional music from other cultures. This includes folk music from Eastern Europe, like Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. He also likes the musical styles of Indian ragas.

These influences mix with modern music styles. These include modernism, spectral music (music focused on sound qualities), and electronic music. This creates what one music magazine called "vivid, transfixing sound worlds."

Anderson's first orchestral piece was Diptych, finished in 1990. It was very successful. Other popular early works include Khorovod (1994) and Alhambra Fantasy (2000). These were written for the London Sinfonietta. Many famous groups have performed Alhambra Fantasy.

His first work for the CBSO was Imagin'd Corners. It premiered in 2002. A newspaper described it as full of different sounds and colors. It went from quiet beginnings to a loud, exciting ending. A year later, he wrote his Symphony for the same orchestra.

In recent years, Anderson has written a lot of music for choirs without instruments. Examples include O Sing Unto the Lord and I Saw Eternity. These pieces might sound simpler than his instrumental music. However, they often connect to his larger works. They sometimes share melodies or ideas. He often uses themes of spirituality in his choral music.

Anderson also uses electronics in his music. His large work Book of Hours uses both live and pre-recorded electronic sounds. It was first performed in 2005. His piece Eden (2005) explores different ways of tuning musical notes. This idea of mixing different tunings is also in his biggest work, Heaven is Shy of Earth. This is a long piece for a singer, choir, and orchestra. It was first performed at the famous Promenade Concerts in 2006.

Other works for choir and orchestra include Alleluia and Harmony. He also wrote Fantasias, a 25-minute orchestral work. Another piece, The Discovery of Heaven, was written during his time with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

A music album called Alhambra Fantasy won an award in 2007. It featured five of Anderson's orchestral pieces. This album and another one were the first to be fully dedicated to his music.

In 2014, Anderson's first opera, Thebans, was performed. An opera is a play where the words are sung. This opera was based on three ancient Greek plays.

Julian Anderson has also received nominations for the Ivor Novello Awards. These awards celebrate great British music.

Works

Dramatic

• Towards Poetry, ballet (1999)
• The Comedy of Change, ballet, chamber ensemble (2009)
• Thebans (2010–14), an opera

Orchestral

• Diptych (1988–90)
• Tye's Cry, string orchestra (1995)
• Past Hymns, string orchestra (1996)
• The Crazed Moon (1996–97)
• The Stations of the Sun (1997–98)
• Alhambra Fantasy, chamber orchestra (1998–2000)
• The Bird Sings with its Fingers, four choreographic sketches for chamber orchestra (2000)
• Imagin’d Corners, five horns and orchestra (2001–02)
• Symphony No. 1 (2002–03)
• Eden (2004–05)
• Fantasias (2007–09)
• The Discovery of Heaven (2011)
• In lieblicher Bläue, solo violin and orchestra (2014–15)
• Incantesimi (2015–16)
• The Imaginary Museum, concerto for piano and orchestra (2016–17)
• Litanies, solo cello and orchestra (2018–19)
• Symphony No. 2 Prague Panoramas (2019–21)

Chamber Music

• String Quartet No. 1 Light Music (1984–85)
• Ring Dance, two violins/cellos (1987)
• Scherzo (with Trains), four clarinets (1993)
• Khorovod, chamber ensemble (1988–94, rev. 1995)
• Tiramisù, chamber ensemble (1993–94, rev. 1995)
• The Bearded Lady, oboe/clarinet and piano (1994)
• The Colour of Pomegranates, alto flute and piano (1994)
• Bach Machine, chamber ensemble (1997)
• Poetry Nearing Silence, chamber ensemble (1996–97)
• Book of Hours, ensemble and electronics (2002–04)
• Transferable Resistance, brass ensemble (2010)
• String Quartet No. 2 300 Weihnachtslieder (2014)
• Van Gogh Blue, chamber ensemble (2015)
• String Quartet No. 3 Hana no hanataba (2017–18)
• Fanfare SC-GH, two trumpets (2018)

Instrumental Piano:

• Piano Études Nos. 1–4 (1995–99)
• Somewhere near Cluj, solo piano (1998)
• Quasi una passacaglia, solo piano (2002)
• Steps, solo piano (2003)
• Old Bells, solo piano (2004)
• Sensation, solo piano (2015–16)
• Capriccio, solo piano (2017)

Other:

• Prayer, solo viola (2009)
• Another Prayer, solo violin (2012)
• Catalan Peasant with Guitar, solo guitar (2015)
• Mime, solo clarinet (2020)

Vocal

• Seadrift, soprano and chamber ensemble (1988–93)
• I'm nobody, who are you?, tenor, violin and piano (1995)
• Shir Hashirim, soprano and orchestra (2001)
• Lucretius, soprano and percussion (2008)
• Tombeau, soprano and piano trio (2017)

Choral

• SING, unaccompanied chorus (1981–82, rev. 2019)
• O Sing Unto the Lord, SATB chorus (1999)
• Four American Choruses, mixed voices (2002–2003)
• I Saw Eternity, unaccompanied chorus (2003)
• My Beloved Spake, SATB chorus and organ (2006)
• Heaven is Shy of Earth, mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra (2005–06, rev. 2009–10)
• Alleluia, choir and orchestra (2007)
• Bell Mass, choir and organ (2010)
• Harmony, choir and orchestra (2013)
• Magnificat, unaccompanied chorus (2016)
• Nunc dimittis, unaccompanied chorus (2016–17)
• Evening canticles, choir and organ (2018)
• Exiles, soprano, choir and orchestra (2021)

Julian Anderson's music is published by Schott Music. Some of his earlier works were published by Faber Music.

Awards

• 1993 Royal Philharmonic Society's Young Composer Prize
• 2001 South Bank Show Award for the Best New Dance Work for The Bird Sings with its Fingers
• 2004 British Composer Award for Symphony
• 2006 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Large-Scale Composition for Book of Hours
• 2007 Best of Category (Contemporary) Gramophone Award Winner for the recording Alhambra Fantasy
• 2011 British Composer Awards for Fantasias and Bell Mass
• 2013 South Bank Show Award for The Discovery of Heaven
• 2015 British Composer Awards for Thebans and String Quartet No. 2
• 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Chamber-Scale Composition for Van Gogh Blue
• 2017 BBC Music Magazine Premiere Award for In lieblicher Bläue and Alleluia
• 2023 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for Litanies

See also

In Spanish: Julian Anderson para niños