Patrick Hawes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Patrick Hawes
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| Born | 5 December 1958 Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
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| Occupation | Composer, conductor |
Patrick Hawes (born 5 December 1958) is a British composer, conductor, organist, and pianist. This means he writes music, leads orchestras, and plays the organ and piano. He is known for his beautiful and inspiring classical music.
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About Patrick Hawes
Patrick Hawes was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England. He grew up near the coast and went to De Aston School. He later studied music at St Chad's College, which is part of the University of Durham. There, he was an organ scholar, meaning he was a student who played the organ for the college. He also led the university's Chamber Choir and Symphony Orchestra.
After university, he worked as a music and English teacher. His first big musical work was a dramatic cantata called The Wedding at Cana. A cantata is a piece of music for voices and instruments. This led him to become a Composer in Residence at Charterhouse School from 1990 to 1997. This role meant he was the school's official composer.
His Career as a Composer
In 1997, Patrick Hawes decided to focus fully on being a composer. In 2002, he wrote his first film score for a movie called The Incredible Mrs Ritchie.
His first album, Blue in Blue, came out in 2004. It featured choral and orchestral pieces. This album was very popular! Classic FM named it their 'CD of the Week'. It was even nominated for a Classical Brit award. Listeners of Classic FM voted it the fastest and highest new entry into the station's Hall of Fame. A famous singer named Hayley Westenra later covered one of the songs, Quanta Qualia, for her album Odyssey.
From 2006 to 2007, Patrick Hawes was the Composer in Residence at Classic FM. During this time, he wrote twelve piano pieces. These pieces were inspired by his move to the Norfolk coast and the beautiful skies and landscapes there. These pieces became his album Towards the Light, which was also very popular with Classic FM listeners.
In 2009, he released his third album, Song of Songs. This album included six choral pieces for strings and voices. He worked with the English Chamber Orchestra and soprano Elin Manahan Thomas on this project. He later worked with Elin Manahan Thomas again, and also with Julian Lloyd Webber, for his album Fair Albion: Visions of England.
Music for Royalty and Special Events
In 2009, Charles, Prince of Wales (who is now King Charles III) asked Patrick Hawes to write the Highgrove Suite. This suite of music was inspired by the Prince's garden at Highgrove House. It was first performed at the Royal Opera House in London. A TV show on BBC2 even featured the music and the gardens!
Patrick Hawes also wrote a large work called Lazarus Requiem. It was first performed in London in 2008. A requiem is a special type of musical composition, often for a church service. This work combines traditional Latin texts with a story from the Bible about Lazarus.
Chart-Topping Albums
In 2013, Patrick Hawes signed with Decca Records. His album Angel was released in 2014 and became his first Number One album on the classical music charts! This album featured soprano Grace Davidson, the Choir of New College, Oxford, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It explored the idea of angels in different ways.
He has also written music for important remembrance events. For example, he composed Eventide: In Memoriam Edith Cavell to honor Edith Cavell, a brave nurse from the First World War. This work was performed in Norwich Cathedral in 2014. He also wrote The Angel of Mons to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.
In 2015, he wrote a clarinet concerto for the famous clarinet player Emma Johnson. A concerto is a piece of music for a solo instrument and an orchestra. Gramophone magazine praised it as "musically nourishing" and "gorgeous."
His eighth album, Revelation, came out in 2017. For this album, he worked with a Canadian choir called the Elora Singers. The album includes music based on texts from the Bible, like the Book of Revelation and the Beatitudes.
The Great War Symphony
In 2018, Patrick Hawes released his biggest work so far: The Great War Symphony. This is a choral symphony, which means it's a large musical piece for choir and orchestra. It has four parts, and each part represents a year of World War I. When it was released, it reached No.1 on the UK Classical Charts! It was performed in famous venues like the Royal Albert Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York.
In 2019, his old college, St Chad's College, made him an Honorary Fellow. This is a special title given to people who have achieved great things.
During 2020, he wrote a Christmas carol called "Still, Still the Night" for a virtual choir called The Self-Isolation Choir. In 2021, he released his tenth album, The Fire of Love, which featured two choral collections. In 2023, he released his first Christmas album, The Nativity.
His oratorio The Son of Man had its first performance in Houston, Texas, in September 2024. An oratorio is a large musical work for voices and orchestra, usually based on a religious story.
Patrick Hawes now lives near the Norfolk coast. He finds inspiration in nature, English literature, and his Christian faith. He is still a keen organist and holds a special award from the Royal College of Organists.
Types of Music Patrick Hawes Writes
Patrick Hawes has written many different kinds of music. Here are some of the main types:
- Choral Music: Pieces for choirs, sometimes with instruments like piano, harp, or orchestra.
- Vocal Music: Songs for solo singers, often with piano or orchestral accompaniment.
- Opera and Oratorio: Larger musical stories for the stage or concert hall, featuring soloists, choirs, and orchestras.
- Orchestral Music: Pieces written for a full orchestra, like symphonies and concertos (music for a solo instrument with orchestra).
- Instrumental Music: Works for specific instruments, such as piano, organ, harp, or string quartets.
Film Music
Patrick Hawes has contributed music to films, including:
- Being John Malkovich (he wrote "Song of the Soul" for this film)
- Prima Primavera
- The Incredible Mrs Ritchie
Recordings
Patrick Hawes has released many albums of his music:
- Blue in Blue (2004, 2005)
- Towards the Light (2006, 2010)
- Song of Songs (2009)
- Fair Albion (2009)
- Highgrove Suite (2010)
- Lazarus Requiem (2012)
- Angel (2014)
- Revelation (2017)
- The Great War Symphony (2018)
- The Fire of Love (2021)
- The Nativity (2023)
