Robert Simpson (composer) facts for kids

Robert Wilfred Levick Simpson (born March 2, 1921 – died November 21, 1997) was an English composer. He also worked for a long time as a producer and broadcaster at the BBC.

He is most famous for his music for orchestras and smaller groups (called chamber music). He wrote 11 symphonies and 15 string quartets. He also wrote books about the music of famous composers like Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen, and Sibelius. He learned how to compose music from Herbert Howells. In 1980, a group of people who felt his music wasn't getting enough attention started the Robert Simpson Society. This society helps share his music by supporting recordings and live concerts, publishing a journal, and keeping a collection of his materials. In 2021, he was featured on BBC Radio 3's Composer of the Week program.

About Robert Simpson's Life

Simpson was born in Leamington, England. His father was related to Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish doctor who helped discover anaesthetics. His mother's father founded the Dutch part of the Salvation Army.

Robert Simpson went to Westminster School. He was first meant to become a doctor and studied in London for two years. But he really wanted to be a musician. During World War II, he was a conscientious objector, meaning he refused to fight because of his beliefs. He worked with a medical unit during the London Blitz (bombing raids). At the same time, he took lessons from Herbert Howells. Howells encouraged him to get a music degree from Durham University. In 1952, he earned his Doctor of Music degree there, submitting his First Symphony as his work.

After the war, Simpson gave many talks and started the Exploratory Concerts Society. In 1951, he joined the music team at the BBC. He became a very well-known and respected music producer, working there for almost 30 years. Simpson strongly supported the music of Havergal Brian. At the BBC, he produced many broadcasts featuring Brian's works. This included the huge "Gothic" Symphony in 1966 and the 28th Symphony in 1973.

Later in his BBC career, Simpson often disagreed with the management. In the 1970s, he was one of the people who opposed a plan to separate radio into different channels for pop, classical, and speech. This plan was called "generic broadcasting" and was not successful. Ten years later, Simpson strongly fought against a plan to cut costs by closing five of the eleven BBC orchestras. During a musicians' strike in 1980, Simpson spoke to a newspaper about the issue, even though BBC rules said he shouldn't. He then resigned from the BBC. He said that the BBC was losing its traditional values because it was trying too hard to get high ratings. He could have retired with a full pension if he had waited a few more months, but he felt that would go against his beliefs.

In 1986, he moved to the Republic of Ireland because he disliked the political ideas in Britain at the time. He settled in Kerry. In 1991, he had a severe stroke during a lecture tour in England. This caused damage to his brain and left him in constant pain for the last six years of his life. He died in Tralee in 1997, at the age of 76.

Simpson married Bessie Fraser in 1946, who died in 1981. The next year, he married Angela Musgrave, who also worked at the BBC and was related to composer Thea Musgrave. Besides music, he loved astronomy. He was a member of the British Astronomical Association and became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, which is unusual for someone who wasn't a professional astronomer. He also believed in pacifism, which means he was against war and violence. He even named his Tenth String Quartet For Peace.

He received many awards, including the Carl Nielsen Gold Medal in 1956 for his book Carl Nielsen, Symphonist. He also received the Medal of Honor from the Bruckner Society of America in 1962. He refused an award called Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1980. He wrote that he couldn't accept it because he was a strong republican (meaning he believed in a country without a king or queen) and didn't feel good about the history of the British Empire. He was a socialist his whole life, meaning he believed in a society where resources are shared more equally.

Robert Simpson's Music

Simpson was dedicated to bringing back the classical way of building music. He focused on creating large-scale pieces based on the power of tonality (how music uses different keys). He wrote very few small or short pieces. He composed 11 symphonies and concertos for violin, piano, flute, and cello. (He later withdrew the Violin Concerto.)

His many chamber music pieces include 15 string quartets, two string quintets, a clarinet quintet, a piano trio, a clarinet trio, a horn trio, a violin sonata, and other works for small groups. He also wrote pieces for piano, a sonata for two pianos, and a major organ work called Eppur si muove (meaning "And yet it moves," a famous quote linked to Galileo). He usually avoided vocal music, but he did write two motets (choral pieces).

Variation form was important to him. He wrote orchestral variations on themes by Nielsen and Johann Sebastian Bach. He also composed piano variations on a palindromic (reads the same forwards and backward) theme by Haydn. He used this same Haydn theme in his large String Quartet No. 9, which has 32 variations and a fugue. His String Quartets Nos. 4–6 are like variations on the way Beethoven composed his three Rasumovsky Quartets, Op. 59.

Two important things about Simpson's music are:

• He could write long pieces that felt like they had one main speed, even if the notes themselves were faster or slower.
• He created exciting tension by using different keys or musical intervals that seemed to compete with each other.

Symphonies

Simpson once said that composers write symphonies because they feel they can. He believed that the challenge of creating large, organized musical works could only be exhausted in individual composers, not in the idea of a symphony itself.

It is said that Robert Simpson wrote and destroyed four symphonies before his first published one. His official symphonies include:

• Symphony No. 1 (1951): This was his doctorate thesis for Durham University.
• Symphony No. 2 (1955–1956): Dedicated to Anthony Bernard.
• Symphony No. 3 (1962): Dedicated to Havergal Brian.
• Symphony No. 4 (1970–1972): Commissioned by the Hallé Orchestra.
• Symphony No. 5 (1972): Dedicated to the London Symphony Orchestra.
• Symphony No. 6 (1977): Dedicated to Ian Craft.
• Symphony No. 7 (1977): Dedicated to Hans Keller and Milein Cosman.
• Symphony No. 8 (1981): Dedicated to Anthony Dorrell.
• Symphony No. 9 (1985–1987): Dedicated to his wife, Angela.
• Symphony No. 10 (1988): Dedicated to Vernon Handley.
• Symphony No. 11 (1990): Dedicated to Matthew Taylor.

Between 1987 and 1996, Vernon Handley recorded most of Simpson's symphonies for Hyperion Records. The last one, No. 11, was recorded in 2003 by Matthew Taylor, who conducted the City of London Sinfonia.

Concertos

• Violin Concerto (1959): This long piece (about 40 minutes) was dedicated to violinist Ernest Element. Simpson later withdrew it. Matthew Taylor has since worked on it to match Simpson's original ideas.
• Piano Concerto (1967): A single-movement piece (about 20 minutes) written for pianist John Ogdon. It is known as one of his most warm and easy-to-understand works.
• Flute Concerto (1989): This 25-minute, one-movement work was commissioned by and dedicated to flautist Susan Milan. It has a calm feeling, similar to his Symphony No. 11.
• Cello Concerto (1991): A 23-minute, one-movement piece in variation form. It was commissioned by and dedicated to cellist Raphael Wallfisch. The work starts with a lot of energy and ends in a thoughtful, mysterious mood.

Quartets

Simpson wrote 15 numbered string quartets. He also wrote an earlier quartet for his university course. He saw Quartets Nos. 1–3 as a natural group. Quartets Nos. 4–6 are a clear group related to three Beethoven quartets, but they can be played on their own.

• String Quartet No. 1 (1951–52): Has two movements, fast and slow. The second movement is a set of variations on a palindromic theme. The piece explores the conflict between two musical keys, E flat and A. It is dedicated to George Enescu.
• String Quartet No. 2 (1953): This is Simpson's shortest quartet, lasting about 15 minutes. It has one movement with a single main tempo, where three different themes and speeds compete.
• String Quartet No. 3 (1953–54): Has two movements, slow and fast. The first is a slow Adagio in C major, and the second is a strong Allegro deciso that moves towards E major. Simpson also made a version of this second movement for a full string orchestra.

Simpson said that String Quartets Nos. 4–6 were a "close study" of Beethoven's three Rasumovsky quartets, Op. 59. He meant that trying to understand Beethoven's great works led him to create his own "musical analogies" in his own style. These three Simpson quartets can be played without knowing Beethoven's works or even without playing them together.

• String Quartet No. 4 (1973): Dedicated to Basil Lam. Its four movements (fast, scherzo, slow, fast finale) match the structure of Beethoven's Op. 59 No. 1.
• String Quartet No. 5 (1974): Dedicated to Angela Musgrave, who became his second wife. Its four movements match the structure of Beethoven's Op. 59 No. 2.
• String Quartet No. 6 (1975): Dedicated to filmmaker Barrie Gavin and his wife. Its four movements match the structure of Beethoven's Op. 59 No. 3.

Quartets Nos. 7 and 8 both explore how the musical interval called a "perfect fifth" can shape their themes, harmonies, and keys.

• String Quartet No. 7 (1977): Dedicated to organist Susi Jeans and written for the 100th birthday of her husband, astronomer Sir James Jeans. It is a single movement that uses the open strings of the instruments a lot. Simpson compared their tuning to the forces of gravitation. The piece moves around the "circle of fifths" (a pattern of musical keys). The slow opening and closing parts surround a fast section that represents the universe's energy.
• String Quartet No. 8 (1979): Dedicated to biologist J.D. Gillett and his wife. It has four movements, with each key being a fifth higher than the last. The second movement is a short, lively scherzo that suggests the delicate mosquito Eretmapodites Gilletti.
• String Quartet No. 9 (1982): Subtitled 32 Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Haydn. It was dedicated to the Delmé Quartet for their 20th anniversary, which was also Haydn's 250th birthday. At about 57 minutes, it's one of the longest continuous pieces for string quartet. The theme is a palindromic (reads the same forwards and backward) minuet that Haydn used in his Symphony No. 47.
• String Quartet No. 10 (1983): Titled For Peace, written for the tenth anniversary of the Coull Quartet. Simpson said the title refers to its peaceful character. The music tries to define what peace feels like, which means no aggression but still strong feelings. It has three movements: a calm Allegretto, a very short Prestissimo scherzo, and a long Molto adagio that ends peacefully.
• String Quartet No. 11 (1984): Also written for the Coull Quartet, it shares some ideas with No. 10 but is much more intense. Simpson felt the influence of Beethoven's F minor Quartet, Op. 95. This quartet is one large movement that focuses on specific musical intervals like the tritone and the major third.
• String Quartet No. 12 (1987): Commissioned for the 1988 Nottingham Festival. It has two large movements: a thoughtful Adagio and a lively Molto vivace that combines the feel of a scherzo and a finale.
• String Quartet No. 13 (1989): Commissioned for the 1990 Cardiff Festival. It is dedicated to BBC producer Graham Melville-Mason and his wife. This is one of Simpson's shorter later quartets, with four short movements played without breaks, in a fast-slow-fast-slow pattern.
• String Quartet No. 14 (1990): A large work with four traditional movements. Its slow movement is especially praised for its calm beauty.
• String Quartet No. 15 (1991): A shorter work in one movement with three different sections. It has a slow introduction, a large central scherzo, and a fast finale. This quartet has a strong, powerful, and turbulent character, similar to String Quartet No. 11.

Other Chamber Music

• Clarinet Quintet (1968): A large work with five movements that form an arch shape. A long central scherzo is surrounded by two slow movements, which are then surrounded by two faster outer movements. The piece's main ideas are introduced at the beginning. It is one of Simpson's more subtle and mysterious works.
• Violin Sonata (1984): This piece has two movements. The first is a strong Allegro, and the second combines the characters of a slow movement, a scherzo, and a finale. Throughout the piece, there is a conflict between the keys of G major and G minor, often using the intervals of a major third and a minor third to create interesting sounds.
• String Trio (1987): A three-movement work. A fast opening Prelude and a concluding Fugue are separated by a central slow Adagio. It is dedicated to Jillian White of BBC Bristol.
• String Quintet No. 1 (1987): A long, one-movement work that switches between slow and fast sections. It contains some of the most peaceful music Simpson ever wrote.
• String Quintet No. 2 (1995): This was Simpson's last work. Most of it was finished in 1991 before his stroke. The very end was dictated to his wife several years later. It is one of Simpson's most serious and dark pieces. Its structure is built on very little musical material, and it alternates between two types of tempos: a simple, lyrical moderato and a complex, fast allegro. The slow, final ending is considered one of the darkest in string chamber music.

Compositions for Brass Band

• Energy (1971): A test piece for the Brass Band World Championships.
• Volcano (1979): A test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Britain.
• The Four Temperaments, Suite for Brass Band (1983): Simpson also arranged this work for orchestral brass instruments.
• Introduction and Allegro on a Bass of Max Reger (1987)
• Vortex (1989)

Compositions for Keyboard Instruments

• Piano Sonata (1946)
• Variations and Finale on a Theme of Haydn for solo piano (1948)
• Michael Tippett, His Mystery for solo piano (1984)
• Eppur si muove, Ricercar and Passacaglia for organ (1985)
• Variations and Finale on a Theme by Beethoven for solo piano (1990)
• Sonata for Two Pianos (1980, revised 1990)

Robert Simpson's Writings

As a writer about music, Simpson was inspired by Donald Francis Tovey's ability to discuss complex musical forms and keys in a way that was accurate but also easy for non-experts to understand. At first, Simpson wrote reviews, but then he focused on supporting composers whose music was not well understood, like Anton Bruckner, Carl Nielsen, and Jean Sibelius. He also analyzed the works of well-known composers like Beethoven when he felt he could offer a new perspective as a composer.

Books by Simpson

• Carl Nielsen: Symphonist (1952, revised 1979).
• Bruckner and the Symphony (1963).
• Sibelius and Nielsen: a Centenary Essay (1965).
• The Essence of Bruckner: An Essay Towards the Understanding of his Music (1966; revised edition, 1992).
• Beethoven Symphonies (1970).
• The Proms and Natural Justice: A Plan for Renewal (with a foreword by Sir Adrian Boult; 1980).
• Simpson on Beethoven: Essays, Lectures and Talks by R. Simpson, Selected and Edited by Lionel Pike (1996).

Books Edited by Simpson

• The Symphony (2 Volumes; Edited by R. Simpson; 1966). Simpson wrote the introduction to the first volume and an essay in the second. He also added helpful notes to other chapters. He wrote the chapter on Rachmaninoff. The book is dedicated to Julius Harrison, who wrote chapters on Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Dvořák.

Work as a Record Producer

Robert Simpson also produced the first recordings of Havergal Brian’s music that were available to buy. Symphonies Nos. 10 and 21 were recorded in 1972 and released by Unicorn Records in 1973. They received great reviews. A TV show called Aquarius featured the recording session and showed Robert Simpson visiting Brian's home with members of the orchestra. After this success, Simpson produced a second Brian album in 1974. This album included the 22nd Symphony and other interesting pieces.

See also

In Spanish: Robert Simpson para niños