Roger Woodward

Last updated

Roger Woodward
AC OBE
Roger Woodward, ROMAC Australia (2012). Photo by Wendell Teodoro.jpg
Personal details
Born (1942-12-20) 20 December 1942 (age 81)
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Children3
Alma mater Sydney Conservatorium of Music
University of Sydney (Doctor of Music)
OccupationClassical pianist, composer, conductor, teacher, human rights activist
Website rogerwoodward.com

Roger Robert Woodward AC OBE (born 20 December 1942) is an Australian classical pianist, composer, conductor, teacher and human rights activist. He is widely regarded as a leading advocate of contemporary music. [1]

Contents

Early life

Roger Woodward was born in Sydney where he received his first piano lessons from Winifred Pope. [2] Early studies of Bach organ works with Peter Verco were followed by a training in church music with Kenneth R. Long, organist and master of the choristers at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney. [3] He performed for the papal organist Fernando Germani [4] and Sir Eugene Goossens, after which he entered the Sydney Conservatorium in the piano class of Alexander Sverjensky [5] and the composition class of Raymond Hanson. [6]

While still a student, in 1963 he founded the city's international piano competition with widespread community support. He graduated the same year. In 1964, he won the Commonwealth Finals of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Instrumental and Vocal Competition, the prize for which was to perform throughout Australia with the six ABC state radio orchestras and in multiple radio and television broadcasts. [7] From 1965 to 1969, he pursued postgraduate studies at the Chopin University of Music, with Zbigniew Drzewiecki. [8]

During summer breaks he spent most of his time in London with Arthur Hedley [9] and his library of original Chopin manuscripts. He began performing recitals at the Wigmore Hall and South Bank. [10] During this period he performed throughout Poland [11] at the Twenty-Third International Chopin Festival, Duszniki-Zdrój (1968), at Żelazowa Wola, at the Kraków Spring Festival (1968), at the Ostrowski Palace; with the Warsaw National Philarmonic Orchestra, with regional orchestras, and for Polish Radio and Television.

By 1969 he had built a considerable repertoire of 20th-century compositions and performed Tōru Takemitsu's Uninterrupted Rests to the composer, who dedicated the work to him. [12] Two further dedications followed in 1973, For Away and Corona (London version) . In 1969–70, Woodward toured widely with the Wiener Trio and was artist in residence at the Casa de las Américas before performing at UNESCO 's Jeunesses Musicales where Yehudi Menuhin was jury member. The following year he made his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [13] at the Royal Festival Hall and, on Menuhin's recommendation, his first four recordings for EMI. [14]

Woodward and Lina Prokofieva , Warsaw, 1967 Roger Woodward and Lina Prokofieva in 1967.jpg
Woodward and Lina Prokofieva , Warsaw, 1967

In 1971, Woodward performed his first recital at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall [15] with works by Richard Meale, Ross Edwards, Leo Brouwer, Takemitsu and Barraqué, [16] [17] after which he was invited to co-found a series of new music concerts known as the London Music Digest [18] at the Roundhouse. Digest performances of Barraqué's [19] Sonate pour piano [20] [21] [22] [23] were followed by the recording at EMI's Abbey Road Studios. During the same period, Woodward worked with David Tudor and John Cage [24] for the British premiere of HPSCHD at the International Carnival of Experimental Sound and the BBC Proms. Further collaborations were undertaken with Karlheinz Stockhausen [25] [26] at the Royal Festival Hall and with Tōru Takemitsu [27] [28]  at the Music Today Festival, Tokyo. [29] A series of performances followed with Pierre Boulez and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. [30]

Middle years

In 1972, Woodward made his American debuts with the brass players of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Olivier Messiaen and Zubin Mehta, [31] with whom he subsequently performed in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, New York and Paris. The following year, Woodward worked with Stockhausen on Mantra . [32] In 1973 he participated in the inaugural celebrations of the Sydney Opera House as a part of tours for the Australian Broadcasting Commission and Musica Viva which included first performances of works by Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards, Barry Conyngham and Anne Boyd. A collaboration began with Iannis Xenakis (1973–96) [33] in France, the UK, Austria, Italy and the United States, during which the composer dedicated three works to Woodward: Mists for solo piano, Keqrops for piano and orchestra and Paille in the Wind for piano and cello.

From left to right: Bill Colleran (UE London), Morton Feldman and Woodward. World premiere of Piano and Orchestra directed by Hans Zender. Rencontres internationales de musique contemporaine [fr] (Metz Festival), 1975. Morty Feldman, Bill Colleran and Roger Woodward 1976.jpg
From left to right: Bill Colleran (UE London), Morton Feldman and Woodward. World premiere of Piano and Orchestra directed by Hans Zender. Rencontres internationales de musique contemporaine  [ fr ] (Metz Festival), 1975.

In 1974, Witold Rowicki invited Woodward on an extensive tour of the US with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, [35] during which he made his debut at Carnegie Hall. [36] That year, Woodward founded Music Rostrum Australia at the Sydney Opera House where he collaborated with Richard Meale, Luciano Berio, Cathy Berberian, David Gulpilil and Yūji Takahashi. He began performing with the Cleveland Orchestra directed by Lorin Maazel, [37] and appeared regularly at the Festival d'automne à Paris  [ fr ], [38] BBC Promenade Concerts, [39] La Biennale di Venezia, [40] the Warszawska Jesień, Festival Internacional Cervantino, Wien Modern [41] at the invitation of Claudio Abbado, [42] at the New York Piano Festival, [43] Festival de la Roque d'Anthéron and at the Ferme de Meslay  [ fr ], Touraine, at the invitation of its artistic director, Sviatoslav Richter. [44] In 1975 he premiered Morton Feldman's Piano and Orchestra [45] with the Saarbrücken Rundfunkorchester at the Metz Festival directed by Hans Zender. In the same year he made the first complete recording in the West of Dmitri Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues , Op. 87, and became Membre correspondant of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Warsaw.

In 1976–80, he began working with Kurt Masur and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. In 1977, he premiered Feldman's solo work Piano, [46] [47] commissioned Elisabeth Lutyens's Nox, Op.118, [48] and performed at the Valldemosa Chopin Festival. From 1978 to 1988, he performed the complete Beethoven concertos, three cycles of which were directed by Georg Tintner, [49] and the cycle of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in 12 cities. [50]

In 1980 he was recipient of the Order of the British Empire and performed the premiere of Xenakis's Mists in Edinburgh. In 1981 he performed for Queen Elizabeth II and, at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts ,the premiere of Morton Feldman's Triadic Memories [51]  In 1982 he premiered Conyngham's Double Concerto "Southern Cross" with the Polish violinist Wanda Wiłkomirska and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Four years later, he premiered Xenakis' Keqrops , [52] at the Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta, and in 1987 he premiered Áskell Másson's piano concerto in Reykjavik. [53] The following year he directed 25 performances of Xenakis's ballet Kraanerg at the Sydney Opera House in collaboration with Graeme Murphy and the Sydney Dance Company to celebrate the memory of Charter 77 and the ongoing struggle of Poland's Solidarność Movement. In 1989, Woodward was commissioned by the Festival d'automne à Paris for the bicentennial celebrations of the French Revolution when he premiered his work for two pianos and live electronics— Sound by Sound . In the same year he founded the Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music (1989–2001) and Alpha Centauri, a new-music ensemble of 23 soloists, which had presented and recorded Kraanerg . In the same year he premiered Rolf Gehlhaar's Diagonal Flying in Geneva with the composer. [54]

From left to right: Sviatoslav Richter, Woodward and Norman Lawrence, Black Forest, Germany, 1985 Richter, Norman Lawrence, Woodward 1985.jpg
From left to right: Sviatoslav Richter, Woodward and Norman Lawrence, Black Forest, Germany, 1985

In 1991, Woodward was recipient of the Diapason d'or and Ritmo Prize and the following year became Companion of the Order of Australia. He toured Italy, France and the UK with Alpha Centauri during which he premiered Donatoni’s Sincronie. In 1993, Lech Wałęsa, president of a free Poland, conferred the Order of Merit upon him. During the 1990s, Woodward toured Estonia, Latvia and China, [55] co-founded and directed the Kötschach-Mauthner Musikfest (1993–97), and in 1992, directed an all-Xenakis program at Scala di Milano. [56] He performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Gulbenkian Garden, the Odéon of Herodes Atticus, [57] and in traditions pioneered by Nellie Melba and Percy Grainger, he performed throughout Central and Regional Australia. He commissioned a series of piano concertos from Larry Sitsky, the first of which was premiered at the 1994 Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music and cited by the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (1995). In 1996, Woodward  composed Five Songs In Memoriam Takemitsu for unaccompanied cello which was performed by Nathan Waks at the Seventh Sydney Spring.

Woodward was voted a National Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1997. During that year he performed at Théâtre Marigny (home to Boulez’s Domaine musical) for the Festival d’automne and worked with Arvo Pärt, Gehlhaar, Rădulescu, Chris Dench and James Dillon, for the premiere of the first part of The Book of Elements in London and subsequently, at the Sydney Spring. In the same year he founded the Joie et Lumière chamber music festival at Le Château de Bagnols (1997–2004), [58] to celebrate the life and work of Sviatoslav Richter. He completed the degree of Doctor of Music at the University of Sydney in 1999 and was recipient of four doctorates honoris causa from 1992 to 1998.

In 2001, Woodward was awarded Australia's Centenary Medal; in 2004 the L' ordre des arts et des lettres Republic of France and in 2005, the Polish Medal z okazji 25. rocznicy podpisania Porozumień Sierpniowych i powstania NSZZ "Solidarność". In 2000–01 he was chair of music at the University of New England (Australia) [59] and in 2002, chair of the School of Music, San Francisco State University.

Woodward and Pierre Boulez rehearsing Bartok's First Piano Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London in 1972 Roger Woodward and Pierre Boulez rehearsing with the BBC Symphony Orchestra Bartok's first Piano Concerto in 1972.jpg
Woodward and Pierre Boulez rehearsing Bartok's First Piano Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London in 1972

During 2002–18 he toured with SFSU colleagues—the Alexander String Quartet—in the United States and Germany where he recorded works of Beethoven, Chopin, Shostakovich and Robert Greenberg. Between 2006–23, he recorded seventeen projects for the Celestial Harmonies label. His performances of J. S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier , Hans Otte's Stundenbuch, Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues Op.87, Debussy's Préludes, Prokofiev's Piano Music 1908–38 and Horațiu Rădulescu piano sonatas were highly praised. His performances of J. S. Bach's Partitas BWV 826, 830 and Chromatische Fantasie und Fuge, BWV 903, were awarded the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (2007). In 2011 he performed works of Xenakis with L' orchestre national de Lille, the cellist Rohan de Saram and JACK Quartet, at Les flâneries musicales de Reims. In the same year he was awarded Poland's Gloria Artis (gold class). He performed at the Canberra International Festival in 2018, when he also toured in Germany.

Legacy

Woodward is a pianist with a powerful virtuoso technique and his performances are renowned for their precision, insight, and depth of interpretation, although sometimes reviewed as unorthodox for their modernity. He has received wide critical acclaim as a leading interpreter of avant-garde works of the second half of the 20th century [60] including those of: Boyd, [61] Feldman, Gehlhaar, Másson,Takemitsu, [62] [63] Qu Xia-Song, Rădulescu, Xenakis, [64] [65] [66] and recordings with Boulez, [67] Barraqué, [68] [69] [70] Stockhausen, [32] Bussotti, [71] [72] Brouwer,Conyngham, Edwards, Peter Michael Hamel, Lutyens, and Cage. [73]

Steeped in church music and traditional repertoire, Woodward trained throughout his early life to perform established works side by side with more recent music as part of a belief that music was the essential expression of an experimental process. Most of his concerts reflected this belief even though such programming was considered unorthodox for the time. [74] In recital, he often programmed traditional 18th and 19th century repertoire with new, little known, or neglected works such as those he championed by experimental fin de siècle Russian, Ukrainian and early Soviet composers [75] (Alexander Scriabin, Alexander Mosolov, Nikolai Roslavets, Ivan Vyshnegradsky, Nikolai Obukhov, Aleksei Stanchinsky). [76]

Woodward with Iannis Xenakis, Lincoln Center NYC for world Premiere of Keqrops performed with Zubin Mehta and the NY Philharmonic Orchestra, 1986. Woodward with Iannis Xenakis at the Lincoln Center, New York. Premiere of Keqrops, 1986.jpg
Woodward with Iannis Xenakis, Lincoln Center NYC for world Premiere of Keqrops performed with Zubin Mehta and the NY Philharmonic Orchestra, 1986.

Woodward worked with the New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, brass players of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the five London orchestras, the Hallé Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, London Brass, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, L'orchestre National de Paris, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, EEC Youth Orchestra and the Budapest and Prague Chamber Orchestras.

Notable conductors with whom he worked include: Mehta, Abbado,  Charles Dutoit, Lorin Maazel, Edo de Waart, Charles Mackerras,  Kurt Masur, [77] Paavo Berglund, Georg Tintner, Tan Lihua, Erich Leinsdorf, Walter Susskind, Georges Tzipine and Péter Eötvös. As a conductor, some of Woodward's performances include: the Xenakis ballet Kraanerg [78] [79] [80] at the Sydney Opera House; working with the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra, the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra and with the Alpha Centauri Ensemble at Scala di Milano, for BBC2 Television, [81] [82] the Festival d'automne à Paris [fr], [83] the Academia Santa Cecilia, Biblioteca Salaborsa, [84] and for the Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music.

He performed with the Arditti, Tokyo, JACK and Alexander String Quartets, with the harpsichordist George Malcolm; jazz pianist Cecil Taylor in Lisbon, Paris, for the Patras Festival, and for extensive tours of the UK Contemporary Music Network from 1986 to 1994. He worked with musicologists Charles Rosen, Paul Griffiths, H. C. Robbins-Landon, Richard Toop, Paul M. Ellison, Nouritza Matossian and Sharon Kanach; violinists Philippe Hirschhorn and Ivry Gitlis; violist James Creitz [de]; cellists Rohan de Saram and Nathan Waks;  flautist Pierre Yves- Artaud; pianists: Yuji Takahashi, David Tudor, Alexander Gavrylyuk and Robert Curry; with James Morrison, the ceremonial dancer David Gulpilil (Dalaithngu), with the composers Frank Zappa and Phillippe Sarde.

He is published by Greenway Press, N.Y., Pendragon Press, [85] NY, Praeger [86]   E. R. P. Musikverlag, Berlin. [87] In 2015, HarperCollins [88] and Kindle published his autobiography Beyond Black And White–My Life in Music. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a member of the Australian Republic Movement.

Human rights and activism

Early encounters with Holocaust victims impacted Woodward's personal development. He believes that the creative artist is a bulwark for society on matters of cultural diversity, injustice and human rights. [89] He was acknowledged by the Scarman Report and the London Metropolitan Police after the 1981 Brixton riots and by the city of Darwin following Australia's Cyclone Tracy. Throughout the 1980s he dedicated himself to the Polish Solidarność Movement with performances of the complete works of Chopin to raise awareness of the importance of Poland's freedom struggle.

Woodward and Australian prime minister Bob Hawke at a Solidarity meeting, 1984 Roger Woodward with PM Bob Hawke in 1984.jpg
Woodward and Australian prime minister Bob Hawke at a Solidarity meeting, 1984

Principal awards and honours

Principal recordings and publications

Woodward's principal recordings were issued by ABC Classics (Australia), Accord (France), Artworks (Australia), BMG, Col Legno (Munich), CPO, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Etcetera Records BV, Explore Records, Foghorn Classics (San Francisco), JB (Australia), Polskie Nagrania, Sipario Dischi (Milano), Unicorn (UK), Universal, Warner and RCA Red Seal (UK) for whom Woodward made the first complete recording (in the West) of Dmitry Shostakovich's Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, [92] rereleased by Celestial Harmonies (2010).

Woodward's live concerts were recorded for ABC Radio/TV, BBC Radio/TV, Radio NZ, RAI, Radio France, Radio/TV Cuba, Hong Kong Radio, Radio China, Radio/TV Japan, Polish Radio/TV, RTE (Dublin), multiple German radio stations including Radio Berlin; Hilversum Radio (Netherlands), and for the UNESCO Rostrum/Paris. Video recordings have been issued by Allied Artists (UK), BBC TV Productions, Chanan Productions (UK), Foghorn Classics (San Francisco), Kultur (China), Polygram (Australia), Smith Street Films (Australia), Endeavour Film Productions (Australia) and the Sydney Dance Company.

Toru Takemitsu and Woodward at the Decca studios in London during their 1973 recording of Corona ("London version") For Away, Piano Distance and Undisturbed Rest Roger Woodward and Toru Takemitsu Decca recording 1973 (London).png
Tōru Takemitsu and Woodward at the Decca studios in London during their 1973 recording of Corona ("London version") For Away, Piano Distance and Undisturbed Rest

Three Celestial Harmonies compact disc recordings were named "Record of the Month" by MusicWeb International: Debussy Préludes Books 1 and 2 (March 2010); Roger Woodward In Concert (October 2013) and Prokofiev Works for Solo Piano 1908-1938 (April 2013), [93] which was nominated Best Classical Album at Australia's 1992 Aria awards. A recording for Etcetera BV of Scriabin's Piano Works was "Record of the Month" on Musicweb International (July 2002).The Etcetera BV release (1989) of Xenakis' Kraanerg with the Alpha Centauri Ensemble directed by Roger Woodward was selected by the music critics of The Sunday Times, UK, as one of the most outstanding releases of that year. In 1991, Woodward shared the Diapason d'Or with fellow Australian and senior ABC recording producer Ralph Lane, for their recording of Morton Feldman's solo piano music (ABC Classics). This recording was record of the month in April 1991 ( Télérama , Paris). Woodward was the recipient of the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (2007), for performances of J. S. Bach's Partitas BWV 826 and 830, and Chromatische Fantasie und Fuge BWV 903. This recording was also named one of the finest of the year by MusicWeb International (2008) and nominated Best Classical Album at Australia's 1993 Aria awards. His performances of J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered-Clavier was editor's choice for The Gramophone, UK (February 2010).

Woodward (right) with Patricia Ludgate and sons Elroy and Benjamin, Cazenac 2018 Roger Woodward Family picture.jpg
Woodward (right) with Patricia Ludgate and sons Elroy and Benjamin, Cazenac 2018

In 1991, Woodward shared the Diapason d'Or with fellow Australian and senior ABC recording producer Ralph Lane, for their recording of Morton Feldman's piano music (ABC Classics). This recording was record of the month in April 1991 ( Télérama , Paris).

Ralph Lane recorded a wide range of live and studio projects with Woodward (1988–2018) some of which were named record of the month, including the aforementioned Prokofiev, Scriabin and Xenakis recordings. In 1991, he was recipient of the Ritmo Prize (Spain) for his Etcetera BV recording of Takemitsu's piano music (also produced by Lane). In January 1991, the same recording was record of the month (Télérama, Paris). In 2008, his recording of The Music of Frédéric Chopin was nominated Best Classical Album at Australia's Aria Awards. In 2015, ABC Classics/Universal released A Concerto Collection comprising ten live and four studio concerto performances of J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Larry Sitsky, Barry Conyngham, Qu Xiao-Song and his direction of the Xenakis ballet Kraanerg.

Personal life

Woodward has three children; Asmira Woodward-Page who is a concert violinist, Benjamin Woodward who is director of Academy Tennis in Sydney and foster son Elroy Palmer. [54]

Bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tōru Takemitsu</span> Japanese composer and writer (1930–1996)

Tōru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental philosophy and for fusing sound with silence and tradition with innovation.

Stephanie McCallum is an Australian classical pianist. She has recorded works of Erik Satie, Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Carl Maria von Weber, Albéric Magnard, Pierre Boulez, and Iannis Xenakis among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Sitsky</span> Australian composer, pianist, and music educator

Lazar "Larry" Sitsky is an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator and scholar. His long term legacy is still to be assessed, but through his work to date he has made a significant contribution to the Australian music tradition.

John Roger Smalley was an Anglo-Australian composer, pianist and conductor. Professor Smalley was a senior honorary research fellow at the School of Music, University of Western Australia in Perth and honorary research associate at the University of Sydney.

Aki Takahashi is a Japanese pianist specializing in contemporary classical music.

Paul Zukofsky was an American violinist and conductor known for his work in the field of contemporary classical music.

Roy Ewing "Robert" Agnew was an Australian composer, pianist, teacher, and radio announcer. He was described as "the most outstanding of the early twentieth-century Australian composers" by Morris Hinson.

The Piano Sonata by Jean Barraqué, composed between 1950 and 1952, is a significant serial composition, from the period of avant-garde composition in France shortly after World War II. It is a large piece, lasting around forty minutes according to the score, but ranging from 30 to 50 minutes in recordings attended by the composer. It is in a single movement divided into two connected sections, roughly equal in length.

Frédéric Chopin's Allegro de concert, Op. 46, is a piece for piano, published in November 1841. It is in one movement and takes between 11 and 15 minutes to play. The principal themes are bold and expressive. It has a curious place in the Chopin canon, and while its history is obscure, the evidence supports the view, shared by Robert Schumann and others, that it started out as the first movement of a projected third piano concerto, of which the orchestral parts are either now non-existent or were never scored at all. There is no evidence that Chopin ever even started work on the latter movements of this concerto.

Kraanerg is a composition for 23 instruments and 4-channel analog tape composed by Iannis Xenakis in 1968, as ballet, with choreography by Roland Petit and set design by Victor Vasarely. It was created for the grand opening of the Canadian National Arts Centre in Ottawa, intended to coincide with Expo 67. However, it was delayed to 1969.

Laura Chislett is an accomplished Australian flute player known for her inspiring and versatile performances. She performs contemporary repertoires including Brian Ferneyhough's Unity Capsule, James Dillon's Sgothan, Michael Finnissy's Sikangnuqa, Reza Vali's Song flute solo and Maurice Weddington's Deovolente. Her repertoire also includes neglected 20th-century works by Lili Boulanger, Willem Pijper, Augusta Holmès, and Jean Binet. Laura has performed as a guest soloist with orchestra/ensemble at major festivals, including the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the Sydney Spring Festival, Insel Musik Berlin, the Pittsburgh International Music Festival and the Australian Chamber Orchestra performing Michael Smetanin's flute concerto Shakhmat/Supremat.

Synaphaï is a composition for piano and orchestra by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis. It was finished in 1969 and premiered in 1971.

<i>Keqrops</i>

Keqrops is a composition for piano and orchestra by Greek/French composer Iannis Xenakis. Due to the prominent role of the piano soloist, it has often been classified as a piano concerto. It was completed in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Williams</span>

Jan Williams is a percussionist, arts administrator, teacher, conductor, and composer who has championed avant-garde and progressive music in the United States. He is recognized as an important proponent of percussion performance and its literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayson Gillham</span> Australian pianist

Jayson Lloyd Gillham is a British-Australian classical pianist, based in London. In 2014, Gillham was the winner of the 2014 Montreal International Musical Competition, which brought him to international attention. His outstanding performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 was described in the Huffington Post as being played 'with such streamlined patrician elegance that he took home First Prize and a string of engagements...' The renowned British conductor Sir Mark Elder said Gillham 'plays Beethoven with a sort of ‘glow’'. In May 2015, Gillham signed a three-album deal with ABC Classics.

Hanna Shybayeva is a Dutch pianist.

Mists is a composition for piano by Iannis Xenakis. It was written in 1980, and was premiered on April 16, 1981, by Roger Woodward, to whom it is dedicated. Its duration is approximately 12 minutes.

Piano is a solo piano piece composed by the American composer Morton Feldman in 1977, dedicated to the Australian classical pianist Roger Woodward and premiered by him in Südwestrundfunk, Baden-Baden, 1977. Piano is one of three major works that Feldman wrote for, and dedicated to, Roger Woodward. The score of Piano is published by Universal Edition.

<i>Triadic Memories</i> (Feldman) Solo piano piece by Morton Feldman

Triadic Memories is a solo piano piece composed by the American composer Morton Feldman in 1981, jointly dedicated to the classical pianists Roger Woodward and Aki Takahashi. This piece heralds the composer's late period and lasts around 90 minutes.The score of Triadic Memories is published by Universal Edition (London) Ltd UE 17326. Woodward performed the world premiere at the ICA London, UK, October 5, 1981, in the presence of the composer and the French premiere at the 1997 Festival d’automne à Paris au Théâtre Molière.

References

  1. ↑ Gill, Dominic (2001). "Woodward, Roger". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.30558. ISBN   978-1-56159-263-0 . Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  2. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 45.
  3. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 1-35.
  4. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 61.
  5. ↑ Woodward 2015, pp. 45, 80.
  6. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 103-11.
  7. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 123-30.
  8. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 138-40.
  9. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 164-67.
  10. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 163.
  11. ↑ Programs are available in the NLA Roger Woodward's Collection: Woodward, Roger (1960), Papers of Roger Woodward, 1960-2017
  12. ↑ Woodward, Roger (2014). Beyond black and white: journeys in music. Sydney: ABC Books. p. 586. ISBN   978-0-7333-2303-4.
  13. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 212.
  14. ↑ OASD 7560, 7561, 7562, 7567—EMI catalogue numbers of Woodward's first four commercial recordings released 1970 following Yehudi Menuhin's statement to the EMI Recording Co. shortly after hearing Woodward's Jeunesses Musicales performances in Paris, 1969: "Roger Woodward's performances of contemporary music showed that there were just so many different ways that he was able to interest and fascinate the listener, not only with sounds freely produced at the keyboard, but with magical sounds that came from inside the piano, from under it; from every possible part of the instrument. In every context his playing was beautiful, sensitive and wonderfully musical; his approach personal and imaginative as was proved by his Skryabin and Chopin." EMI subsequently printed the statement in full on each of the recordings.
  15. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 210.
  16. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 451-52.
  17. ↑ Janzen, Rose-Marie; Jack, Adrian (1989). "A Biographical Chronology of Jean Barraqué". Perspectives of New Music. 27 (1): 234–45. doi:10.2307/833269. JSTOR   833269 – via JSTOR.
  18. ↑ London Music Digest, The Roundhouse London, 1970s, https://www.discogs.com/Roger-Woodward-Jean-Barraqu%C3%A9-Sylvano-Bussotti-Leo-Brouwer-The-London-Music-Digest-From-The-Round-Ho/release/6479510; Woodward 2015, pp. 211, 326–29, 334, 389, 419, 423–25.
  19. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 400-4.
  20. ↑ Hodeir 1961, pp. 193–196.
  21. ↑ Woodward 2002, p. 31-42.
  22. ↑ Jobling 2001.
  23. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 576-78.
  24. ↑ This collaboration is detailed in the 1972 BBC Promenade Concerts publication booklet (online) and, in addition to Woodward, involved David Tudor, Cornelius Cardew, John Tilbury, Frederick Page, Annea Lockwood, and Richard Bernas, directed by John Cage.
  25. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 423.
  26. ↑ Stockhausen 1973.
  27. ↑ Ohtake 1998.
  28. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 327-30.
  29. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 331-32.
  30. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 160.
  31. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 354.
  32. 1 2 Stockhausen's Mantra lecture managed by Allied Artists (London); filmed at Imperial College, London July 19, 1973.
  33. ↑ Kanach, Sharon (2010). Performing Xenakis. Iannis Xenakis series. Hillsdale, N.Y: Pendragon Press. ISBN   978-1-57647-191-3.
  34. ↑ Feldman, Morton (1975). Piano and Orchestra | UE16076. Universal Edition. ISBN   9783702426606.
  35. ↑ Woodward 2015, pp. 498–500.
  36. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 213.
  37. ↑ Woodward 2015, pp. 496–97.
  38. ↑ Woodward 2015, pp. 264–265, 308–309, 382.
  39. ↑ Woodward 2015, pp. 163, 358.
  40. ↑ Woodward 2015, pp. 297–98.
  41. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 383.
  42. ↑ Woodward 2018.
  43. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 282.
  44. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 317-19.
  45. ↑ In "Morton Feldman in conversation with Christopher Gough and Roger Woodward Edinburgh, August 1980" https://www.cnvill.net/mfgoughwoodward.pdf
  46. ↑ Feldman, Morton (1977). Piano| UE16516. Universal Edition. ISBN   9783702419875.
  47. ↑ "Morton Feldman: The Johannesburg Masterclasses, July 1983- Session 5: Works by Feldman (Piano)"https://www.cnvill.net/mfmasterclasses05.pdf
  48. ↑ Lutyens 1977.
  49. ↑ Now the Queensland Orchestra.
  50. ↑ At Cardiff University (1977), at the Adelaide Festival (1978), at Kenwood House, London (1979), at the Sydney Festival (1980), further performances of the Beethoven cycle followed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (1980).
  51. ↑ Les griffures du silence de Morton Feldman Le Monde Renaud Machart 31.10.97, p.29. Machart, Renaud (10 October 1997). "Les griffures du silence de Morton Feldman". Le Monde. p. 29.
  52. ↑ Matossian (2005); Anther (1986).
  53. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 244.
  54. 1 2 Woodward, Roger (2014). Beyond Black And White. HarperCollins. ISBN   9780730497448.
  55. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 276-77.
  56. ↑ With the musicians of the Alpha Centauri Ensemble during which he premiered Xenakis' "Paille in the Wind" with Jacopo Scalfi.
  57. ↑ Program of the Athens 1979 Festival https://iscm.org/wnmd/1979-athens; September 1979, Woodward played Liszt's Les jeux d'eaux à la villa d'este, Feldman's Piano (1977), and premiered Rolf Gehlhaar's Strangeness, Charm and Colour with London Brass, at the Odéon Herodes Atticus at the 52nd International Society for Contemporary Music Festival (ISCM World Music Days).
  58. ↑ Woodward 2015, pp. 278, 504.
  59. ↑ University of New England Handbook 2001.
  60. ↑ Gill, Dominic (2001). Meher-Homji, Cyrus; Ellison, Paul (eds.). "Woodward, Roger". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.30558. ISBN   9781561592630 . Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  61. ↑ Boyd 2021.
  62. ↑ Interview between Tōru Takemitsu and Dominic Gill, British critic and writer quoted by the Decca Record Company Limited, Headline Series HEAD 4, 1974. Toru Takemitsu (1974), Booklet of Corona (London Version), For Away, Piano Distance, Undisturbed Rest LP, Decca.
  63. ↑ See also Peter Burt, The Music of Tōru Takemitsu (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp.128-31.
  64. ↑ Eric Anther (1986). Mi-homme, mi dragon par Iannis Xenakis (PDF). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Mi_homme_mi_Dragon%22_par_Iannis_Xenakis_(Propos_recueill%C3%ADs_par_Eric_Anther).pdf in Le monde de la musique. France: Le monde and Telerama.
  65. ↑ Richter commented about Woodward's recorded performance of Xenakis' Mists and Sinaphai: C'est la première fois que j'entends de la musique de Xenakis; je suis sidéré, même si je ne suis pas certain d'avoir vraiment (ou même vraiment pas) compris cette musique. L'intuition? Mais peut-on toujours s'y fier? Que Woodward joue cette musique de façon convaincante, je l'ai maintenant compris. Il me semble que voilà effectivement de la vraie 'nouvelle' musique." (Monsaingeon, 1998, p. 342).
  66. ↑ Comments about Woodward's performance in the XXII Reims International Festival Flâneries 2011 / Xenakis à la conquête de Reims. Publié le jeudi 14 juillet 2011. https://www.flaneriesreims.com/images-78-flaneries-2011-l-xenakis-a-la-conquete-de-reims-flaneries-musicales-de-reims.html https://www.flaneriesreims.com/pdf-76-union-xenakis-a-la-conquete-de-reims-flaneries-musicales-de-reims.html.
  67. ↑ The Politics of Music (1972) by Michael Chanan Productions, BBC2, interview with Pierre Boulez, Roger Woodward at rehearsal with BBCSO for BBC Roundhouse world premiere of Bernard Rands Mésallianz for piano and chamber orchestra: http://vimeo.com/13799532.
  68. ↑ Jean Barraqué'—public statement concerning Woodward's performance of his Piano Sonata: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Barraqu%C3%A9%27s_public_statement_about_Roger_Woodward_March_20_1973.pdf.
  69. ↑ Musicologist Richard Toop about Woodward's performance and recording of Barraque's Sonata, https://www.harmonies.com/13325-2_woodward_barraque/index.html
  70. ↑ Richter comments about Woodward's Barraqué Sonate pour piano recording: (Monsaingeon, 1998, p. 346).
  71. ↑ Bussotti 1973.
  72. ↑ Bussotti 1974.
  73. ↑ BBC Proms 23 (13 August 1972) program: https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/emw5v2.
  74. ↑ The Financial Times, Music on the West Coast by Dominic Gill, 24 May 1972, http://www.rogerwoodward.com/images/PDF/LAPO-Mehta-Hollywood_Bowl.pdf The article covers a series of New Music concerts at UCLA where Zubin Mehta directed the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Roger Woodward's debut performance program was a mixture of a recital of modern music-Australian Richard Meale's Coruscations, Japanese Toru Takemitsu's Undisturbed Rest, Cuban, Leo Brouwer's Sonate pian'e forte well as Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata. This contemporary music marathon went on to include Xenakis' Eonta for piano and five brass from the LAPO. The rehearsal was attended by Olivier Messiaen, a personal friend of Iannis Xenakis and his composition teacher, who personally corrected the brass parts during rehearsal. His wife, Yvonne Loriod, was also present at rehearsal, along with comedian Danny Kaye.
  75. ↑ Dominy Clements wrote in Music Web International about Roger Woodward's Music of the Russian Avant-Garde 1905-1926 (Celestial Harmonies, 13255-2) recording: "This fascinating collection of works covers the period of transition from Tsarist Russia to the establishment of the Soviet Union. To a certain extent it relates to Woodward's re-release of the Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, by Shostakovich on Celestial Harmonies 14302-2 (see review), which, dating from 1975, has acquired its own historical significance. Many of these pieces are little-known compositions that Woodward discovered as a student in Warsaw in the early 1970s, gaining access to rare works from Prokofiev's widow Lina Prokofieva."
  76. ↑ Woodward 2015, p. 554 (item 70).
  77. ↑ Roger Covell wrote in Sydney Morning Herald (November 22, 1977) about Woodward's recording of the Brahms First Piano Concert with Kurt Masur (RCA RS 25031 LP), http://www.rogerwoodward.com/images/PDF/Brahms_1_PC_with_NPO,_Kurt_Masur,_RCA.pdf/; Sviatoslav Richter described this performance thus: "Brahms: robuste, viril, convaincant." Sviatoslav Richter and Bruno Monsaingeon Notebooks and Conversations (London: Faber & Faber, 2005), p. 341.
  78. ↑ Performance recording on https://www.youtube.com/watch?vxBMvJrdoFP4; the concert programme is in the NLA Roger Woodward Collection. Compact disc recorded in 1989 by Etcetera Records BV.
  79. ↑ Whittall, Arnold. "Xenakis Kraanerg". Gramophone . Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  80. ↑ "Xenakis: Kraanerg". BBC Music Magazine . 20 January 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  81. ↑ Dench Planetary Allegiances recorded for BBC2TV, London; Grateful Dead/Rex Foundation (Dec. 1992); NLA Collection. Composer's statement 1992 Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music program publication, p. 15; copy of MS in NLA.
  82. ↑ Program notes and photos of the concert available in the Scala di Milano's online archives: https://www.teatroallascala.org/archivio/interpreti.aspx?lang=en-US&id_allest=3841&id_event=8868&id_allest_conc=23458&uid=2dd1d15f-cd94-454c-9a66-05781920f434&objecttype=base.
  83. ↑ Festival d'automne à Paris—in the NLA Roger Woodward Collection. The all-Xenakis programme was recorded by Radio France at the Festival d'automne, December 1992, by the Alpha Centauri Ensemble in the presence of the composer.
  84. ↑ The program is in the NLA Roger Woodward Collection.
  85. ↑ "Conquering Goliath: Preparing and Performing Xenakis' 'Keqrops'" in Performing Xenakis, ed. Sharon Kanach, Xenakis Series No. 2 2010.
  86. ↑ "Sitsky's Keyboard Music: Si Yeoo Ki," in Australian Piano Music of the Twentieth Century, ed. Larry Sitsky (2005), pp. 173–215.
  87. ↑ "Two Cadenzas for the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, KV 503, and Allegro con brio of the Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 2012.
  88. ↑ Roger Woodward, Beyond Black and White 2014.
  89. ↑ Clara Kraus, 1987; Peter Kraus, 2020; Paul Kraus, 2015.
  90. ↑ Kingdom of Bréifne; Former orders, decorations and medals of Ireland/Wikipedia; papers of Roger Woodward–National Library of Australia.
  91. ↑ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_to_culture.
  92. ↑ Dominy Clements wrote in MusicWeb International about Woodward's Dmitri Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op.87, recording: "This remarkable recording stands alone as a landmark." Complete article at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/oct10/shostakovich_woodward_143022.htm
  93. ↑ Dominy Clements wrote in June 2013 about Woodward's recording of Prokofiev's works (Sergei Prokofiev Works for Piano: 1908-1938 Celestial Harmonies 13292-2) in MusicWeb International, http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/June13/Prokofiev_piano_132922.htm.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.