For the composer of "The Band Played On", see John F. Palmer.
John Palmer (1959) is a British composer, pianist, and musicologist,[1] also known as a university professor. He has held teaching positions in England, Switzerland and Germany and has delivered masterclasses across universities and music conservatories throughout Europe. His music is published by Composers Edition.
In the 1980s, the music of John Cage and free-jazz influenced the aleatoric aesthetic of Palmer’s early chamber works, an approach which he later rejected. In the early 1990s, Palmer delved into the European avant-garde and electroacoustic music, two directions that will have a profound impact on his future musical output. By the end of the 1980s Palmer developed a distinctive musical language including techniques of spectral music and a sensitivity for sonic spaces often articulated on the threshold of silence. Many of his works from this period bear references to Eastern cultures, such as Zen, (Koan (1999), Satori (1999), Still (2001), and Waka (2003)) and Tibetan Buddhism (Hinayana (1999), Shambhala (1993)). However, the meditative nature of this influences often intertwines with the virtuosity of 20th-century European modernism, characterising a kind of lyricism that reflects a strong search for communication. This feature is apparent in many instrumental and chamber music works, such as the Second String Quartet (1997), Transitions (2000), Over (2006), Transparence (2015), and the opera Re di Donne (2019) where instrumental virtuosity is reinforced by electronics. The fusion of acousmatic music and instrumental virtuosity can be heard in works like Epitaph (1997), Encounter (1998), Transfiguration (2006), Transient (2008), Thereafter (2013), Transparence (2015).
Selected works
Opera
Re di Donne (2019) Chamber Opera in One Act, for 4 singers and ensemble with electronics
Orchestra
Omen (1991) for orchestra and choir
There (1992, rev. 2019) for string orchestra with string quartet
Concertino (1994)
Hypothetical Questions (1992 rev. 2011)
Piano Concerto (2005) for piano (tuned microtonally), orchestra and choir
Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (2016)
Not Two (2017) for orchestra
Ensemble
Asgard (1987- rev. 2001) for 2 speakers and ensemble (fl, cl, vl, vla, vc, pno, electronics)
Koan (1999) for shakuhachi and ensemble (fl, ob, clar, perc, pno, vl, vla, vc)
Waka (2003) for percussion and ensemble (fl, ob, cl, pno, vl, vla, vc)
Legend (2008) for harp and ensemble
You (2008) for trombone and ensemble
Transparence (2015) for viola and ensemble with electronics
Utopia (1989-rev. 2019) for mezzosoprano, wind quartet and electronics
Chamber music
First String Quartet (1986)
Hellawes (1991) flute trio
Theorem (1995) violin, cello, piano
Second String Quartet (1996)
Encounter (1998) harpsichord, world percussion, electronics
Between (2000) violin and harpsichord
Transitions (2000) violin, clarinet, cello, piano
Still (2001) bass flute, 6 & 12-string guitar, viola
Nowhere (2003) clarinet, piano, electronics
Afterglow (2006) alto flute, piano, electronics
Transference (2010) flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano
Crossing dialogues (2013) violin, cello, vibraphone and piano
Of Shadows Unveiled (2013) flute, bass clarinet and piano
Towards the soul (2015) trombone quartet
Conditional action (2016) two flutes
Alba (2016) violin, viola, cello, piano
Transgression (2011, rev. 2023) solo cello, violin, flute,piano
Instrumental
Hieroglyphs (1985–86) piano
Three Preludes (1987) piano
Poem for the Absurd (1987) piano
Musica Reservata (1989) piano
Shambhala (1990) piano
Satori (1999) harpsichord
Hinayana (1999) oboe
Mosaic (1998) harpsichord
Drang (1999) accordion
Without (2004) violin
Almost (2006) cello
Over (2006) violin
En avant (2006) piano
Se potessi (2011) piano
Eulogy (2013) piano
Verso l’alto (2014) viola
Three Haikus (2014) shakuhachi
Hypothesis (2017) percussion
Yahari (2017) guitar
Lux Vivens (2022) cello
Lux Ardens (2023) cello
Lux Serena (2024) cello
Lux Obscura (2025) cello
Electroacoustic (including acousmatic)
Beyond the bridge (1993) cello and electronics
Renge-kyo (1993) piano and electronics
Encounter (1998) harpsichord, world percussions, electronics
...as it flies... (2001) tape
Transfiguration (1999–2006) trombone and electronics
I am (2002) tape
After silence 1 (2005) piano and electronics
Inwards (2005–06) bass flute and electronics
In the Temple (2006–07) tape
Present Otherness (2008) tape
Mémoires (2011) tape
Woanders (2016) piano and electronics
Awards
1990 - Cornelius Cardew Competition, England: special mention for In memory of a friend, for soprano and piano.
1992 - City of Lucerne Cultural Prize, Switzerland: first prize winner with Omen, for orchestra and choir.
1994 - Bourges International Competition for Electroacoustic Music, France: second prize winner with Beyond the Bridge, for cello & electronics.
1995 - Surrey Sinfonietta Orchestral Competition Contest, England: first prize winner with Concertino, for orchestra.
1995 - 1st Tokyo International Competition for Chamber Music Composition: second prize winner with Theorem (piano trio).
1996 - City of Klagenfurt International Composition Prize, Austria: second prize winner with Second String Quartet.
2009 - Bourges International Competition for Electroacoustic Music, France: selection of Transient for soprano, prepared piano & electronics.
2010 - Città di Udine International Competition for Composers, Italy: Special Mention and Medal of the President of the Italian Republic for Transference, for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano.
2011 - Presque Rien International Competition Prize, Paris: prize winner with Mémoires, for electroacoustic sounds.
Introduction to ‘Images of the mind' (1997). Paper given at the 1997 KlangArt International Congress ‘New Music & Technology’ in Osnabrück, Germany. Published in ‘Musik und Neue Technologie 3, Musik im virtuellen Raum’ (edited by Bernd Enders), Universitätsverlag Rasch, Osnabrück (2000). ISBN3-934005-64-0.
Conceptual models of interaction: towards a perceptual analysis of interactive composition (1997-8) Paper given at the 1997 Sonic Arts Network Conference, University of Birmingham, UK, 10–12 January 1998. Published in the Seamus Journal, USA, Vol. XIV no. 1, Summer 1999. SEAMUS, Sonic Arts Network
Perceptual Abstraction and Electroacoustic Composition (1998) Paper given at the 1998 Seamus Conference, Dartmouth College, NH, USA, 16–18 April 1998 (1997–98). Published in the Seamus Journal, USA, Vol. XIII, No. 2, Fall 1998. SEAMUS
Listening: towards a new awareness of a neglected skill (1997) Paper for the Stockholm Hey Listen! International Conference on Acoustic Ecology, 9–13 June 1998 Published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, June 1998.
The lesson of freedom: Remembering Luc Ferrari (2005) Published in 'Soundscape - The Journal of Acoustic Ecology', Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring/Summer 2005. ISSN 1607-3304 Soundscape
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