James Francis Brown
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James Francis Brown | |
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Born | London, England | 7 December 1969
Occupation | Composer |
Nationality | English |
Alma mater | Royal Academy of Music |
James Francis Brown (born 7 December 1969) is an English composer. He studied composition with the Viennese émigré Hans Heimler (a pupil of Alban Berg) and then at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Career
Francis Brown's significant
As an arranger he reconstructed and orchestrated sketches for Wagner's projected opera 'Männerlist größer als Frauenlist' for the Royal Opera House in 2007 and arranged Wagner's Siegfried Idyll for the 2008 City of London Festival. His film scores include the acclaimed short film “The Clap” (Breakthru Films, 2005).
James Francis Brown was awarded a five-year
His concert work is often linked with a group of British composers called 'Music Haven', not a school as such, but a collection of composers (c.f. the French 'Les Six' or the British 'Manchester School', from the early and late twentieth-century respectively), mostly London-based and with broadly similar interests and aesthetic outlook, reflecting sympathies for British masters such as Britten and Tippett and the great music of the First Viennese School, especially Haydn and Beethoven, as well as the Scandinavian influences of Sibelius and Nielsen. The group includes Peter Fribbins, Northern Irish-born Alan Mills, Matthew Taylor, John Hawkins, Geoff Palmer, and more peripherally two older British composers, David Matthews and by association, John McCabe CBE. The set of piano pieces 'Seven Haydn Fantasies for John McCabe' - each composed by a different composer and published in 2009 on the occasion of the latter's 70th birthday - is in many ways typical of the group's work.
Recordings
- Prospero's Isle - Guild (GMCD 7354). Piano Quartet, Violin Sonata, Prospero's Isle, String Trio. Performed by Tamás András (violin), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola), Gemma Rosefield (cello), Katya Apekisheva (piano); Jack Liebeck (violin), Katya Apekisheva (piano); Gemma Rosefield (cello), Nicola Eimer (piano); Jack Liebeck (violin), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola), Gemma Rosefield (cello).[3]
- ‘Words’ from A Garland for Presteigne. Metronome Records (METCD 1065)
Notable works
Orchestral
- Cantilena for string orchestra (1991)
- Sinfonietta (2000, revised 2007)
- Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra (2001)
- Down Ampney Variation (2004)
- Trio Concertante (2006)
- Prospero's Isle - symphonic poem version (2006, revised 2007)
- Lost Lanes, Shadow Groves - Clarinet Concerto (2008)
- Heartwood Wilding (2022)
Chamber
- Arioso for viola and piano (also version for clarinet and piano) (1991)
- Viola Sonata (1995)
- Lento flessibile for viola and piano (1995)
- String Trio (1996)
- Violin Sonata (2001, revised 2003)
- Piano quartet (2004)
- Prospero's Isle for cello and piano (2006)
- Two Wordsworth Sonnets (2009)
- Piano Trio (2010)
- String Quartet (2010)
- A Dream and a Dance for flute, clarinet, harp, and string quartet (2012–13)
- Heralds of Good Fortune for wind quintet (with cor anglais and basset horn doubling the oboe and clarinet in the middle movement)
- The Hart’s Grace for violin and piano (2016)
Keyboard
- Ingworth (1986)
- Piano Sonata (1990)
- The Silent Hour (1999)
- Oh Let the Heart Beat High with Bliss (2005)
- Toccatina for Solo Piano (2007)
- Fantasy Rondo after Haydn - part of the Haydn Fantasies for John McCabe compilation (2009)
- Dunwich Bells part of the Reflections on Debussy (2012)
- Rigaudon part of the Le tombeau de Rachmaninov compilation (2015)
References
- ^ "James Francis Brown - Works - String Quartet". Jamesfrancisbrown.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "James Francis Brown - Works - Songs of Nature and Farewell". Jamesfrancisbrown.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "Prospero's Isle - Chamber Music by James Francis Brown". Guildmusic.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.