David Horne (born 12 December 1970) is a Scottish composer, pianist, and teacher. A resident composer with the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

for four years, he has been awarded several commissions. His works have been performed by international calibre artists. As an award-winning pianist, he has performed with leading British orchestras.

Biography

He was born in

Tillicoultry Tillicoultry ( ; Scottish Gaelic: Tulach Cultraidh, perhaps from older Gaelic ''Tullich-cul-tir'', or "the mount/hill at the back of the country") is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the loc ...

, near

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, in 1970. His father played piano (non-professionally) and he started learning the piano at the age of seven. Early in his life his family moved to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, his mother's native country. Aged eleven, he went to

St Mary's Music School St Mary's Music School is a music school in Scotland in the West End of Edinburgh, for boys and girls aged 9 to 19 and is also the Choir School of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral. The school, which is non-denominational, provides education for ...

in Edinburgh to study piano with

Audrey Innes Audrey () is an English feminine given name. It is the Anglo-Norman form of the Anglo-Saxon name ''Æðelþryð'', composed of the elements '' æðel'' "noble" and ''þryð'' "strength". The Anglo-Norman form of the name was applied to Saint Aud ...

and composition with Geoffrey King. In 1989 he moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to study at the Curtis Institute, where he studied with

Ned Rorem Ned Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was the leading American of his time writing in the genre. Althoug ...

. He moved on to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, where he obtained a PhD in 1999 and became a visiting lecturer, still in his 20s. He has since returned to the United Kingdom and lives in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, where he is Professor of Music and Head of Graduate School at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music educatio ...

. In 2004 he led the New Music/New Media course for the Britten-Pears School. In 2006/07, he was visiting professor at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya. He was composer in residence with the

from 2000 to 2004. As a pianist, he received the piano section BBC Young Musician of the Year award in 1988. He has performed as soloist with orchestras including the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—gi ...

, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has appeared at

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...

, making his debut in 1990 performing

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

's Third Concerto and has been featured several times as a composer.

Work

Horne composes concertos, orchestral, ensemble and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

, operas, and songs. He received the ''Yorkshire Arts Association Young Composers' Competition'' at the

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, it has feature ...

for his composition ''Splintered Unisons'', which was performed by the

Prometheus Ensemble In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

. In 1994 he was awarded the inaugural

Stephen Oliver Prize Stephen Michael Harding Oliver (10 March 1950 – 29 April 1992) was an English composer, best known for his operas. Early life and education Oliver was born on 10 March 1950 in Chester, the son of (Charlotte Hester) (née Girdlestone, born ...

, which was worth £10,000 and given to a young composer for a new work of

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a n ...

, for his opera ''Travellers''. During 1997 and 1998 the Stephen Oliver Trust worked with the 1998 BOC Covent Garden Festival to achieve the performance of the winning opera (and that of the 1996 winner), and ''Travellers'' was brought to the stage in June 1998, as part of the 1998 Covent Garden Festival. He has received commissions for compositions by soloists such as percussionist Evelyn Glennie (''Reaching Out'' and ''Ignition''),

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

Nobuko Imai (''Stilled Voices''), and pianist Boris Berezovsky (''Liszt''), as well as a Koussevitzky Commission in 1995.See 1995 Koussevitzky Commissions, under External links. He was shortlisted for the vocal category of the 2007

British Composer Awards The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

for his work ''Life's Splinters''. His opera ''Friend of the People'' was premiered at the Scottish Opera in November 1999. His works have been performed by groups such as the

, the Nash Ensemble, the

, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the California EAR Unit, the

Ensemble für neue Musik Zürich Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus * ''Ensem ...

, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Nieuw Ensemble, Ensemble Moderne, and string quartets

Mendelssohn Quartet Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symp ...

Yggdrasil Quartet Yggdrasil (from Old Norse ), in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional s ...

Daedalus Quartet In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, and ...

and

Brentano Quartet The Brentano Quartet is an American string quartet. History Founded in 1992 at the Juilliard School, the quartet's founding members were violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, violist Misha Amory, and cellist Michael Kannen. At the suggestio ...

. He is published by Boosey and Hawkes and his music has been recorded on

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

and NMC.

Selected works

;Stage * ''Jason Field'', Chamber Opera in 1 act (1993) * ''Travellers'', Chamber Opera in 1 act (1994) * ''Beyond the Blue Horizon'', Music Theatre (1996–1997) * ''Friend of the People'', Opera in 3 acts with a prologue (1998–1999) ;Orchestral * ''Flicker'' (1997) * ''Strands'' (2000) * ''Fixation'' (2001) * ''Concerto for Orchestra'' (2003–2004) * ''The Turn of the Tide'' for chamber orchestra (2006) * ''Submergence'' (2007) ;Concertante * ''Piano Concerto'' (1992) * ''Vapours'' for

glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...

and orchestra (1994) * ''Flex'' for piano and chamber ensemble (1997) * ''Fireflies'' for glass harmonica and orchestra (2002) * ''Ignition'', Concerto for percussion and orchestra (2002) * ''Double Violin Concerto'' for 2 violins and string orchestra (2003) * ''Splintered Instruments'' for harp and chamber ensemble (2004) * ''Phantom Instruments'' for clarinet and chamber ensemble (2006) ;Chamber and instrumental music * ''Splintered Unisons'' for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1988) * ''towards dharma...'' for flute, oboe, viola, cello and percussion (1989) * ''Out of the Air'' for chamber ensemble (1990) * ''Contraries and Progressions'' for flute, clarinet, violin (or viola), cello and piano (1991) * ''Concerto for Six Players'' for flute, (piccolo), clarinet (bass clarinet), violin, cello, percussion and piano (1993) * ''3 Dirges'' for flute and harp (1993) * ''Phantom Moon'' for flute (alto flute) and percussion (1993) * Sonata for trombone and piano (1993) * ''Surrendering to the Stream'', String Quartet No. 1 (1993) * ''Pulse'' for marimba solo (1994) * ''Reaching Out'' for percussion solo (1994) * ''Sparks'' for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion (1994) * ''Clarion'' for clarinet, trumpet, celesta, violin and double bass (1995) * ''Persistence'' for chamber ensemble (1995) * ''Stilled Voices'' for viola solo (1995) * ''Undulations'', String Quartet No. 2 (1995) * ''Aureole'' for bassoon and digital tape (1996) * ''Rush'' for percussion solo (1996) * ''Unbound'' for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, violin, viola and cello (1996) * ''Filters'' for viola and piano (1998) * ''Glow'' for chamber ensemble (1998) * ''Shiver'' for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano (1998) * ''Spike'' for flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, percussion and piano (1998) * ''Broken Instruments'' for chamber ensemble (1999) * ''Zip'' for cello and piano (1999) * ''Blunt Instruments'' for chamber ensemble (2000) * ''Elegy'' for trumpet and piano (2000) * ''Deep Flux'' for bass clarinet,

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is cons ...

and tuba (2001) * ''Five Divisions of Time'' for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon (2001) * ''Subterfuge'' for 2 violins, viola and cello (2002) * ''Disembodied Instruments'' for chamber ensemble (2003) * ''Disintegrations'' for chamber ensemble (2003) * ''Emerging Dances'' for chamber ensemble (2004) * ''Flight from the Labyrinth'', String Quartet No. 3 (2004) * ''Interrupted Serenades'' for 8-string guitar (2004) * ''Gossamer'' for saxophone quartet (2004) * ''Double Concerto'' for piano and

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

(2005) * String Quartet No. 4 (2006) * ''Will o' the Wisp'' for flute and piano (2006) * ''Restless Feeling'' for chamber ensemble (2007–2008) ;Piano * ''6 Short Studies'' (1990) * ''Nocturnes and Nightmares'' (1991) * ''Resound'' for piano and digital tape (1995) * ''Liszt'' (1996) * ''Refrain'' (1996) * ''Sostenuto'' for piano and digital tape (1996) ;Vocal * ''The Burning Babe'' for 2 sopranos, alto, flute, oboe, clarinet, percussion and piano (1992) * ''Days Now Gone'' for tenor and piano (1992) * ''The Letter'' for tenor and piano (1993) * ''Lied der Mignon'' for soprano and piano (1997) * ''Pan's Song'' for soprano, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1999) * ''You'' for soprano, alto flute/piccolo, cello and piano/

claves Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebon ...

(1999) * ''Slow, Slow'' for tenor and piano (2000) * ''Sweet Disorder'' for tenor and piano (2000) * ''Life's Splinters'' for tenor and flute, clarinet, violin, viola and cello (2006) * ''A Curious Thirsty Fly'' for tenor and piano (2008) * ''Last September'' for baritone and orchestra (2008) ;Choral * ''Northscape'' for chamber orchestra with violin and harp obbligato and unison children's voices (optional) (1992) * ''The Lie'', Cantata for soprano, tenor, children's chorus and chamber ensemble (1993) * ''Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis'' for mixed chorus and organ (1993) * ''Mass'' for mixed chorus and organ (1995) * ''Praise Ye'', 2 Psalms for children's chorus and organ (1995) * ''Pensive'' for mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus and chamber orchestra (or organ) (1998) * ''The Year's Midnight'' for tenor, chorus and orchestra (2000) * ''2 Songs'' for female chorus a cappella (2003)

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Official WebsiteSite
at Boosey and Hawkes
Extended biography
in the above site
Site at the Royal Northern College of MusicAll about David Horne at soundjunction.org

by Lynne Walker {{DEFAULTSORT:Horne, David 1970 births Living people Scottish people of Norwegian descent Scottish classical composers British male classical composers Scottish opera composers Male opera composers Curtis Institute of Music alumni Harvard University alumni People from Tillicoultry 21st-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers People educated at St Mary's Music School 20th-century Scottish musicians 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians